To tackle this problem, I usually install a new plywood floor over the old floor. Any ideas for an easy fix? It costs much more to replace an entire base kitchen cabinet in the event of severe water damage. Is there a way to replace the bottom without having to remove the cabinet from the wall ? THANKS that should help me get it out, any method for replacement ? To save money, go with non-wood alternatives like laminate and thermofoil. Just paint the new bottom with heavy duty, oil-based paint and caulk the edges. First, rip a piece of flat 12 pine trim to a thickness slightly more than the thickness of ply panel. Dry the current base and just cut out the rotted area and just place a new layer of plywood over the existing board. I can't stand to start over. Aside from a rough caulking job in the back, i'm pretty pleased with the results. A2x4 piece should do. HOLE SAW BITS give this project a great finished look. These materials include a solid wood frame, a veneer plywood base, and wood sides. Thanks for any feedback. Railing posts how do I set them securely? You should then be able to lay the new floor neatly in two pieces without having to remove and replace pipes. Four out of five homeowners opt for asphalt shinglesheres the lowdown on choosing the right ones for your own roof. The Fine Homebuilding Interview: Emily Mottram, Reusable Flood Bags for Fast Bulk-Water Control, Keep Craft Alive Podcast: Ep.18, Kate Hersey and the Minnesota Tool Library, Podcast 481: Detailing a Slab, High-Performance Water Heaters, and DIY Dense-Pack, Plus, get an extra 20% off with code GIFT20, 10 Steps to Install Crown Molding on Cabinets, Choosing the Right Construction Tape for the Job, Pretty Good House Book Excerpt: Copper Farmhouse, 10 Dos and Don'ts for Electric In-Floor Heat, Framing Stairs to an Out-of-Level Landing, Good-Looking and Long-Lasting Traditional Gutters, The Fine Homebuilding Interview: William B. Use big blobs in any places where the floor seems to have sagged below level. I'm not too keen on stripping the old stain off (chemicals, mess etc). Then fill the gaps with Bondo, auto body filler, and smooth out as best as possible. He then sanded and primed the area with two coats of a shellac-based primer, sanding between coats with fine-grit sandpaper. That way, its pointing down and is touching the pipes. The modal window is a 'site map' of the most critical areas of the site. Please let me know if you need any additional pictures or info to give me ant tips on how to proceed. Personally I'd carefully I'll let others suggest how to half asss it. Your support is greatly appreciated! That project sounds like a real pain in the neck! There are two ways you can handle these cuts. The sink was more than the counters. Good help needed. I have done this kind of repair many times and had no problem. How to keep sofa cushions from sliding out. I agree with William. I have done this kind of repair many times and had no problem. Many contractors include this in any estimate they provide, but make sure ahead of time. Not because I plan to change my floor again, but if something ever happened that we had to, we could do it without any damage or removal of our kitchen base cabinets. If so, repeat the steps above to lay out pass-through holes for the second panel. Pre-drilling how to control your drill depth. Doesn't seem to be a lot of damage on top so I would just leave it. These observations can help, Learn about durability, looks, cost and more for wooden cabinet finishes to make the right choice for your kitchen, Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers, Outdoor Lighting & Audio/Visual Specialists, Top Kitchen and Cabinet Styles in Kitchen Remodels, Kitchen Sinks: Antibacterial Copper Gives Kitchens a Gleam, Kitchen Design Fix: How to Fit an Island Into a Small Kitchen, Kitchen Sinks: Fireclay Brims With Heavy-Duty Character, The Most Popular Styles and Cabinet Choices in Kitchen Remodels, Kitchen of the Week: Dark Green Cabinets and Family Function, Pros and Cons: Painted vs. Stained Kitchen Cabinets. This article and video describe a much easier, more cost efficient repair. Doesn't have to be perfect. Laminate and faux wood are more inexpensive than real solid wood, although theyre less durable. The easiest of the two is to use hole saw bits. However, job complexity and custom components will increase the price. AFAICS, the new floor is going to have to be in pieces & the drain removed to make room to fit the pieces inside. Vinegar kills mold spores (just in case). He glued the joint and then clamped it by using shims above and below the panel. Pull a measurement from the left wall to approximately the center of the cabinet (behind the face frame divider). Copyright 2022 This Old House Ventures, LLC. And if there will be heavy loads consider putting a brace down the middle -- just a length of 2x ripped to the right height to fit between the "real" floor and the cabinet bottom, tacked in place with 2-3 screws. A suggestion for the new bottom is cut the piece a little small, layout pipe locations, drill for pipes(a little oversized), "connect the dots" by cutting from edge to hole to hole to hole to edge. If the center of the cabinet has an especially large dip in it, add a support blockunder these two pieces. It sounds like you really have done this before. You can probably make the new bottom in 2-3 sections, to make it easier to install around the pipes. This is a dialog window which overlays the main content of the page. Cover up minor water damage with plywood or laminate. Cabinet materials cost $50 to $700 per linear foot. Once you cover up your repair, you do not want to have to go back in and repair it again. Installing a 1/4" plywood bottom over the top of the existing cabinet floor after cutting out the damaged portions will make that the most structurally sound cabinet in that whole house. It takes around five hours to install a bottom kitchen cabinet, with contractors charging anywhere from $50 to $125 per hour. Match the cabinet