advice wuth cabinets on a 4104

4104bigred · February 07, 2007, 06:45:49 AM

we have insulated the walls and ceiling on our 4104 with foam board and are ready to install the plywood. my question is how do I install the upper cabinets to the wall?

do I need to put in a wood strip/cleat in the wall or

thanks

chris

Ace · February 07, 2007, 07:10:23 AM

Chris everyone does it their own way but if it were me, I would install plywood from floor to ceiling over the foam insulation board. That way, whatever you decide to mount such as cabinets upper or lower, you will always have a good foundation to use!

I did it that way and so far so good! Don't forget to run your electric conduit where you want it before the walls go up. It's a real pain to do it later! A lot of times, people want to get right to the start of converting such as the finished pretty part and forget that there are much more important things to do like wiring and plumbing first!

Ace

4104bigred · February 07, 2007, 07:25:45 AM

ACE, what thickness plywood did you use? my concern is the roof has such a radius where the cabinets go overhead that i wanted to use 1/4 luan on the ceiling and walls or 3/8 inch on the walls but the cabinets would go onto the 1/4 inch and not much grip

chris

Ace · February 07, 2007, 07:55:37 AM

Chris 3/8 is what I used and worked very well! If you use 1/4 inch it might be a little weak! I used 3/8 on walls and ceiling if that helps!

Ace

Brian Diehl · February 07, 2007, 08:43:46 AM

I used 1/2" on my ceiling and it worked out great. I echo Ace's caution to not use 1/4" as I did use 1/4" on my walls and now wish I'd put on 3/8" plywood.

4104bigred · February 07, 2007, 10:59:21 AM

I see what you guys are saying about using 3/8 and that is what I would prefer, however my concern is the sharp radius on the 04 roof. I think your mci's have a nicer corner where the roof meets the wall???

chris

Dallas · February 07, 2007, 11:27:09 AM

Quote from: 4104bigred on February 07, 2007, 10:59:21 AM
I see what you guys are saying about using 3/8 and that is what I would prefer, however my concern is the sharp radius on the 04 roof. I think your mci's have a nicer corner where the roof meets the wall???

chris

Chris,

My 4103 has the same radius that yours does.

My method was to make kerf cuts on the back side of luaun with an 1/8" straight router bit, 1/16" deep. I put the kerfs closer and closer together as the radius got tighter.
To hang the cabinets I cut a 1X2 on an angle and mounted it to the cross members, then mounting the cabinets in front of the 1x2.

I'll try to get some pictures and post them.

I hope that helps
Dallas

4104bigred · February 07, 2007, 11:31:23 AM

thanks dallas

chris

TomC · February 07, 2007, 02:41:31 PM

Another way- after stripping down to the metal, I installed 1x2 strips horizontally screwed to the cross beams at about 12" spacing. This did two things- first it gave a surface that the blown in insulation could come to covering all metal, 2- to anchor the panelling. On over head cabinets I used 1x3 alder screwed to the roof bows. Good lUck, TomC

Dallas · February 07, 2007, 03:18:29 PM

Chris,
I could only find one photo of the piece that holds the cabinets up.
I couldn't find any of cutting the kerfs on the back of the luaun.
I hope this helps some.

This is a picture of the preliminary cabinets I had to put up.

Dreamscape · February 07, 2007, 03:31:26 PM

On our Eagle I used 1x2's attached to the metal framing. Wherever I thought a cabinet would be I used Oak 1x2's to give it some strength. I have not got to the point of installing any cabinets yet but I am confident that they will stay up. Believe me I know about the curve along the roofline, Eagles have the same situation. Great fun fitting everything.

Good Luck and keep us posted with pictures as you progress.

Happy Trails,

Paul

Dreamscape

JimC · February 07, 2007, 08:31:49 PM

BigRed
I just mounted cabinets in my 4106, I first mounted 2 sheets of 1/4 inch luan after kurf cutting them on the back side for the radius and staggering the seams on the ribs of the bus, (it helps to wet the plywood to keep it from splintering when bending it)
I then mounted a cleat along the ceiling similar to what Dallas did. I mounted the shelf to the wall with pocket hole screws, and the face frame of the cabinet is mounted to the top cleat and the shelf with them also. (finish nail in place to hold it where you need it first)
If you cant get 2 sheets of 1/4 plywood on the ceiling, I would suggest you mount a cleat along the wall into the ribs of the bus and then mount your shelf either on or below that cleat. Below would be better for looks, that way the cleat is buried in the cabinet and not seen from the outside.
Above (sitting on the wall cleat) would be stronger, you would not be relying on screws to hold the bottom of the cabinet up. It depends on what you plan to put in them.
JImCallaghan

JimC · February 07, 2007, 08:34:08 PM

BigRed
One further note, my cabinets are all mounted to a 3/4 inch plywood partition wall on one end. That also adds to the strength.
JImCallaghan

4104bigred · February 08, 2007, 07:18:20 AM

thanks guys for the pictures and advice

chris

gg04 · February 08, 2007, 09:29:47 AM

Goes by where you live..need a good hard wood plywood suplier..but we use 3/8 or 1/2" bend board no kerfing and you can get it where the the bend can be either length or width of sheet..just buy style you need..gg04