Adding Glide-Out Shelves

By: Joseph Truini (Page 1 of 5)

glide-out shelf fully installed in base cabinet

photos: Smith-Baer

1. ROUT GROOVES 3/8 in. deep into the 1X4 poplar perimeter pieces for the 1/2-in. plywood bottom.

photos: Smith-Baer

2.USE THE ROUTER AGAIN to cut 3/8-in.-deep X 3/4-in.-wide rabbets across the ends of the front and back to accept the shelf sides.

photos: Smith-Baer

3.APPLY GLUE to the rabbet joint and fasten the shelf front to the sides with three 1 1/2-in. finishing nails.

photos: Smith-Baer

4.SLIDE THE 1/2-in. birch- plywood bottom into the grooves, then glue and nail on the poplar back to complete the shelf.

photos: Smith-Baer

5.USE A 2-FT. level to make sure the shelf standards are perfectly vertical before screwing them to the cabinet.

Step Six; attach drawer slides to standards

standards

photos: Smith-Baer

6. ATTACH the drawer slides to the cabinet by snapping the metal clips into the slots in the standards.

Step Seven; screw in sliding rail of drawer slide

photos: Smith-Baer

7. SCREW THE SLIDING rail section of the drawer slide to the side of the shelf 1/2 in. up from the bottom edge.

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Easy Upgrades That Say Welcome Home

Every homeowner could use more kitchen storage space. The two most common ways to gain extra storage are to add an island or peninsula or enlarge the kitchen. Both are effective, though they require the extra room and a healthy savings account.

A more efficient approach is to upgrade existing cabinetry to make better use of your storage space. Our cure is to build full-extension, glide-out shelves for base cabinets. Why? Most base cabinets are used for storing pots, pans, mixing bowls and other bulky items. Because the 24-in.-deep cabinets are just big, empty boxes, a lot of space gets wasted. Plus, glide-out shelves keep things organized and provide easy access without your having to bend over.

Building the shelves yourself isn't expensive. The cost for all the lumber, hardware and finishing supplies to construct two shelves for our 30-in.-wide cabinet was about $100. That's a lot less than manufacturers' prices of $75 to $115 per shelf as add-on accessories for 24- to 36-in.-wide cabinets.