Removing Old Cabinets

Whenever you are ready to remodel your kitchen, you will need to know how to go about removing old cabinets. You will want to be able to do this without destroying your entire kitchen though. With this in mind, here are some tips on how to remove kitchen cabinets the right way.

Prepare the Space

The first thing that you will need to do whenever you are ready to learn how to remove cabinets is to prepare the area. This means that you will want to clear off the shelves, drawers and the area underneath the sink. Make sure to put a ¼-inch piece of plywood over your floor if you plan on saving it.

Clear Off Your Countertop

You will want to make sure that everything is off of your countertops too. It is a good idea to move all of your small appliances into another room, including your dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. Now is when you will want to remove all of the drawers and doors as well.

Turn Off the Water

Make sure that you turn the water off to your kitchen sink. While it may not seem as though you would need to disconnect the pipes and remove the sink whenever you are removing cabinets, this is important.

Remove Your Back Splash

Before removing cabinets you will want to take off the back splash behind your sink and kitchen counter. If it is caulked, you will need to use a utility knife to break the seal and carefully pry it away from the wall.

Begin Removing Countertops

Now the real demolition part of removing cabinets begins but you don't want to just rip everything out. Instead, remove any screws or nails that you can reach, then use a heavy hammer to begin to loosen the countertop.

Remove the Countertop

In order to remove the countertop you will want to remove the screws and then pull up on it. You should keep the screws in a Ziploc bag. Now pry up the countertop and put it somewhere out of the way. It is a good idea to start in a corner and then work your way along, cutting it into manageable pieces and removing any debris along the way.

Remove All Doors and Drawers

Take all of the drawers out of their slots and all of the doors off of their frames. You will want to be careful whenever you are removing cabinets since you may want to reface and reuse them.

Remove Base Cabinets

After removing cabinets from the bottom you will have room to take the top cabinets down. Of course, you will have even more room to work in if you are able to take them out of the room after removing cabinets.

Remove the Top Cabinets

Get some help with removing cabinets from the top cabinets. You will need someone to hold the cabinets up while you remove all of the screws. Whatever you do, don't try to remove these cabinets by rocking them as then you may damage the wall. If the cabinet doesn't come off of the wall easily, then you may have missed some screws.

Protect Your Walls

You don't want to take down the walls whenever you are removing cabinets. So, take time to find all of the screws and use a utility knife to remove any caulking.

Conclusion

Now that you have some tips for removing cabinets from your kitchen without destroying your entire kitchen, you are ready to get started. Good luck with your kitchen remodeling project.