Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - How Do I Replace Upper Kitchen Cabinet Bottom ?????

My upstairs bath leaked down the wall down to the kitchen and into the upper cabinets. Since the bottoms are made of fiberboard they crumbled. Naturally the water chose the corner, where the lazy susan is located, which makes the job even tougher. Is there a way to replace the bottom without having to remove the cabinet from the wall ? Good help needed. Thanks, OAK987

You can cut the old bottom free with a hacksaw blade. Cut along the sides of the cabinet to free the bottom. If the cabinet is sufficiently wide, you could cut the bottom into pieces with a jig saw, then remove the pieces by pulling them free of the fasteners. If the cabinet has a face frame, the cut will need to be made along the front side of the bottom as well. Pull the old nails from the inside to avoid damage to the exterior surface.

Hope this helps.

THANKS that should help me get it out, any method for replacement ? oak987

That project sounds like a real pain in the neck! I had to do something similar once in a corner cabinet, and found out there was no way to replace the bottom in one piece, it had to be cut in two in order to fit. But maybe yours will be easier since the piece will be 3/4 round. Hopefully the barrel back of the cabinet will retain it's shape for you.

After you cut and remove the pieces, you may need to beef up the base of the cabinet with some 1x4 or similar so as to give your new base something to sit on, since it will be difficult to attach it properly to the original cabinetry. You might also need some L-brackets to pin the back of the lazy susan to the base. But it depends how your cabinet is built. Be very careful if the barrel back is made from thin, papery material- you won't want to damage the perimeter as you remove the old cabinet bottom.

Try and cut the new piece to fit as exactly as possible. And if you find out you can't install it in one piece, just cut it in half or in thirds, and let it rest on the base that you've beefed up. In addition to fastening to the base, a fine bead of construction adhesive around the edges will help hold things together.

It sounds like you really have done this before. Now I can get to work. Thanks a bunch, oak987