counter to cabinet height, raising the lowers and inch?

11 years ago

I'm pretty sure this is ok, but wanted to see if anybody has input.

about 7.5 years ago we got a new white dishwasher. Next we got a granite counter. Then a few months later we got tile floors. We kept our white cabinets because even though they were thermofoil they were only 8-9 years old and very good condition.

Now I want new cabs, BUT when they tiled they didn't move everything and tile under the cabs (we did tile under the island). Now the dishwasher is sitting there fitting perfectly well in it's spot, but there's no way it's coming out because the tile and it's backerboard are in front of it. I don't know for sure, but I don't think the legs can be adjusted to let it come out.

When we get our new cabs we can buy a new stainless dishwasher and put it in while the granite is off for the new cabs, but we'd rather not do that because then it will be our only stainless appliance until we replace the other perfectly usable white ones. I know stainless will look better, but that's several thousand we don't HAVE to spend YET.

I was thinking we can buy plywood to place in the areas under the cabs and dishwasher to sort of level them with the tile before we put the new cabs. Then we can just use the white dishwasher until we are ready to switch it all.

The plywood option will probably raise the lower cabs by 3/4-1". This will make the distance from counter to uppers 17".

Hold on, going to go check something....OK, I was a little ahead of myself...just thought about the stove and was worried about that clearance, so I looked. We tiled under it and there is 17.5 inches to the bottom of the micro. If we did put plywood under the cabs it would raise them so the cooktop (flat electric) would be more even with the counter, right now it sits about 1/2-1 inch higher than the counter. That's a plus for the plywood.

THEN I thought to finally pull off the lower toe kick panel of the dishwasher and the front legs (the ones that screw up and down) ARE actually on tile. The tile goes back about 3 inches. I don't know what kind of legs are in the back.

Since the front legs are on the tile then that should mean I will be able to get this washer out and a new one in with the granite in place....right? Then I don't have to get the stainless when I get the cabs? We'd rather wait until at least something breaks, the fridge is the oldest at about 12 years old...Probably won't wait longer than 2 years or so, or sooner if the maple cabs look crappy with the white.

I'm still trying to figure out who will take my granite out if I use Lowes instead of the cabinet store....

Thoughts on plywood under cabs?

Comments (2)

suzanne_sl
11 years ago
We also had the rising floor and sunken DW issue when we replaced a DW, but before we were ready to reno. We could get our old one out and new one in, but it was a trick. Somebody else on here actually had to cut theirs apart to extricate it. BUT, you're replacing the lower cabs, right? So when you take those cabs out, you can take the DW out intact and put it back afterwards. And, yes, when you get the old cabs out, then you put plywood under where the new ones and the DW are going so everything is at the correct height above the existing tile floors. The inch you lose between the uppers and lowers will be no big deal at all - you could well prefer it.

One thing you might check is the footprint of the new cabs compared to the footprint of the old ones. If they are old enough, they might have a larger footprint than the new ones. Ours did. If that is the case, then you'll have a gap between your tile and the base of the new cabs. Guess why we got a new floor? The good news is that our cabs were 42 years old and yours are probably newer. But it doesn't hurt to check.
GreenDesigns
11 years ago
You aren't losing an inch between the uppers and lowers. The bottom alignment height of the uppers is still 54" above the finished floor, just as the top alignment of the lowers is 34.5" above the finished floor. You're just removing an inch from the overall height of the room, The tall pantry will sit on the plywood at the finished floor height. The refrigerator will still be on the new finished floor height. So will the range. What changes is that you lose an inch above the cabinets, not below them. So instead of 96", your room now has 95", if the ceilings are at 8'. That has to be accounted for in the overall height alignment of the cabinets and molding stacks. If you don't take the 1" from the top of the room, and you have cabinets above the fridge or tall cabinets like an oven stack, then nothing will align correctly as all of that has to sit on the new height of the floor.
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