I can upload the pictures for you to look at if needed ... thanks
2007-11-01 15:57:35 · 7 answers · asked by big blue 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Decorating & Remodeling
Get a carpenter's level at the hardware store and check it. You will need to check it side to side and front to back.
A level is a useful thing to have around; they're not that expensive and will come in handy hanging shelves or pictures, things like that.
2007-11-01 16:05:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
You can buy a small torpedo level just about any where and they aren't expensive. Set the level on the shelves and the bubble should be in the middle of the two lines in the middle of the level. Same thing if you put the level on the side of the cabinets. Guess you could also fill a clear glass with water and set it on a shelf and see if it tilts one way or the other. You could also try measuring down from the ceiling to the top of the cabinets, but that's not reliable because there's no guarantee that the ceiling is the same height all over.
2007-11-01 23:18:07 · answer #2 · answered by Darby 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having installed cabinets myself as a volunteer builder for Habitat for Humanity, I can tell you that a level is best. I use several levels, ranging from two feet to eight feet. For your purposes, though, you can measure the distance between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet. From one end of the cabinet to the other, this distance should not vary by more than 1/4 inch, or it may be noticeable to the naked eye.
However, wall cabinets don't really have to be level, except as it affects their appearance. It is much more critical that base cabinets (the ones on the floor) are level. This is so that standing water on the countertop won't have a tendency to run in one direction or the other. It should stay where it's at. We commonly use shims on the floor to adjust the height, as well as shims on the wall behind the cabinet to make up for deviations in wall flatness. There is a whole procedure that I won't go into here, but properly installed base cabinets should be level within 1/8 inch from end to end and 1/16 inch from front to rear.
One comment on using a level. We've had volunteers who believe that it is adequate for the bubble to be within the two lines. Not so. The bubble MUST be exactly centered between the lines. And to cancel out calibration errors in the level, flip the level end for end and repeat the measurement.
2007-11-02 06:37:25 · answer #3 · answered by Tech Dude 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is a hand tool called a LEVEL.
Large ones are about the size of a yard stick. It has liquid-filled glass tubes with an air bubble in it. When the bubble is between two marks on the glass, you can see if something is level.
They also have smaller ones about the size of a 12" ruler.
Buy or borrow one.
Seeing a picture probably won't help us.
2007-11-01 23:08:04 · answer #4 · answered by Michelle M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put a glass in your cabinet, and fill it to the "very top" with water. Look around the top of the glass. If the water isn't up to the top edge all the way around the top of the glass your cabinet isn't level.
2007-11-01 23:09:48 · answer #5 · answered by Harry Laborde 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The water trick is a good idea, so is using the proper tool. You can also try setting a marble on the suspicious surface. If it rolls the same way everytime, it isn't level. (esp if it is rolling in the direction that you think is lower.)
2007-11-02 02:19:59 · answer #6 · answered by musicimprovedme 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ball or something round (drinking straw, pen, bead). Set it inside & see if it rolls.
2007-11-02 02:21:57 · answer #7 · answered by Carole Q 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