Make Your Kitchen Cabinets More Durable Using These Installation Tips
When building a kitchen or renovating an existing one, most people pay attention to the types of kitchen cabinets they have in place. In addition to being excellent storage places, the cabinets also play a huge role in determining the aesthetics of the kitchen. This means that when they are installed properly, they are likely to result in a kitchen that will not only be easy to use, but also very pleasing to look at as well.
One of the things you may be interested in when fitting the cabinets is how to make sure that they will last long. There are many factors that will influence this, and addressing as many of them as possible will ensure that they last long. Some of the installation tips you should keep in mind to increase the durability of the cabinets include:
Use fasteners that can bear weight
When you are putting the cabinets in place, you will need to use fasteners such as screws and bolts. Make sure that the ones you select will have the capacity to handle the types of loads you will be subjecting them to. For instance, if installing a screw in a particular location will subject it to compressive forces, you could choose to use a Hastelloy socket head cap screw. This material has excellent properties when subjected to such forces as compared to tension. This means that it’s likely to not buckle or deform in any way.
In addition to choosing fasteners made of the right material, also make sure that the size of the fastener correlates with the weight the cabinet will support. For instance, if you have a cabinet that you intend to use for very heavy items, you would need to use larger fasteners to support the extra weight.
The distribution of fasteners
The other factor that is likely to affect the durability of the cabinets is how the fasteners are distributed. For instance, when the steel hex head cap screws are not evenly distributed, the pressure transmitted to them from the cabinet is also likely to be uneven. As a result, the fasteners are likely to become damaged at an accelerated rate. When too much pressure is applied to one section of the cabinet on account of this, it could also result in damage to that part of the cabinet. This is especially so in the case of overhead cabinets.
The quality of the base
When putting in place fasteners such as screws, they usually need a firm base for support. For instance, when drilling them through a wall, you will need to first make a pilot hole through which they will be drilled in order to support the cabinet. It’s important to ensure that such a pilot hole is snug enough to reduce play when the screw is in place. This is the main factor that usually results in the cabinets becoming unstable after some time.
These are some of the fastener-related installation tips that should help you end up with long lasting cabinets. In addition to increasing the life of the cabinets, using them is also likely to make cabinet maintenance cheaper.
