You’ve finally done it bought our drawers and now are about to install them. No drawer is easier to install than ours…but here are some installation tips that will make the job easier.
TIP #1
Separate the drawer from the base…and before you slide it on the shelf, have a look at the center of the white base member. You should see an arrow marking the center of the base. Want your drawer perfectly centered? Measure your opening and put a pencil mark halfway on the front of your cabinet shelf. Match the arrow on the base to the pencil mark…DONE!
TIP #2
Before you slide the base onto your cabinet shelf, notice the 4 pre-drilled screw holes on the front and back base members. These are to help guide your screws. But, first, you should slide the base onto your cabinet shelf…set it back about 2″ from the front of the shelf …align the centering arrow with your pencil mark…and clamp the front base member to the shelf. Then take a sharp short nail…place the nail in each hole and tap it several times with a hammer to break the (melamine) surface. This gives you starter holes for your screws. Leave the base clamped in place.
Note: If your tolerances are very tight, recommend screwing down each hole as you go. Start with one of the front holes…try your best to center the nail in the drill hole…otherwise, when setting the screw, the thickness of the screw will shift the base up to 1/8″ which may cause the drawer to rub when rolled out.
TIP #3
Now you’re ready to drill. Now step back and take a look at your cabinet opening. Look at the bottom shelf…it is the cabinet floor…fixed in place. Now, look at the middle shelf. It is typically placed about 1/2 way up in the opening. The opening is typically about 2′ high, so the middle shelf is typically 1 foot above the bottom shelf leaving about 1 foot of overhead space. The middle shelf can either be fixed in place (often with custom-made cabinets) or adjustable (typically with standard cabinet designs)…sometimes called a “floating” shelf. If your shelf is “floating”, the easiest way to install our drawers is to remove the shelf from the cabinet…place it on the floor…giving lots of overhead room to screw the base to the shelf…and lots of overhead room to do likewise on the bottom shelf. Use an electric drill, corded or portable, its just so much easier.
TIP #4
When a drawer is screwed to a shelf…the drawer is loaded with “stuff”…and then extended out of the cabinet…the drawer acts like a lever on the shelf…pushing down on the front of the shelf…pulling up on the back of the shelf. Thus “floating” shelves have to be secured in place before mounting a drawer on them. When securing a shelf…always attach the securing hardware to the SIDE cabinet walls…not the back cabinet wall. The back cabinet wall of most cabinets is a very thin sheet and will not hold screws adequately.
TIP #5
What if your middle shelf is fixed in place? You can almost always screw in the front 2 screws, no matter the screw, bit, or drill length. The screws we provide are 3/4″ long. If you are using a long bit, and your drill body is quite long, you may not be able to get the drill vertical in order to place the back screws. Our first recommendation is to look for a short bit. Bits can be as short as 2 inches…where an inch goes in the chuck…so only an inch is added to the length of your drill.
TIP #6
But let’s assume you are faced with a shelf that is high…allowing only 6 inches of overhead space. No way you are going to get a regular drill in there. Get a right-angle drill. Nowadays, the Home Depot/Lowes, etc carry right angle adapters for standard drills…at fairly reasonable prices. Here is a couple we’ve found:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-Right-Angle-Drill-Adapter-DWARA50/203867866
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milescraft-Drill-90-Plus-13040003/300533468
Follow these 6 tips and your pull-out shelves for pantry or pull out cabinet drawers installation will be a breeze.