Installing Recessed Medicine Cabinet In Load Bearing Wall

Installing a recessed cabinet such as a medicine cabinet wall safe.

Installing recessed medicine cabinet in load bearing wall.

One way to do this was to have things built in to the wall since our space is fairly small enter the recessed medicine cabinet. A recessed medicine cabinet needs to be anchored inside the wall to a rectangle of framing the center of which must be clear of obstructions. That is the job of the framing. So the first order of business in installing one before you even buy the cabinet is looking inside the wall see step 2 to be sure there are no obstacles that can t be moved.

A quick medicine cabinet installation project with my buddy ellis who was kind enough to allow me to document the destruction of his guest bathroom. We could have easily just hung this on the wall since it s only about 4 inches deep altogether but putting it into the wall in between the studs really just seemed like the best option to make the space feel. Hold the cabinet in place and use a level to make sure it s perfectly straight then open the doors and mark the installation holes. This is why god invented surface mounted medicine cabinets.

To install a surface mounted medicine cabinet scan the wall with a stud finder and use a pencil to mark the location of the beams. If there is a stud in the center of your cabinet location be sure there are no critical attachments to it. Installing a medicine cabinet in a load bearing wall is doable but if it s not done properly it could lead to a sagging floor ceiling. 3 even though this may not be a load bearing wall once you eliminate one or two of the continuous studs you have now compromised the integrity of the wall.

If you re planning to install the recessed medicine cabinet above the sink kohler recommends choosing a cabinet that offers 3 inches of space between the bottom of the vanity light fixture and the top of the cabinet and another 3 inches between the bottom of the cabinet and the top of the faucet. However if your cabinet is narrow enough to fit between two studs then load bearing shouldn t be an issue. The medicine cabinet would never hang true and plumb for long hung from the wall board alone.