Just checking to see if there is an easier way. I build frameless and in a tall kitchen I will often stack cabinets..I always build pantry cabinets with a lower and an upper cabinet stacked directly on top of it. I also build in metric..which is pertinent because the numbers are not really recognizable and long. To make things even more complicated this present house has a cathedral ceiling, so all the walls are different height.
In this job the top cabinet height 2188mm above the floor. Now..at a glance by selecting a cabinet is there a way to see that the cabinet is at the right height? The only way I have been able to check is to go to plan view, write down the wall height, go to elevation view, select the cabinet and subtract the TOP measurement from the wall height. Ditto for then trying snug up cabinets underneath.. for example in this layout, to set CabA below CabB, I had to do the following operation...3.7846m wall height (try and remember that number!) - 1.5966m Top measurement = 2.188m which is the correct height for CabA, then take the BOT measurement for CabA, subtract it from the wall height..3.7846m-1.868m = 1.9166m, which now becomes the top measurement for CabB. Boy it would be easy to have CabA's BOT measurement be the same as CabB's TOP measurement if it is right under it. CabA's RIGHT measurement is not adjacent CabB's LEFT number. If cabinets overlap a few millimeters and I don't catch it I'm screwed.
Anytime I have to turn to a calculator or type formulas it slows things down and opens up room for error. My overall question is why are the location measurements referenced from separate points, ie. top from top, bottom from bottom,etc. when you never measure like that in real cabinet life. Always measure from the same point. When I install, I never measure from the ceiling down to set base cabinet height..nor do I measure from the floor to the bottom of upper cabinets, or from the ceiling to their top.
At a glance none of the reference numbers are recognizable. The base cabinet and upper cabinent heights are all different even though they are the same size cabinets depending on what wall they are on. I had this problem trying to set doors and windows, too.
Am I the only one who finds this confusing or is there a preference to be set or a way to figure this out..or do you just get used to working this way.
Cabinet Height Reference Point
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Mike Slowik
- New Member
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri, Jan 21 2011, 12:12PM
- Company Name: The Cabinetworks LLC
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Dennis Englert
Re: Cabinet Height Reference Point
Mike,
I find the positional information to be very useful for installing cabinets and other objects in a room. I think that there are a couple of methods that you could be use. I guess whether it's easier or not is in the eyes of the beholder.
First and not necessarily the best is to make an assembly of one wall of your cabinets in the Cabinet Editor and then install the assembly as a unit in the room. You would use the position information for the final position of the entire unit of cabinets. It is fairly easy to stack the cabinets and align them in the Cabinet Editor.
Second, you could install the cabinets in layers or rather, row, a lower row and an upper row. In Settings and Preferences>Define Standard Dimensions>Upper Cabinet Mounting Height, define your mounting height to the floor to the top of your shortest cabinet on the first or lower row. This is assuming that your shortest cabinet sets the distance to countertop. Or maybe, I should say set the height for the height of your standard cabinet all of the first row of cabinets. After you install the first or bottom row, redefine Upper Cabinet Mounting Height adding the tallest cabinet's dimension to the current height.
You do not need a calculator or even really good math skills in eCabinets. Most of the entry fields allow you to type in a formula. For example, if your last Upper Cabinet Mounting Height was 84" and your tallest cabinet 40" , you can enter 84 + 40, the click the Update button. It does the math. In other entry fields, you can just type in the formula and then Enter. This is common throughout the program. If you prefer to use a different calculator, you can create a hot key for the Microsoft Calculator available in Accessories. Activate the hot key and the calculator pops up. If you have a second monitor, you could keep the caculator on that monitor.
After the two rows of cabinets are in place, you'll have a kind of stalagtite and stalagmite effect for your cabinets. Click on the standard cabinet on the bottom row. In the positional entry field for the bottom of the cabinet you'll see the distance from the bottom of the cabinet to the floor. That bottom position, I would assume would be the standard height for all of the bottom row cabinets. Further down the menu, you'll be able to see the height of that cabinet. Now, click on the cabinet above it. In the position field for that second row cabinet, type in the previous cabinets position plus its height, then hit enter. The upper row cabinet will move and will be stacked exactly on top of the bottom row cabinet. Click on another bottom row cabinet. Change the bottom position to the standard height for the bottom cabinets. Next, change the upper cabinet as previously described. Continue around the room using the same process. It really should take too long to move the cabinets.
In many cases, you can also use the Move Increment method to move your cabinets. For example, if you build your cabinets at specific height increments, like 2 inch increments, you could set the Move Increment > Objects to 2". Then click on the cabinet, hold the Shift key and move the cabinet up or down with the up/down arrow in 2" increments. At times, the cabinets are reluctant to move, but you can change the Placement Mode to Free Style and re-attempt moving the cabinets up or down.
Thanks,
Dennis
I find the positional information to be very useful for installing cabinets and other objects in a room. I think that there are a couple of methods that you could be use. I guess whether it's easier or not is in the eyes of the beholder.
First and not necessarily the best is to make an assembly of one wall of your cabinets in the Cabinet Editor and then install the assembly as a unit in the room. You would use the position information for the final position of the entire unit of cabinets. It is fairly easy to stack the cabinets and align them in the Cabinet Editor.
Second, you could install the cabinets in layers or rather, row, a lower row and an upper row. In Settings and Preferences>Define Standard Dimensions>Upper Cabinet Mounting Height, define your mounting height to the floor to the top of your shortest cabinet on the first or lower row. This is assuming that your shortest cabinet sets the distance to countertop. Or maybe, I should say set the height for the height of your standard cabinet all of the first row of cabinets. After you install the first or bottom row, redefine Upper Cabinet Mounting Height adding the tallest cabinet's dimension to the current height.
You do not need a calculator or even really good math skills in eCabinets. Most of the entry fields allow you to type in a formula. For example, if your last Upper Cabinet Mounting Height was 84" and your tallest cabinet 40" , you can enter 84 + 40, the click the Update button. It does the math. In other entry fields, you can just type in the formula and then Enter. This is common throughout the program. If you prefer to use a different calculator, you can create a hot key for the Microsoft Calculator available in Accessories. Activate the hot key and the calculator pops up. If you have a second monitor, you could keep the caculator on that monitor.
After the two rows of cabinets are in place, you'll have a kind of stalagtite and stalagmite effect for your cabinets. Click on the standard cabinet on the bottom row. In the positional entry field for the bottom of the cabinet you'll see the distance from the bottom of the cabinet to the floor. That bottom position, I would assume would be the standard height for all of the bottom row cabinets. Further down the menu, you'll be able to see the height of that cabinet. Now, click on the cabinet above it. In the position field for that second row cabinet, type in the previous cabinets position plus its height, then hit enter. The upper row cabinet will move and will be stacked exactly on top of the bottom row cabinet. Click on another bottom row cabinet. Change the bottom position to the standard height for the bottom cabinets. Next, change the upper cabinet as previously described. Continue around the room using the same process. It really should take too long to move the cabinets.
In many cases, you can also use the Move Increment method to move your cabinets. For example, if you build your cabinets at specific height increments, like 2 inch increments, you could set the Move Increment > Objects to 2". Then click on the cabinet, hold the Shift key and move the cabinet up or down with the up/down arrow in 2" increments. At times, the cabinets are reluctant to move, but you can change the Placement Mode to Free Style and re-attempt moving the cabinets up or down.
Thanks,
Dennis
