Two Easy Ways Of Removing Built-In Shelves
There are usually two ways of supporting cabinets shelves on both sides & lock them in place. These include a dado channel & screw cleats, which will help you attach the shelf. As soon as the cabinet is assembled using one of these methods, it is difficult to pull out the shelf in one piece. You will mostly come across this problem when you remodel cabinets for microwaves, refrigerators, extra appliances or when redoing linen cabinets, closets, as well as bookcases. Built-in shelf removal can be achieved or completed successfully with the help of a few hand tools.
Way 1: Dado Channel
- First of all, keep the doors on the cabinet open as there is no need to remove the doors. Take hold of a reciprocating saw in an upright position, with the blade centralized on the front of the shelf. Turn on the saw and trim across the shelf from front to back as close to the middle of the shelf as possible. If in case the shelf has a center stile, trim on one of the sides of the stile. You will not be able to trim entirely through the shelf. Trim as far as possible or as long as the base of the saw prevents you from trimming any further.
- Tap upward on one side of the shelf with the help of a rubber mallet. If the piece is difficult to move, remove, or cure and won't loosen, then make another cut on the shelf from front to back putting down the second cut 4 inches from the first, angling it back in a diagonal direction in a pie shape to intersect the first cut line.
- Tap on the pie-shaped section in order to break it off and then eliminate it from the cabinet. Tap upward on the rest of the sections on the left and right to loosen them. If they don't fall out, take hold of them with your hands. Move the sections up and down as long as they loosen and pull them out of the dado channels, and out via the front of the cabinet. Get rid of any nails or staples with the help of diagonal pliers.
Way 2: Cleat Method
- Firstly, eliminate 1 1/4-inch vertical screws from the top of the shelf throughout the perimeter with the help of a drill or screwdriver. The screws attach the shelf to strips of lumber or cleats underneath it. Take out the shelf from the cabinet. If the shelf is too wide to adjust through the cabinet opening, then trim it in half with the help of a reciprocating saw. If the shelf is nailed on, move to the next step.
- Hit or beat the tip of a pry bar, using a hammer, underneath the shelf betwixt it and the cleat. Pry upward in order to loosen the shelf. Continue doing this through the length of the shelf as well as on both sides to release the shelf from the cleats. Take out the shelf from the cabinet.
- Eliminate 1 1/4-inch, parallel & straight screws from the 3/4-inch thick strips or cleats that were beneath the shelf, with the help of a drill or screwdriver. You will in all likelihood locate four screws on each side, and screws through the backspaced about 8 inches apart. If there are no screws, then the cleats are nailed on and need a different removal process.
- Place, fit, or push the head of a pry bar beneath the cleats on both sides betwixt the cleat and the cabinet wall. Tap it upward marginally with the help of a mallet. Pry the cleats away from the cabinet walls before getting rid of them.