Installing Toe Kick On Uneven Floor

Some cabinet installers use shims underneath structural kick boards.

Installing toe kick on uneven floor.

I know lots of people have uneven floors and have to shim their cabinets. Baseboard molding installations are very often finished off with an additional thin piece of molding called quarter round or shoe molding that covers the gap between the bottom of the baseboards and the floor. Place a piece of cut trim along the level of the floor and secure it to the toe kick with a construction adhesive or 1 inch finish nails. If the floor is uneven use a scribe tool to transfer high spots to the kick board.

But now that we re ready to install the toe kick panels that were provided. Without a level cabinet any solid surface counter top have an increased chance of cracking. Cut the base to run around the toe kick the outside miters can be done now or after fitting to the floor if cutting miters after set the top of the skin against the fence not the bottom against the fence. We level the toe kicks with shims.

Nail the toe kick board to the. Kick boards should fit flat on the floor. Then we use a 1 4 thick plywood toe skin finished to match the cabinets to cover the base. Cut along the line with a jig saw before.

Making the cut is not a difficult process. If the toe kick board fits too snugly in some areas because of an uneven floor use a hand held planer to shave off small amounts of wood at the top of the board. With the right set of tools you can duplicate the unevenness in the floor on the bottom of the board creating a baseboard cut specifically for your floor s changing levels. They are only 4 5 high and the end of the peninsula has been shimmed up 5 so that the bottom of the cabinet is now 5 from the floor.

Install a toe kick nail a plain 3 4 inch filler strip in place then attach a thinner piece that is finished to match the cabinet. Start in a corner with the longest piece. Because of variations in the floor or other gotchas this prevents having to rip out the toe kick later. Before finish installing the toe kick i like to cut and fit all adjacent toe kicks.

Mmake sure all base cabinets are level when installing your new kitchen cabinets on an uneven floor. Use a pneumatic brad nailer or drill pilot holes and drive 4d finishing nails through the toe kick into the cabinets. This is not necessary for kick boards if the cabinets are properly installed.