# How to fill a gap between wall and cabinet



## cburdick1 (Jan 22, 2010)

Well, here's another question on my cabinetry project. I've finished construction on my pull-out pantry. However, before I pull it all apart to paint it, I need to fill the gap between the face frame and the wall.

Here's a shot of the whole gap (it's hard to see in this photo). The Face Frame is flush with the wall at the top, but the gap widens to about 3/8" by the time it reaches the bottom.










Below is a detail of the gap:










As the corner of the wall isn't flat/plumb, I need to fill that gap somehow.

Suggestions? My initial idea is to install a drywall corner, blocking the back of it with some scrap wood, then smear on compound and sand it flush. I think that would provide a better finish than just a bunch of caulk.


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## bauerbach (Mar 25, 2012)

scribing the wood face frame to the countour of the wall might have been and option, that ship may have sailed.

With that said, I feel like that design calls for an overlay of the frame to the wall, some sort of casing


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## cburdick1 (Jan 22, 2010)

I thought about scribing the face frame, making the face frame proud and overlapping the wall... there are constraints in the project that wouldn't allow for those options (existing construction be damned).


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*there appears tom be a drywall corner in place*

Can you just remove the existing corner, maybe leave it off alltogether and rework the corner using a wedge of 1 X , or as you mentioned a build up of some wood and drywall compound?

My house is trimmed with only the door jambs projecting into the room 3/8", no casings for a clean modern look. It meant getting the drywall pretty darn close to perfect up to the jambs, usually only about an 1/8" gap to fill with caulk. Your situation is similar. 

A more ambitious solution is to remove the drywall corner, align it with the face frame and reinstall it...not plumb.


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

What about a filler wood strip from the face frame to the wall instead? Redoing the corner sounds like a lot of work - 2 walls to be redone to get that corner not plum. Make strip match face frame...may get away with just gluing it on to the face frame. BTW...I barely know what I'm doing so take that into account.


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## unclefester (Aug 23, 2013)

I'm guessing the face frame is straight and the corner bead is crooked.
If so, I would not scribe the face frame as your eye will pick up on the opening being crooked.

My would pull off the corner bead and out in a new tear away bead in the corner and mud. In a hurry between coats? Use 90 min compound and the whole job can be accomplished in a few hours.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

I vote 2ndlast... measure the top gap and how long before the gap closes (say it is 3 ft.) Choose your wood and measure a straight line from the top to the closing gap. Rip just outside of the line on your band saw or any way you can make a proud cut. On your jointer, join a straight line to match your desired cut. Don't own a jointer? Hand plane to the line.

We wood workers are our worst critics. Every time I see I see a previous build, my mistakes jump out at me while nobody else see them.


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## cburdick1 (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks for the replies everyone!


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## unclefester (Aug 23, 2013)

cburdick1 said:


> Thanks for the replies everyone!


What did you end up doing?


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

was2ndlast said:


> What about a filler wood strip from the face frame to the wall instead? Redoing the corner sounds like a lot of work - 2 walls to be redone to get that corner not plum. Make strip match face frame...may get away with just gluing it on to the face frame. BTW...I barely know what I'm doing so take that into account.



That's exactly what I would do. And in fact, it's what cabinet installers do when encountering situations such as this. 
Every time we send a kitchen out, we send filler strips with it. They are finished to match the face frames and can be cut on site to fit the gap, and pin nailed or glued to the face frame before it is permanently installed. 
If you're careful to get a perfect fitting joint, you could attach a filler using glue & clamps BEFORE finishing the face frame. Then finish all as if it were one piece. It would blend well then.


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## oldwindows (Jun 8, 2012)

Cut casing, as someone suggest. Apply it to the face of your face frame and the corner of the sheetrock. This casing should be less wide than your faceframe, and miter or butt at the tops. Cut back the baseboard and shoe molding and install plinth blocks for the bottom. Casing rises out of plinth.


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## sancho57 (Oct 23, 2011)

There is no real right and wrong way to solve this. All the effort is to hide the gap from the wall to the cab.
if you ask 5 woodworkers how to do something you will get 15 answers.

Here is my 2 pence worth. I would stain a peace to match the cab, rip a thin strip a little wider then the widest gap. Hot glue it in place then hit it with some pin nails. Make it a little decorative like a round over on the Cab side. 

In the future make the f/f wide enough on the wall side that will allow you to scribe and cut the f/f to the wall. But for now yea just wanna hide the gap.

Please tell us what you ended up doing and show a photo. Inquiring minds wanna know :>)


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## cburdick1 (Jan 22, 2010)

Hello all,

I've deleted the original pictures by accident, so hopefully you remember what the oridingal problem looked like. There was a gap between the existing wall and the face frame that I built that tapered from flush at the top to approximately 1/4" wide and 1/8" back (from plumb) at the bottom of the face frame.

What I did: I spread a bundh of drywall compound inside a paper covered steel drywall corner that was cut slightly longer than the height of the corner that I needed to fix. I then smushed (technical term) the new corner onto the existing out of plumb corner and then installed the face frame, pushing the new corner into place and adjusting from the top down. Once I got it pretty even, I left it alone for 2 days allowing the compound to dry. I then removed the face frame and using my poor drywall finishing skills, added compound and blended the new corner into the existing wall. Because the change was pretty substantial, I blended from about 18" away from the corner. The resulting product looks pretty solid, in my opinion.

Wide angle:









Detail with cabinet open









Detail with cabinet closed


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