face color as closely as possible. The materials are a primary cost factor here, as labor accounts for just one-quarter of the total project cost. A suggestion would be to put some paper on the deck so if your plumbing leaks it's much easier to spot. Cabinet is about 15 years old. Rose, Expert insights on techniques and principles. Your wood cabinets will swell and shrink based on humidity and weather, which will eventually crack the auto body filler and cause it to fail. Cut the second piece to fill this existing space as closely as possible. Mayby ill put a piece of 2x4 in the hole to support the new plywood so it doesnt sag into hole. To do this, find a scrap of plywood several inches long and a few inches wide. Reach into the cabinet with a pencil and mark the plumbing locations on the edge of panel. The products included in this article are available at various home improvement stores, local home centers, and online retailers like Amazon. Now, lay the other piece back in place, and shoot through it into the support block as well. Afterwards, be sure to check the sink plumbing occasionally for leaks. For the advanced class, tap the cabinet front off as well as the adjacent cabinet fronts. Higher-grade materials will land on the higher end of the price range. Let everything dry thoroughly before you put any items into the sink cabinet. I am not sure what the cabinet base is made out of, doesnt look like wood but the surrounding area around the hole seems pretty strong. If damaged floor is swollen, chisel out flat and either screw or glue the new floor in. Instead, you have to sort of stand it up like a ramp. Got a question. Is there plumbing on this side of the cabinet? Thanks in advance**** damage was from previous owener. Cut along the sides of the cabinet to free the bottom. Never seen any that has cracked. Maybe use some liquid nails to adhere the new flooring to the undamaged areas of the old floor. Let it harden. We welcome your comments and You can repaint or refinish your kitchen cabinets and install new hardware for a fresh look. Not sure how the cabinet is constructed, will cutting out the existing damaged base cause structural damage to the cabinet? That way, you dont have to remove the countertop, sink, and plumbing. Are there services which I can taken the cabinets down and bring them to have them dip stripped and neutralized, leaving them for me to sand, stain etc. They were an inexpensive solution, around 200 usd for about 50 sq ft of counter space. If your cabinets are stained, get a stain/polyurethane combo that will match the cabinet exteriors. The sight lines are hard to achieve. Personally I would live with it for a while to see if it is something I could "live with". In other words, youll spend $150 to $4,200 to replace a bottom kitchen cabinet yourselfa savings of $250 to $700. Transitional is the No. Thanks a bunch, oak987. I will replace the counter down the road with solid stone and these will move to the backyard cook house. It keeps the cabinet in place. 2. If so, you cant lay it down flat right away. Ideally, Hilgenberg prefers that panels for farmhouse-style sinks be built to have sides wherein the grain runs vertically. Installing custom hardware, painting, and refinishing will drive up costs. Nail it in a few spots to hold it in place with small nails, You can paint it with white paint to seal it. How I suppose to replace the hole piece? 99% of all sink cabinet problems come from some sort of plumbing failure. Removing kitchen tile floor without damaging or removing cabinets, Granite installer put in wrong sink - says they can't fix. I watched YouTube and thought it would be easily done to get the board replaced. You may have to sand or scrape swollen portions of the old if it was particle board in order to get the new sheet to lay flat. I started The Honest Carpenter as a way to answer questions for my clients. The cost to replace the bottom of a kitchen cabinet is $400 to $4,900 or more. Hot melt glue the cabinet sides back on; maybe some blocking too. A wire brush or small stiff broom would work. Disastrously, the problem can run rampant before you even realize its happening! Things holding me back from doing it myself. The replacement piece requires priming, painting, and refinishing to match the rest of the cabinet, which also increases the cost. Add to this moisture warm temperatures and mold spores (which are always in the air), and its the perfect storm for a mold infestation. Shoot a few nails through perimeter of the new floor pieces, into the old floor. Everything is "good" on their side of things. Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features. It is finicky, painful work but it can be done. I'm currently deciding on whether or not to do it myself or have a handyman do it. Auto body filler works on cars. Save yourself a handful of problems and have your sink fixed by a qualified plumber. Depending on how large of an area is removed (or rotted) you may want to install a strategically placed block or two to help support the new plywood. As Joseph points out, it can be done. As previously mentioned, kitchen bottom cabinets cost $50 to $700 per linear foot, or anywhere from $100 to $650 per unit. I was doing this project in the middle of the night, so I didn't notice some areas where paint was too heavy or dripping. Auto body filler works on cars. Leaking drain lines, loose gaskets, and damaged water supply lines are common. The base cabinet is an essential piece of your kitchen cabinet system, as it helps to hold up the rest of the structure. Phil. Please help. It normally makes a bad situation MUCH MUCH WORSE. I had a similar issue and found replacement is far better and less expensive than repairing. Smear both sides with adhesive. For instance, some jobs require cabinet removal, which is time-consuming for cabinets attached to solid-surface countertops. I would try to cover the old bottom with some new plywood. Yeah, I'm with the others -- Every youtube video ive seen has a base that is square.