How to fix rotted cabinet bottom?

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by elacklen

Thanks for the advice. We're preparing to rent the house so this problem has to be fixed instead of ignored. I was fine leaving it as is until hubby pushed his fingers through it (!)
The cabinets are solid wood (maple I think?) but the bottoms of this appear to be particle. There is at least an inch between the cabinet bottom and the floor. I'll try to attach another pic. Sorry the first is so small.
It doesn't have to look good but it has to be structurally sound.
Are we better off hiring someone? We can't afford to redo all the cabinets in the kitchen. This is the only one that has an issue. The cabinet floor and wall on the other side (to the left) is fine.

It's not maple. Your face frame is knotty pine, great in it's day but has Dinosaur foot prints on it. The box carcass is not only particle board but it's the old obsolete 15 PSI PB that does indeed dissolve upon contact with water. The space from the cabinet floor to the kitchen floor is 4.5", not 1 inch. No matter.

The floor is datoed to the side panels. Smash the old floor out, it will not bother the sides. Build a floor joist like platform. This has to be done in 2 pieces as I mentioned in my first post because your center stile is smack in the way. You will have to figure out how high that platform has to be. The finished cab floor that sits on the platform has to have a finished height to a quarter inch below the top of the faceframe upper edge. Wow that might make no sense, it's very hard to explain it.

Therefore maybe a Handyman is your ticket. Be careful because most who call themselves Handymen are just unemployed people who have a pickup truck and a tool box. That cab floor will have to go in in 2 pieces because of that center stile. So there will be a seam which you should center behind that center stile.

The new floor can be bought from the big orange who only wants your little green. They sell quarters and thirds of full sheets as a convenience to people who can't carry home 4x8 sheets. If you buy a half sheet, you can cut the floor which should be 23 1/4" x 34.5" assuming your sink base is 36 wide which I believe it is. You only need to use half inch thick material for the floor. So if you buy a third sheet you can cut that floor and have enough scrap of it left to cut the floor platform scrap pieces.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by elacklen

We're preparing to rent the house so this problem has to be fixed instead of ignored.

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Therefore maybe a Handyman is your ticket...

The larger lesson here is that YOU (or your husband) need to be handyman enough
to have solved this problem and all on your own... if you intend to be a landlord.

Beware! as the problems in your future won't become simpler than this one.
"I was fine leaving it as is..." does not bode well for you.

[beachmel]

Rip out your old particleboard and any framing directly beneath it. Measure the area and build 2 bases from (probably) 2"x4"s, obviously avoiding your plumbing. Cut 2 new pieces of (probably) exterior grade plywood, complete with the cutouts for plumbing and install. Simple. I'd put a good coat of primer/paint on it to help protect it from any further damage. To hide the seam, between the two new pieces, lay down some of that non-skid shelf liner.

[Barking Spider]

What I have done in my rental units is this...
Bust out the old shelf.
Add blocking on both sides and in the middle. I think a 2x4 was the right height. Then install a new bottom with two pieces. I used 1/2" plywood.
I then added a thin tile backer board.
I then installed ceramic tile in the bottom, grouted it and was done.
Now if water drips under there, the tile will keep it from rotting the wood again. PLus it looks better than stained or patched up plywood.

I just made sure the blocking I used was the right height to accommodate the tile backer and tile.

[elacklen]

Update-we cut the old stuff out fine, got some new particle board (2 pieces) and some 2x4s. We also got some L-brackets to attach to the existing framework.. Letting it settle a bit then going to nail it all in. Will post pics but so far easy peasy.