We did have about a 2 inch gap between the two rails but it’s in the middle of the very center cabinet which is not going to be a big deal. Magnetic Drill Bit Holder. We had to also cut out some of the drywall further down (behind the 36 inch cabinet) and use the sheet metal because the pipes were causing it to stick out too far there also and causing our cabinets to not be level. So, on one wall, the base cabinet railing ended at dry wall and there was about 16 inches to the next stud which was bothersome so Bryon put some dry wall anchors at the end and since it is a base cabinet – most of the weight will be supported by the legs so it shouldn’t be a big deal, but we were concerned about the wall cabinets on that side.  We left about 17 inches of space between the wall cabinets and the counter top which is on the lower end of space so we didn’t want to eat into that space anymore than we had to. If you are having trouble finding studs, you can also just drill some test holes because you can tell if you hit a stud or not when you drill the pilot hole though this is not ideal because you could hit a pipe or water line (eeek!!). But this particular item is one of the more expensive elements in a kitchen. Boom! Here’s some pictures of our rails (please ignore the mess): On the long wall (on this rail hangs the base sink cabinet and the 36 incher next to it): On the long wall (this is the rail for the 12 inch cabinet – the only thing that hangs on it): On the long wall – here’s the 2 wall cabinet rails side by side with a tiny gap in between (couldn’t get the whole rail on the other side in the same pic): Boom! Cutting utility holes. It just made all my fillings hurt for some reason. SUSPENSION RAIL.   The pantry would not fit in the space we had with the legs on it so my husband sawed down the legs so that we would be able to get them underneath the pantry. So, next, you want to get the metal suspension rail actually hung. We did on occasion drill through the metal rail for a couple of the studs because we figured it’s better to get the rail attached to the stud than not and we couldn’t get all the holes to line up with the studs perfectly. Put your screws in most of the way but not all the way. Suspension rails for Ikea cabinets such as the Akurum model are supplied in 80-inch lengths. Mount IKEA Besta cabinets using the bolts that came with the installation kit.  This is important to do before you hang the rails.  :-p. My husband had to cut out the holes for the plumbing a little wider to accommodate the half-inch which he was super bummed about because the holes were miraculously perfect the first time (when things are miraculously perfect it’s usually a sign that something else is wrong – immediately start looking for the something else :-p). Attach suspension rails to wall.  We’ve been holding on to these suckers for quite some time now – it’s time to get them in place. The bottom of the base suspension rail should be 32 3⁄16 inches (81.8 cm) from the highest point of the floor.  We discovered that with the drywall around the pipes, the wall stuck out too much at the bottom and made it impossible to level the base cabinets around the sink area. So, we left a gap of 30 1/4 inches for the oven and exactly 24 inches for the dishwasher since these are usually a bit smaller than 24. 4. Full set of replacement IKEA AKURUM Suspension Rail Set. General process I used for installing rail: Hold rail so that bottom of the rail is on your line, lining up the holes with as many studs as possible Place 4′ level on top of rail and adjust until it is level Have a friend use a pencil to mark the holes you want to use This is how we secured the panel to the wall: This is how we secured the panel to the floor on the dishwasher side: Adjusting the cabinets to make sure symmetric. Don’t give up!!! Preparing to hang the metal suspension rails from IKEA. It’s just so hard to get it off and on the rail that we were really trying to avoid that so putting it in last after we made sure there were no gaps was the smartest option. Ultimately, you need that 6/8 inches in order to have room to hang the cabinets on the rail itself, but there’s a way you could forgo that if you want to do the extra work of first hanging the metal cabinet clips onto the rail and then someone holds the cabinet up while you screw the cabinet clip into the cabinet.  We debated going lower to have more space between the wall cabinet and base cabinet but ultimately decided to just use the standard because we wanted to make sure to have space for the legs (though we did saw the legs down to fit them underneath the pantry, it would be extra work to do that to every leg) and also to make sure the counter wasn’t too low. Heck, I’m thinking about moving in! Measure twice install once (or whatever the saying is). I'm also a mother to a trio of beautiful girls and wife to a wonderful husband. I kept thinking of all the people I could call and even dreamed of selling the building altogether. You will have to pull them out a bit to get cables in there and sometimes they have to go on either side of the pads on the back of the cabinet – you’ll want to make sure you have that figured out and get them in place. I'm Denise.  You’ll have to cut a notch out of the cover panel so that the metal rail can run behind it, but make sure you make this notch deep enough (length-wise) or you will have a hard time getting the pantry off of the metal rail like we did.  The rails are only about 84 inches long and one of our walls was 161.5 inches so we had to use 2 rails. The suspension rails are made up of thick galvanized steel which is a very good way to secure your cabinets.  So, we picked these 3 inchers: Now, on one side, we have a little 12 inch cabinet between the cabinet and oven which doesn’t bode well with the metal hanging rail because the metal hanging rail was only barely going to reach one stud at the end of it and that would not be much support. You’re done! Suspension rails are required for safety. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. You’ll want to have all the cut outs for plumbing and electrical done before securing the cabinets to each other, as well. Maybe take a break and have a glass of wine or a cookie, but don’t give up! Drill the suspension rail into the wall using the anchor screws and regular screws. Fasten your rails, base cabinet rails first.  Because what good are kitchen cabinets if they are not installed, right?  We bought outlet boxes that have a lead screw on them so that they adjust in and out – since the cabinets have a gap between the wall and cabinet (due to the metal hanging rails).  I can’t remember what that height is right now but I’ll try to add it here later. 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