One customer's feedback fixed my drawer front gaps overnight

After 8 years of building cabinets, a client in Spokane told me my reveals looked tight on the left side but loose on the right. I always measured off the face frame, but she pointed out I was ignoring the subtle twist in her old floor. Switched to setting each door with a spacer block against the adjacent box, not the frame, and now my gaps stay within 1/16 inch across a full run. Anyone else run into this and found a better way to handle uneven subs?

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susansingh2d ago

Spacer blocks off the adjacent box sounds smart until the boxes themselves aren't set plumb or square, which is half the old kitchens I tear out. Then you're just stacking one error on top of another and the gaps look fine at the top rail but wander at the bottom. Chasing a twisted floor with cabinet reveals is a losing game anyway, because that floor is going to keep moving with the seasons and your 1/16 inch won't hold. Shim and level the boxes first, then the face frame becomes the honest reference again.

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