Water Damaged Cabinet to Pull-Out Kitchen Island!

Due to an undiscovered leak in a nearby sliding door, water damage to one of the lower kitchen cabinets went undetected until the damage was pretty bad. Removing and trashing the cabinet seemed like the only option, or was it?!

Take a look at how we used this damage kitchen cabinet to make a rolling kitchen island!

Materials/Tools:

1. Makita 18V X2 LXT Lithium-Ion (36V) Brushless Cordless 6-1/2 in. Plunge Circular Saw (Home Depot)
2. Makita 55 in. Plunge Saw Guide Rail (Home Depot)
3. Makita 39 in. Plunge Saw Guide Rail (Home Depot)
4. Makita 18V LXT Sub-Compact Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 2-piece Combo Kit (Driver-Drill/Impact Driver) 1.5Ah (Home Depot)
5. Cabinet Pulls 15 Inch (Amazon)
6. Everbilt 2 in. Caster (Home Depot)
7. Husky 26 in. Hardwood Tool Cabinet Top for Rolling Cabinet (Home Depot)
8. Japanese Pullsaw (Amazon)
9. KREG Cabinet Hardware Jig (Amazon)

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Shortly before heading off on a week-long vacation in the summer of 2024, we discovered water damage on the bottom corner of this cabinet. There was nothing we could do at that point, but after returning home, we took a look at it and decided to removed the cabinet to see where the water that damaged the cabinet was coming from. The cabinet is made of particle board so the water had swelled the bottom pretty significantly. Once we took the cabinet out there was even more damage around the base.

Once the cabinet was out we determined the water leak was from the sliding door next to the cabinet. The old kitchen cabinet sat in the garage for a few months until we decided if we could repair and reuse it. Also, we were waiting until the old door was replaced.

In the meantime, we repaired the wall behind the cabinet and patched the floor.

The first picture is the sliding door before and the wall next to it with the cabinet removed. The second is after we hired a company to replace the old door and before any work was done of the wall and floor.

We decided that in order to reuse the cabinet we'd have to cut the back of the cabinet off to remove the part that was too damaged to reuse. We cut the cabinet using a track saw making a cut on each side and top and bottom, matching up the cut lines as we moved around the cabinet.

Cutting the bottom was the trickiest part but by using a track saw and Japanese pull saw we were able to fully cut through it. With the back portion removed, we were pleased to see the cabinet still maintained its structural integrity.

You can see more detail about the cutting process in the video.

Because we cut the back off, we lost the second row of shelf pin holes. Saving time, we only made a few rather than put in a full row. A decision we ultimately regretted. We should have gone ahead and cut an entire row of shelf pin holes.

At some point in the design process, we decided to turn the cabinet upside down. In doing so, we now needed a solid board for the bottom. The old plastic laminate countertop was cut down to size and worked perfectly. Using the tape on the edge kept the laminate from chipping.

Since the bottom was now going to be the top of the island it needed a lot of repair to prep it for paint. The old paint needed to be peeled off and sanded, holes needed to be filled, a few raised areas needed smoothing, and a couple of coats of primer was needed before the final paint was applied.

Once all the repair and painting was finished, we added casters to the bottom.

The countertop is actually a replacement top for a small Husky toolbox. We've had this brand new one for a while and decided it would be perfect for this project. We cut it to size on the table saw and finished the cut edge with polyurethane.

We attached it to the top (which is actually the bottom of the cabinet) with brackets and screws. Because the bottom is now the top, we got this bonus space which we can access through the back which is the perfect place for placemats and trays.

Before adding the back, we cut the existing shelves to size and put them into place. We then stapled a thin board to the back to finish it.

The cabinet doors only needed a bit of cleaning before being put back on. We did take off the handles and gave them a fresh coat of spray paint. We also added a large handle underneath the countertop to use to move the island in out easily.

In the first picture you can see the old cabinet in place that served as a place to hold the microwave oven. The new improved cabinet was reimagined to fit under the new microwave cabinet we built. The wheels on the island gives it the flexibility to be moved to where it is needed.

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