# New Cabinet Over Air Register on Floor



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

Wow you are really making more of this than necessary.

Don't do anything. Place the cabinet over the vent opening and cut a vent into the toe-kick at the front of the same cabinet. That's the way it is done. And "NO", it won't hurt your cabinet.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Look up toe kick duct. When you cut the toe kick, the duct will allow the airflow to be more consistent, then just blowing under the cabinet and leaking out the back, etc.


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## REP (Jul 24, 2011)

Well lets put it this way;In cheaper homers number 2) with a toe kick grille on the toe kick is done.
In better homes number three is done.
Its up to you.By the way the duct that you would used is called" stack" It comes in 2 1/4 and 3 1/4 inch thicknesses.I would use the 3 1/4 Inch stack with a shortway 90 to make the turn to the toe kick.


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## brandonmcginnis (Feb 14, 2010)

Current code requires that it be ducted from the existing boot in the floor out to the face of the toe kick. On new construction this is how you do it, you are no longer allowed to blow it into the void under the cabinets and cut a grill in the toe kick.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Current code requires that it be ducted from the existing boot in the floor out to the face of the toe kick. On new construction this is how you do it, you are no longer allowed to blow it into the void under the cabinets and cut a grill in the toe kick.


Well there you go! Makes sense to me.


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Definitely option #3 connect a 90deg ell to the floor then out the toe kick install a register in the toe kick. The only way to go. You don't want hot/cold air blowing around under your cabinets.


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## jmai14 (Jul 8, 2011)

So it seems like the consensus is to route the air flow under the toe-kick with some piece of 90 degree duct work. Any additional tips on what supplies I'll need or how to connect the ducts work?


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

look up post by nolamar on 01-26-2011 titled 

building hvac vent into bath vanity -- and read from beginning to end, It includes a couple pictures to get the idea.


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## homemomma (Nov 28, 2011)

We have an older townhouse with this issue: the kitchen and downstairs bathrooms have cabinets over the air vent. Seems like the air gets "lost" under the cabinet and doesn't blow out as warm or as cold as it should. We've been wondering what to do about this (the air blows from a small opening above the toe-kick) so it looks like we'll need to cut room for and install a register. Not sure why they did it this way!


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

homemomma, you would have to lift the cabinet. The better thing to do, is to locate the register on the other wall from it. We have ours across from the toilet, which actually works out great. Our bath is only 6x10, but relocating the vent from where it was under the sink to the other wall, it actually is warmer. Plus since it is a older house, and has the larger register vents, more air enters the space to help keep it warm.

Place the vent on the wall, not on the floor, due to if any water hits the floor, it will enter the vent, and end up pouring into the furnace. This is the same with the Kitchen area. Personally, no registers should be flat on the floor, they should be up on the wall, so nothing enters them.


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

@ gregzoll, There are millions of homes in the US that are designed with floor registers. Slab homes, basement homes, crawlspace homes.
There's nothing wrong with floor registers.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

COLDIRON said:


> @ gregzoll, There are millions of homes in the US that are designed with floor registers. Slab homes, basement homes, crawlspace homes.
> There's nothing wrong with floor registers.


As I stated before Coldiron, stuff falls in them, and they are the worst thing in baths and kitchens, especially in baths. Ever had a tub overflow? Where does the water go, down the register vent.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

My guess is that nine out of ten homes that I work on have floor registers.


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

I never seen a house where the registers were not on the floor. Touring/selling homes is how I make my living


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## Joe Dirt (Oct 21, 2011)

Do the toe kick vent!

The home I was renting/am in the process of moving out of had the kitchen vent capped to run forced air to a new 3 season room directly behind it, the room furthest away from the furnace.

Result- warm air that was cool air by the time it got to the end of the run in the 3 season room, no heat in the kitchen, and thus ~15* cooler in the winter than the dining room directly next to it.

Best part- the guy that did it owns an HVAC contracting company in Grand Rapids. Nice.


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