Medicine cabinets are an important element of most any bathroom furnishings

Medicine cabinets were originally conceived to work as effective storage areas for medicines, lotions, and perfumes.  Nobody is reasonably positive what time they were relocated into the bathroom, however for some reason this room was chosen to store lots of different substances used in day to day living. Medicine cabinets used to be simple in design and purpose and it isn’t until recent times that anyone gave some real consideration to how they looked.  Medicine cabinets nowadays are sold in a wide variety of types, dimensions and finishes, consequently matching the look of the bathroom is simple. You can acquire medicine cabinets in square and rectangular sizes, recessed or surface mounted and in either wood finishes or metal finishes. You can even adjust the position of your medicine cabinet. Gone are the days when they were always located over the bathroom sink.

When shopping for your new medicine cabinet you could go to just about any home products store, hardware store or large retail store and discover several types of medicine cabinets. However, if you desire the best selection and prices you ought to consider doing a little research via the web before buying the cabinet. There are many honest online suppliers offering every style of medicine cabinet that you can imagine and they typically offer lower prices, because overhead is usually lower with internet suppliers.

There are two methods to install almost any cabinet: recessed or flush mounting and surface mounting.  Recessed mounting must be left to someone who has done it previously for the reason that it involves cutting the wallboard open and maybe needing to cut the studs if the cabinet is wider than 16 inches.  Surface mounted medicine cabinets are installed very easily by either screwing them straight to the studs or installing a few supports and hanging them similar to hanging a picture on the wall.  While mounting the medicine cabinet it is important to bear in mind that it could be somewhat heavy, so you will need to ensure it’s securely mounted to the wall studs. If this is the case, you will need to employ heavy duty brackets, which generally come with the cabinet.

The first step is to locate the studs where you will be securing the cabinet.  If you possess a stud finder (obtainable in most hardware store tool sections) locate the center of the two studs the cabinet should cover and mark the wall.  If you do not have a stud finder, take a small finishing nail and use trial and error to locate the 2x4s.  Tap mildly on the wall with your finger in a horizontal direction until the sound lowers, then gently drive the nail in a minimum of 3/4 in. to find out if you discovered air or wood.  If you found wood, drive the nail in two additional times, 1/2 in. to the left and right of the first hole.  This way you will estimate where the center of the stud is.  It isn’t critical that you hit the middle precisely, but you do want the screws to have a lasting “bite.”  If for some reason you can not find the studs you must utilize hollow wall anchors; the screw-in types are the easiest to work with and are extremely solid.  And do not be bothered about all those small holes you made; the cabinet should conceal them.  

The next step is to line up the cabinet with the studs.   Position the cabinet with the top barely beneath your center marks or the holes and make sure it is in the horizontal location you desire.  Do not worry about leveling it yet.  Mark the top of the cabinet, then put it down and pencil in two perpendicular lines from the marks on the top of the cabinet to the base.  Drill the required holes on these two lines.  Four holes should be enough, however if the cabinet is particularly heavy, make six or maybe eight holes.  Author’s note: when it comes to hanging things on the wall, I am a firm believer in “too much is barely enough”.

After the holes are drilled in the cabinet, place it on the wall exactly where you want it, level it,  check the position again, double check your level, and then mark the holes on the wall.  Put the cabinet back on the counter, and using a drill bit that is roughly half the thickness of the screw, drill pilot holes in the wall where you marked them and then carefully screw in the hardware.  Make certain the holes are completely ready prior to putting in the cabinet.  The explanation for doing it this way is to make holding the cabinet and screwing it in a lot more convenient, not to mention more accurate.

Hold the cabinet in place, screw it in, ensure all fasteners are tight, tidy up the mess, and put the tools back in their place.   Next, fill up the cabinet and you are done.