This seems like it's a fairly straight forward question, but I've seen conflicting answers. I have a U-shaped alcove that I'm going to put in four, 24" cabinets. It seems like the rough framing should be 97" wide (4×24" + 2 x 0.5" for the drywall). Does the opening need to be more than that? Seems like if it were too wide than you'd have unsightly gaps. Since the alcove is deeper than the cabinets, it seems like you'd be able to smoosh (or cut out) any drywall if the wall varied any less than 97" (well, up to 1" total of play).
Drywall – How wide of an opening for framing cabinets
cabinetsdrywallframing
Best Answer
People usually assume that framing will be out of plumb and/or not straight, so allow an extra inch or two in the finished opening. That gap gets filled by filler strip that's custom scribed to the opening.