Trapezoids and TinkerToys

As with every job, the success of the task is always in the details.  Yesterday Rick took care of a lot of those details.

Obviously, every door needs some kind of a knob, so he started by putting in the knob on the hallway closet.  We paid extra to have pre-hung doors with the knob holes and gains cut out so the knob-installation job would be easy.  Yeah, right.  The doorknob went in fine, but the gain cut out for the striker plate was not where it should have been.  Why can't anyone do anything right anymore?  Rick had to take a chisel and cut out more of the door just to get the striker plate to line up correctly. Sadly, he added the knob to the bathroom closet door today and he had to do exactly the same thing to get that striker plate to fit. At least we have consistency in their screw-ups.

A quick trip to our handy-dandy big box store resulted in melamine white boards that we could cut into shelves.  We wanted to replace all of the shelves in the hallway closet because we suspect they are covered in lead paint.  We discussed buying stock goods, cutting it, and then painting it ourselves.  In the end, we decided to go with the less-expensive, less-work melamine boards.  Since we had to cut out around the central vacuum pipe in the hall closet, the shelves took a little longer than usual to complete.  Additionally, while Rick cut the shelves straight, the walls of the closet definitely were not.  The inside of the closet is more like a trapezoid than it is a rectangle!  What does my sister-in-law call all of these odd things?  Oh, yes: Character.  Add trapezoidal closets to Gladys' charming list of character.

She isn't rectangular, but she's functional.

Nevertheless, the shelves are cut close enough that everything fits securely, and, thankfully, I have more than enough storage. Now how often can a homeowner say that?

Closet doors help the bedroom look more complete.

Yesterday also saw the closet doors go up in the master bedroom.  I love the new organization inside, and although I don't like hauling the doors to one side or the other to get dressed in the morning, I am happy to have the doors give us some privacy back.  Our bedroom faces the street with three big windows, so without the doors, anyone walking down the street could see what we had hanging in the closet.  The doors are massive, but they certainly fit the Key West decor of the room.  I think they make the room look higher; with all of that fresh white paint, they certainly reflect more light into the room!

In the afternoon, we drove to Pinellas Park to meet with Michael, the man who ordered our cabinets for the laundry room.  Those cabinets are a sore subject with both of us because we know Michael will do whatever he can to "pad" the price; however, he is the most convenient source to get the same brand of cabinet that we installed in the kitchen last year.  Last year he quoted us a laundry room cabinet price with the cabinets all assembled and installed.  This year, the price was "slightly higher" and that did not include assembly or installation. Of course, that meant that we had to purchase a staple gun, staples, clamps, and screws to complete the job.  I told Rick that the additional expense for those items would have paid for half of the installation costs that Michael tried to talk us into this year.  In the end, though, we will have a staple gun, staples, and two more clamps to add to our stash of tools.

Additionally, Michael did not order the end panel. Argh-h-h! One of the reasons that we wanted cabinets in the laundry room was to have a refrigerator panel that would enclose the right-hand side of the cabinets from the crown molding to the floor, thus blocking the plumbing from view from the kitchen. Rick has said all along that the order would not be complete, and he was right. Michael is the type who promises things in two weeks, and we have to call a month later to ask where the cabinet might be.  That's what happened this time, so when Michael said he would try to get the end panel added to the next order going to Virginia, I am not depriving myself of oxygen waiting for that panel to arrive.  Can we do the rest of the installation without that?  Yes, and we will.  However, once again, why can't anyone do anything right anymore?

Last night after dinner Rick opened the boxes that contained the cabinets.  As we half-expected, we found two side panels that were bent at the dado join and damaged, and we found two panels that we chipped at the edges.  One of the chipped pieces is on the inside of the base cabinet, so I can live with that.  The other chipped part actually was a piece that we had to trim, so that also worked out.

Rick looked at the two end panels and decided that he could glue them back together. He did that today, and if people did not know the panels were damaged, they would not know.  Thankfully, both panels will just be screwed together in the middle of the bank of cabinets, so neither will be seen.

I thought that today would be a day to finish some of the other projects, but that changed mid-day, too.  During our trip to Lowe's and Home Depot, I bought some new shelf paper for the hall closet.  I lined the shelves, got side-tracked with Rick's new project, but finally got back to it this afternoon.  The hall closet is now complete, and I actually have room to spare in that enclosure also.

The laundry room sink on the old
2 x 4 legs has served me well.

The "new" project that I did not anticipate today was the building of the base cabinet for the laundry room sink. I thought that we were going to check the cabinets for damage, put them aside, and not tackle the laundry room until after Stephanie had visited and departed.  Ha!  A woodworker with four whole boxes of cabinet parts is like a little boy with a whole new box of TinkerToys. No patience, no discipline.  Just let me get my hands on all of those parts and play!!!

The new cabinet, with the old sink-top resting
on top, sits in the garage waiting for installation.

I now am without a laundry room sink. That is OK, but I have a guest coming in two days, and I will not be without laundry facilities.  I freaked about that, but that thought, I am sure, really did not even cross Rick's mind.  He said that he could "fix it" so I could have access to my washer and dryer.  OK.  Next time, though, ask before disconnecting the plumbing!

We knew when we ordered the cabinets that we would have to cut the base back 1 1/2 inches for the assembly to clear the door casing. The Festool saw made the actual cutting a breeze, and we soon had the cabinet together.  Our next challenge is to pick out a countertop that will support the sink.  Right now the sink rests in an old laminate top that was in the house when we bought it.  We would love to add a granite countertop, but we are afraid since the top really will only be a few inches of rim all the way around, that granite will break.  We have to check a few places to learn what they could do or what alternative materials they may suggest.

So for now I have a laundry room sink in the garage, a washer that cannot be used without a drain cap, and, since I know my husband very well,  the expectation that Rick will get up tomorrow, get help moving the washer and dryer, and will get the cabinets assembled and installed by the end of the day.