# How to attach the island/peninsula cabinet to the floor?



## TrailerParadise (Jan 3, 2013)

How do i attach my island/peninsula cabinet to the floor?
It is 36", free standing but the right front corner touches the left front corner of the sink base, and they will be connected by the countertop, so its not really an island but its not attached to the wall so its not a peninsula. Not sure what to call it. But still, how do i attach this thing to the floor so that it doesnt move? It has a 2x4 base but that base is attached to the bottom of the cabinet from the inside, so i cant attach the base seperately then put the cabinet on top, that wont work. 
Any ideas?

My thinking is to drive screws through the front of the toe kick and through the sides and back of the base down through the floor, but that is dangerous since pipes and wiring run under the floor. The flooring will be laid around this cabinet, so it will be a permanent fixture.


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## kaschmid3 (Jan 28, 2013)

Metal 90degree brackets


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

One way would be to attach a 2x4 or other appropriately sized wood as a cleat on the floor. Then screw horizontally through the toe kick into the cleat. This way youd get a more secure bite into the cleat without a ugly diagonal through the toe kick. The cleat could be secured to the flooring with an adhesive, and its surface area would be flatter than just the lip f the toe kick.

But it doesnt sound like a great plan to have a counter spanning across an unsupported corner. What is going under there? Will there at least be a cleat oenthe wall supporting the corner?


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## TrailerParadise (Jan 3, 2013)

Yes, i intend to screw a piece of 2x4 on the wall, level with the top of the other cabinets, to support the back of the countertop. There will also be a short bracket coming from the island to the wall, under the countertop, to support it. But i dont really trust that the bar will be sturdy enough to hold it in place. 

I like the idea of the cleat glued to the floor and the cabinet attached to the cleat. I can glue it to the plywood and use a few short pocket screws for security (that way if it comes up, its taking the plywood with it) but the screws wont be long enough to pierce wiring or pipes. Thanks! 

The brackets had occured to me, but with the flooring being laminate, i wasnt sure how it would affect it. Bumps under laminate are not usually a good thing.


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

If you put the cabinet in place, draw a light line around it then remove it. make a second line the thickness of the toe kick base, inside the first line. that is the line you fasten the blocking to. Lower the cabinet over the blocks and screw through the toe kick with trim screws, (small head screws). fill screw head holes like a finish nail.


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## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

Place the whatever you call it wherever you want it. Mark its location on the floor with a pencil. Cut two 2 x 4's the exact inside dimension of the whatever you call it. Subtract the wall thickness of the whateveryoucallit. Screw the aforemantioned blocks to the floor with 3 MP screws through pre drilled through holes. Set the whateveryoucallit over the blocks and screw through the sides into the blocking. Predrill and countersink, level and shim first. Install base molding.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Yes, cleat, blocking, whatever, he got the point. The block of wood on the floor presents a much larger surface area for glue to attach to the floor. Then the flat sides of it make for a better way to attach the cabinet through the toe kick. One tip, they make cabinet screws with washers to keep the toe kick screw from looking crappy. Either that use use a finishing washer under a regular screw. This will give the installation a more polished look.


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## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

Not sure what you mean there. I meant countersing, bore and screw through the side of the cabinet into the aforementioned block before installing the "Toe kick" which I called Base molding. Make dead level before screwing.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Don't need to countersink the holes if you use a cabinet screw that has an integral washer in the head, or use a finishing washer with a regular flat-head kind of screw. This way you get a nice trim around the screw head and won't see a rough edge. If you countersink you're reducing the amount of material the screw goes through. This would be OK for a solid wood piece but for plywood or MDF you want as much there as you can get.


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## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

It is a cabinet, and she said there is a 2 x 4 ringing the inside perimeter. The way I am saying to do it you dont see any heads. You simply countersink for bugle head screws if I understand her correctly. Do yours any way you want, Im just saying how I do mine. I dont like seeing fastener heads when I dont have to. When I hang wall cabinets, I use fender washers on the top fasteners, but thats a different condition, because they are in tension, as well as shear. These are in shear, so head size is not as important. The function dictates the method. I don't expect much lateral force on a base cabinet, unless a bull rams into it, but that brings up other unexpected issues.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

First, it's a toe kick, so unless you're lying on the floor you're unlikely to see the heads, whichever way you install them. Second, it's in a trailer, so you're even less likely to have a line of sight to see them. 

But yeah, if you really want to hide them then set the screws down close enough to the bottom where whatever floor molding you'd install would go. But, as he pointed out, he's trying to avoid fasteners going down into the floor and hitting the plumbing/wiring under there. This wouldn't be an issue in a house, but in a trailer it's something to consider.


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## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

Good Point. The 2 x 4 blocking I discussed would be lying flat, placing the horizontal screws at about an inch off the floor. Base molding (Which you call Toe Kick) is 3.25 inches high or so, so it would cover easily, but the way you want to do it is fine too. 

Yes I would worry about fastener length and placement too, especially in that trailer, the wiring might be anywhere from what I have seen in the posted pictures.

Do you install all your base molding (Toe kick) with screws throughout your house, or just in the kitchen?


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

No, toe-kick is usually just the 3.5" or so face of the underside of a base cabinet. The walls all get a baseboard, typically 5-6" in height. Then everything gets a quarter-round shoe molding, typically 3/8" or 1/2". Under a cabinet, on the toe-kick, you might not need or want shoe molding. But for baseboard it's how you handle expansion/contraction of the flooring vs the baseboard. The baseboard and shoe molding are usually attached to the wall, so the flooring's expansion/contraction can slide under it. The shoe molding also hides the typical 1/4" gap left between the flooring and the drywall. Most cabinetry is installed on top of the flooring so it doesn't 'need' the shoe molding to hide that gap.


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## TrailerParadise (Jan 3, 2013)

thanks for the replies. my flooring will be laid around the cabinets because its laminate and can be easily messed up. i dont want to have to take up my cabinets to replace the floor. i was planning to use the cleats and use flat head screws with the toe kick placed over it. it will be seen because the kitchen is rather large so if you sit down at the table it will be in your line of sight. i know exactly where the wiring is because i ran it myself. two wires (stove and a plug in the kitchen) run under the floor between the i beams. thats where this cabinets needs to go. so what ever screw go into the floor cannot extend further than 5/8 of a inch into the floor.


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