Installing Recessed Medicine Cabinet In Load Bearing Wall

A quick medicine cabinet installation project with my buddy ellis who was kind enough to allow me to document the destruction of his guest bathroom.

Installing recessed medicine cabinet in load bearing wall.

The medicine cabinet would never hang true and plumb for long hung from the wall board alone. A recessed medicine cabinet needs to be anchored inside the wall to a rectangle of framing the center of which must be clear of obstructions. One way to do this was to have things built in to the wall since our space is fairly small enter the recessed medicine cabinet. If the wall is load bearing but you can comfortably locate the.

If there is a stud in the center of your cabinet location be sure there are no critical attachments to it. 3 even though this may not be a load bearing wall once you eliminate one or two of the continuous studs you have now compromised the integrity of the wall. This ensures plenty of clearance for opening and closing the cabinet door. This is why god invented surface mounted medicine cabinets.

You may want to call a pro. If you re planning to install the recessed medicine cabinet above the sink kohler recommends choosing a cabinet that offers 3 inches of space between the bottom of the vanity light fixture and the top of the cabinet and another 3 inches between the bottom of the cabinet and the top of the faucet. Hold the cabinet in place and use a level to make sure it s perfectly straight then open the doors and mark the installation holes. However if your cabinet is narrow enough to fit between two studs then load bearing shouldn t be an issue.

That is the job of the framing. Installing a medicine cabinet in a load bearing wall is doable but if it s not done properly it could lead to a sagging floor ceiling. To install a surface mounted medicine cabinet scan the wall with a stud finder and use a pencil to mark the location of the beams.