Video /
Aug 12, 2019

The Fastest and Easiest Way to Install Cabinet Handles

Contractor and carpenter Kody Horvey, of Up to Kode, uses a foolproof jig to make the cabinet handle installation perfect every time.

"Every situation is different," Horvey says of kitchen cabinet installs. "These rails are different, different sizes of handles, different spacing, different sizes of drawers, everything."

So how does he make sure that the handles wind up even and consistent every time? "I make a jig that's totally symetrical and universal, it doesn't matter which way it's flipped or spun. You can't screw it up."

Horvey builds the jig so that when it's held up to the bottom corner of the cabinet door, it's holes line up exactly where holes should be drilled into the cabinet for the handle. Using the same jig on each door will ensure that all of the door handles are perfectly consistent.

Horvey also has a trick for cabinet drawer handles.

"Drawers get a little trickier," Horvey explains.

He created a jig based on the narrowest cabinet, which is 18 inches wide. He marked the jig with two sets of holes, one for the 5-inch top drawers, and another for the rest of the drawers, which have a 3.5-inch top rail. The holes are centered for each.

"What's nice about the jigs is that once they are set up once, doors [take] literally five minutes to drill them all, drawers [take] literally five minutes to drill them all, and it just makes it really fast and efficient," Horvey says.