Replies

1. 
   calvin_ | Dec 10, 2000 02:30pm | #1

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   Unless you hang it from the wall, the carpet will crush out and it'll move around. Shimming the front is a problem cuz it sits on the tack strip at the wall. You might try to install just a toe kick base and shim that and try to pull it down tite and right, and then install the bookshelf fastened at the back to the wall so most of the weight is taken from the wall, not sitting on the carpet. Cutting berber nice after installed has never come out perfect for me. Best of luck.

1. 
   GACC_DAllas | Dec 11, 2000 04:26am | #2

   *Hey Wm., (or is it Bill?)Is this furniture or cabinetry? Either way, you could just set it on top of the carpet, and have the option of taking it with you when you move without leaving a hole in the carpet. If you bought a book shelf at the furniture store, would you cut back the carpet? Would you screw it to the wall? Would you cut it to accommodate the base? I don't think so. The choice is yours. Just because you make it doesn't make it any less a piece of furniture. We build things that are a cross between cabinetry and furniture all the time. We usually just set them in place and walk away. Just like real furniture. If it's to be screwed to the wall and calked in like a true "built-in" then that's another story. Roll back the carpet, install the unit, paint and calk, and call in the carpet people. that's what you do with a true "built-in". It doesn't take much to turn a cabinet into a piece of furniture. Like I said, the choice is yours to make.Ed. Williams

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   HomeBldr_ | Dec 15, 2000 07:38am | #3

   *In addition to what Ed said, I would also pull the base and cut it to fit the new built-ins. Its a lot easier to reinstall baseboard than cope a profile in 3/4" material. Plus it will again look like a real built-in

1. 
   Greg_Gibson | Dec 15, 2000 07:02pm | #4

   *To add to what Ed said, I would ask myself if I would remove the unit and take it with me when I sell the house sometime in the future. Some of us take great pride in our work and can't bear to leave it behind. If that's going to be the case, it might be a mistake to cut the carpet.If you're custom building for this house and this house only, I would cut back the carpet, set the unit on the subfloor and install tackless and base as you would for any built in. The unit will never move, and you'll have a good looking finished room.Good luck with your project. Greg.

1. 
   splintergroupie_ | Dec 15, 2000 08:12pm | #5

   *I did a couple walls of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves for a lawyer and her professor husband--lots o' books! Screwed down base as tight as possible over carpet (their choice) and attached cabinet units to wall, but when it was loaded and sat for a year it still had pulled from the ceiling about 3/16" so i had to run another layer of trim. I think all that weight may actually have caused the floor to move some, too. I guess this is only a prob if you run cabs clear to ceiling.I prefer Ed's solution, but a heavy cabinet can cause permanent marking on a carpet.

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   GACC_DAllas | Dec 16, 2000 12:49am | #6

   *Hey Splints,That is a draw back. I can't tell you how many homes we go into to remodel and you can see where the furniture was for all those years. I don't think you can get that kind of serious depression out of carpet. But then again, I could be wrong.Ed.

3. 
   Jeff_J._Buck | Dec 16, 2000 07:39am | #7

   *Use a sharper blade!......then try and tuck in and hide all the loose strands before the customer notices.....just like the carpet guy did! Jeff

4. 
   Adrian_Wilson | Dec 16, 2000 03:16pm | #8

   *If you decide to cut the carpet, another possibility is to go with plastic adjustable leg levellers, with a toekick that clips on to the legs. You can still cope the kick piece to your base, but you can cut the carpet up to the thickness of your kick piece farther back, giving a neater job...kick piece covers the cut. Even if you don't cut the carpet, levellers work great. You could lay down a piece of plywood first for the legs to sit on and spread the weight, maybe avoid any impressions at all in the carpet if you remove the cabinet later.

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   Wm._Gotthardt | Dec 16, 2000 03:16pm | #9

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   I would like to install a built-in-place bookshelf in an area of my house that has a berber style carpet. The carcass will have frame & panel sides, with a faceframe front. I plan to cope the bookshelf base to the wall base. My question involves the carpet...should I cut it to the footprint of the carcass (without the base)? Install tack strips? Any help would be greatly appreciated?

   Cheers, Wm.