Clovis Custom Cabinets builds cabinet installation to order in Clovis, California, and installs across the greater Fresno area.
What cabinet installation actually involves
Installation is the shortest phase of a cabinet project and the one that decides whether the finished room looks built or looks assembled. Cabinet installation in Clovis runs into the same two conditions in most houses: floors that are not flat and walls that are not square. Neither is a defect. Houses settle, slabs cure unevenly, and framing has tolerances. The job of an installer is to absorb all of that so the finished run reads straight.
We install cabinetry two ways. Installation is included in every project we build, because the fit is part of what you are buying. We also install cabinetry you bought somewhere else, which is a different job with its own set of things to check first.
Where installation goes wrong
- Set to the floor instead of to a level line. Floors are never flat. A run set to the floor follows the dip, and the countertop, which is rigid, will not follow it
- Fastened into drywall. Wall cabinets carry real weight once loaded. They belong in framing
- Gaps closed with caulk instead of scribe. A scribed filler follows the wall. A bead of caulk in a tapering gap is visible from the first day and worse by the second year
- Doors hung but never adjusted. A six way hinge has three adjustments. Skipping the final pass is the single most common reason a new kitchen has uneven reveals
- Countertops templated too early. A slab is flat and rigid. Templating from drawings or from the old counter produces a top that does not match the cabinets underneath
Installing cabinets you bought elsewhere
If you have already bought your cabinetry, from a retailer, an online supplier, a designer, or a builder's allowance, we will install it. This is a common situation and it comes with one recurring problem worth knowing about before install day.
Orders arrive incomplete far more often than people expect. The cabinets themselves are usually all there. What goes missing is everything around them: filler strips, finished end panels, toe kick, light rail, crown, scribe moulding, and sometimes the hinges and glides. Those are the parts that make a run of boxes read as a fitted kitchen, and they are the parts most frequently left off an order taken over a counter or through a website.
So before we quote a supplied cabinet installation, we check:
- Whether the order is complete. Every filler, panel, and trim piece against the plan and the actual walls, which is where most gaps show up
- Whether the boxes are assembled. Flat packed and ready to assemble cabinetry has to be built before it can be hung, and that is real labour that belongs in the quote rather than appearing as a surprise
- Whether the sizes suit the room. Stock and semi custom cabinetry comes in three inch increments, so leftover space gets closed with fillers. We will tell you where those land before we start, not after
- Condition on arrival. Shipping damage is worth finding before demolition day rather than on it, because a replacement door can take weeks
- Hardware and accessories. Hinges, glides, and any interior fittings, which are sometimes packed separately and sometimes not ordered at all
None of this is a reason to avoid buying your own cabinetry. It is a reason to have someone look at the order against the room before the old kitchen comes out. We will do that at the free measure and tell you plainly what is missing.
Our installation process
Protection and removal
Plastic at doorways, runners on the floor along the route in, and the old cabinetry and countertop out. This is the noisiest and dustiest day. It is also when surprises appear behind the sink base, so anything we find is reported the same day with a price attached rather than added to a final invoice.
Layout and level line
We find the high point of the floor and strike a level line around the room. Every base cabinet is set to that line, not to the floor. Getting this right is the whole job, because everything above depends on it.
Base cabinets
Shimmed to level, scribed to the wall, fastened into studs, and joined to each other so the run behaves as one assembly rather than a row of boxes.
Wall and tall cabinets
Hung from a ledger line and anchored into framing. Tall pantry and oven cabinets are set and secured, and any run going to the ceiling is scribed to it.
Fillers, trim, and hardware
Scribed fillers where walls are out of square, toe kick, light rail, crown, and end panels. Then knobs, pulls, hinges, and glides.
Adjustment and walkthrough
Every door and drawer adjusted for consistent reveals and even closing. We walk the room with you and list anything outstanding in writing.
Coordination that has to happen in the right order
| Item | When it happens | Why the order matters |
|---|---|---|
| Countertops | Templated after bases are set and levelled | The template is taken off the actual cabinets. Fabrication then runs one to two weeks, so there is a window with cabinets and no counter |
| Sink and plumbing | Reconnected the day the counter goes in | Worth asking your installer to coordinate so you are not without a sink for an extra day |
| Appliances | Openings built to the manufacturer's spec sheet | Published dimensions vary between models. We work from your actual model numbers, not from nominal sizes |
| Flooring | Decided before cabinets are set | Whether flooring runs under the cabinets or stops at the toe kick changes the finished height and what happens when the floor is next replaced |
| Electrical and gas | Any relocation before install | Moving a circuit or a gas line is work for the appropriate licensed trade, and it is far cheaper before the boxes are in |
What affects the installation timeline
A typical kitchen installation runs about four working days: demolition, base cabinets, wall and tall cabinets, then trim and adjustment. Countertop fabrication adds one to two weeks after templating. A single bathroom vanity is usually a one day install. What extends it:
- Walls significantly out of square, which means more scribing
- A soffit removal, which adds demolition, drywall repair, and a texture match
- Damage discovered behind the old cabinets, most often at the sink base
- Relocated plumbing, gas, or electrical
- Ceiling height runs and crown, which take longer to fit than a standard height run
