Do you have gaps between your kitchen cabinets or perhaps in between a cabinet and a wall. If so the you’ve come to the right place lets explore these amazing kitchen cabinet filler ideas that will improve your home.
We will discuss all the different options you have to fill any empty space around any cabinet, refrigerator, stove, range, range, microwave, dishwasher, or sink area.
What are the best kitchen cabinet filler ideas
Wood Panel Strip Filler
By far the #1 idea and professional recommendation is to use a wood cabinet filler strip stock board which are like color matched kitchen filler panels that blend in with your cabinets seamlessly. The filler strips are basically a cabinet spacer board that will be attached to the side of your face frame by screwing into place.
Wood Scribe Trim
If the space or gap opening is less than 3/4 inches thick then you can use a wood scribe trim that can overlay the cabinet edges and simply nail it into place. Scribe should already be installed around all the cabinet edges that are against the wall.
Caulking
A good cabinet wall filler is a color matched caulk with your kitchen cabinets or color of your wall, it is really your preference . If we are talking about caulking then we are speaking about a gaps that are less than 1/16th of an inch wide and no more than an 1/8th. It is possible that your wall bows in certain areas and so you can caulk these gaps
Beyond Filler Ideas
The term “Filler” is literally any product, trim, or application that covers any gap, space, or void beside a cabinet, appliance, or desired location. (speaking in kitchen terms)
There a lots of products and applications out there that you can explore such as
- Foam Tape
- Spray Foam
- Metal and Plastic Fillers
More than wood solutions are also available. It is al about creativity and how you can best adapt a filler that works for your kitchen.
How do you install panel strip fillers for cabinets?
Screwing It
The Best way to secure a panel strip filler to a cabinet and that is to screw it. Normally the sides of the front face frame of cabinet is about an 1.5 to 2 inches wide so you will need at least a 2 and a half inch screw to successfully secure your filler.
How to screw a cabinet filler properly
- Predrill on the top, middle, and lower areas of sides of face frame of the cabinet from the inside, assuming you want to add the filler on that outside.
- Set the filler flush with top, bottom and front face frame and clamp or secure tightly for next step.
- Begin screwing starting from one side and work your way across.
- Make sure the head of your screws sinks into the wood only enough for the the screw head to be flush with wood. Not sticking out and not in too deep.
- If you have a tiny space between your side of cabinet and side of added on filler then this means that there was an accumulation of wood particles in between so take the screw back out and then insert it again. You may have to repeat this step several times or try removing the particles in the way.
- Cover the screw heads with a color matching round sticker that is cabinet grade or color them in with the color kit if provided.
Nailing It
You may only have to nail the filler if it is not that big and less then an inch thick. However you will have to nail this filler from the outside of filler going into the cabinet side of face frame with a 1.5 inch nail while making sure you keep the nail gun straight aligned with edge of face frame so it does not pop out on you and crack the cabinet finish.
Gluing It
This is the last alternative when adding fillers to cabinets, If your filler is in a hard to reach location which is impossible for your screw gun or nail gun to reach then you will have to add Glue to the side of your filler and place where you need it and tape it in place until the adhesive has dried.
Kitchen Appliances Wood Filler Solution Ideas
Cabinet filler next to Stove/Range
The standard opening for all stoves is 30.25 inches, only .25 bigger than the microwave or range space above it. Reason why is that the countertop should overhang past the cabinet side wall to form a drip edge to allow spills to go to floor and not into the cabinet wood components that could rot over time.
“I have a Big Gap beside my stove!”
If this sounds like you then you should consider adding the wood filler strips as we just talked about. Try splitting the difference and placing a same size filler on each side of stove to keep the balance.
Oven cabinet filler panel
Not all oven cabinets are cut to size just how you need them. Sometimes they come with smaller openings so that you can custom cut an opening for your oven appliance that was selected. This means if you got a double oven or split unit then you will have to add fillers on middle area or sides to keep the oven cabinet aesthetics.
Once you cut your opening for your oven then proceed to adding extra support on the bottom floor either by using 2x4s or 2x2s to make a solid floor for all those heavy units to sit on securely.
Fridge cabinet filler
If your fridge cabinet is way up high above your refrigerator then you have the option of adding a filler underneath the fridge cabinet flush with face frame to bring down the design.
To install simply predrill on the bottom inner side of fridge face frame on 3 spots (left, center, and right) then proceed to screwing your filler into place.
Cabinet filler for microwave
The microwave cabinets are the opposite from oven cabinets, they mostly send their cabinets with the opening too big so the leave us the job of closing in the sides and top with color matched cabinet filler strips that we can cut into size and fit right in. It helps to pockets screw these pieces from the inside to prevent any movement over time. Always follow manufacture cut out diagrams since every appliance is installed differently.
Cabinet filler for dishwasher
The fillers are used a lot for the construction of the dishwasher space since there is no dishwasher cabinet that is built for this. The dishwasher cabinet is composed of a lot of different wood fillers and panels in combination with the cabinet joints.
The dishwasher panel is a large 24″ x 34.5″ x (3/4″-3″) that needs to adapted to your kitchen wall with a cleat running across the back and screwed into the studs of your wall for the purpose of supporting the countertop weight that will be hovering over the dishwasher. The dishwasher panel will with the counter weight as well. Most countertop company do not provide the strip that runs across the front top parts of the dishwasher space so you will have to add the dishwasher skirt yourself making it only 0.5 inches thick so it does not interfere with the height of the dishwasher and that skirt piece will also be used to screw the dishwasher in place to prevent it from tipping forward.
How do I hide the gap between my kitchen cabinets and dishwasher?
If you have a very large space between your kitchen cabinets and dishwasher then what you need is a cabinet panel filler strip that measures the size of your opening. Every home and kitchen is designed differently so the cabinet manufactures send these filler bigger then what you need them at either 3 inch or 6 inch wide filler and then its up to us to cut them down to size and install.
Do you need space around a dishwasher
Yes, depends how big if larger than a 1/4″ then you need to use a cabinet filler in that point. If less then that 1/4″ then you are fine, Most dishwasher come with protective and water absorbent cloth that acts like insulation and it goes over your dishwasher like a blanket so it should cover most of the gap area if not too big.
What is the standard dishwasher opening supposed to be?
The standard Dishwasher opening is 24 1/4″ wide. This is a universal measurements that all builders and installers use unless you will be using a non standard dishwasher like something commercial or heavy duty.
Overview
We hope you have learned a lot today about cabinet filler panel strips and how to use them in the right scenario, just keep in mind it is all about creativity and the whole point is to make your kitchen your design and adapt it to your style by using a little a bit of standard guidance along the way to get started in the right path.
If you would like to know more about dishwashers and cabinet come check out our popular post where we discuss them more in depth.
“& Until Next Time”
