Home > Installation Tips > Attaching Cabinets to Concrete Floor

Attaching Cabinets to Concrete Floor

August 21st, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

In many instances it’s necessary to fasten cabinets to a concrete floor. Where there is a peninsula or island cabinetry arrangement, it will be necessary to secure the base cabinets and or dishwasher panels to the floor. There are several methods that can be used to do this. We are going to explore using Tapcons.

Using Tapcon Screws

What is a Tapcon screw? It is a screw that is specifically designed for screwing into concrete. They are available in several sizes. For the most part the one that are referred to as the 3/16” size will work just fine for securing the cupboards to the floor. Here’s a link to the Tapcon Concrete Screws website.

This is by far the most popular method that is used to anchor cupboards secure into a concrete slab. Because base cabinetry have toe kicks you want to work on setting them using the inside line of the kick.

We generally make l-shaped cleats out of ¾” thick pine or use 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” stock to screw into the floor and then attach the base cabinet to the two by two wood pieces.

• Determine exactly where the cleats will need to be anchored. You can do this either by setting the cabinets in place or measuring the distance with a tape measure.

• Mark where the cabinet floor anchor cleat edges are on the floor before drilling them. This will allow you to get them placed exactly where they were when you started drilling for the Tapcon screws.

• Pre-drill the wood l-shaped cleats or two by two stock using a three sixteenths drill bit.
• Place the floor cleat into position and drill the first pilot hole for the Tapcon screw into the floor. It will be necessary to use a hammer drill and also the special concrete drill bit designed for the screw size that you are using.

• Secure the cleat into the concrete with your first Tapcon screw.

• Drill the other pilot hole and place your second screw into the concrete slab.

Tip: It is very important to have a solid and secure mount when you are installing an Island base cabinet arrangement. There is no need to skimp on the amount of cleats that you attach into the concrete floor slab.

Once you have screwed the floor cleats into the concrete then set the base cabinetry into position and secure them with regular wood screws designed for installing cabinets. When you are finished anchoring the island or peninsula cabinets they should not rock or wiggle at all when you apply back and forth pressure. Attaching cupboards this way always works best if you drill the holes plenty deep for the screws to anchor into.

Categories: Installation Tips
  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.

*