What Cuts Are Used for Cabinet Bases?

Single-Door Base Cabinets

• One type of base cabinet is the single-door cabinet, which has one cabinet door and is often located beside appliances, such as dishwashers and ovens. These cabinets range greatly in overall length, as some are as skinny as 9 inches, and others are as wide as 21 inches. The total height of base cabinets from the floor to the top without a countertop is 34 1/2 inches. This figure includes both the cabinet itself and the toe-kick at the bottom, meaning, for example, that the toe-kick can be 4 inches high and the cabinet 30 1/2 inches. The common depth of base cabinets is 24 inches, including the door. The specific cuts for a single-door base cabinet depend on the thickness of wood used. For example, the total length of a single-door design may be 21 inches, but the actual cut of the back panel is 19 inches if the wood is 1-inch thick. The 2-inch difference comes from the thickness of the wood for the two side panels of the cabinet overlapping the ends of the back panel on each side.

Double-Door Base Cabinets

• The double-door base cabinet design is similar to the single-door design, except this has two doors that open up from the middle of the cabinet. The width and height measurements are the same, meaning the same panels can be cut for the sides. The length varies just as the single-door cabinet, but the measurements are larger. For example, double-door cabinets have a length of 24 inches as a minimum but can reach a length of 36 inches. Again, the actual cuts for these cabinets depend on the thickness of the wood used for construction.

Base Drawer Unit

• A set of drawers are often a part of the base layout in kitchen. These drawer base units follow the same height and width measurements to get a consistent height for the countertop and width for the cabinet door and drawer fronts. However, the length of drawer fronts differs from the cabinets, meaning the cuts are different for the bottom, back and drawer front panels. Drawers have the standard lengths of 12 to 24 inches, increasing in 3-inch increments.

Sink Base Cabinet Units

• Many confuse the sink base cabinet units with the basic double-door base unit, meaning they measure and cut the same-sized boards for the sink cabinet unit. Although the width and height are the same as other standard base cabinets, the actual length differs slightly. For a single sink, the general length is either 30 or 33 inches, where double-sink layouts reach 36 inches in length.