Kitchen
In New Residential Construction- 2005
A good deal of planning and drawing that will not be evident on this page goes into a
new kitchen project. I will be glad to e-mail a zip file that contains actual evidence of this fact
in the way of drawings and cutlists to anyone who is interested ... just ask for it in rec.woodworking, making sure beforehand that you can actually receive attachments by e-mail.
Long story short, the cabinets you see here were all designed
by me using QuickCAD
and CutList Plus
for the parts, materials, and cut lists, then built in my
shop starting a few months before this house was started, all necessary steps
when you work alone. The cabinets were then placed in storage awaiting the steps that you see on this page. Everyone has a favorite methods of building
cabinets and I do it the old fashioned way, using traditional face frame
construction, top grade 3/4" oak plywood for the carcasses, with raised
panel doors and solid maple drawers.
Although much can be gleaned from the drawings in the above mentioned
file (two examples above), I will be glad to answer
any questions in that forum.
Day 1 - April 14, 2005
(placement and checkout of space)
Cabinets moved to site and installation
begins. Wall cabinets in these pictures are just roughed in and resting on
leveled* 2 x 3's screwed to studs. They have yet to be shimmed, leveled, and
screwed firmly into the blocking which I had the framing crew install during
that stage of the construction, The base cabinets and two island cabinets are
just resting in their approximate location for a level check, and to line up
the wall cabinets above for the rough-in.
At this stage I generally leave
them "easy to adjust" until the base cabinets look like they are
going to fit the wall space (as with any installation in new
construction, and despite meticulous planning, until the floors and
sheetrock are in you are working in a basically unknown space, with the exact
dimensions up for grabs, and you never really know what surprises are in
store).
Also for that reason, and particularly in an angled configuration like the above, I generally leave the two cabinets on
either side of the sink
base until last so that I can dimension
them precisely (I dislike "spacers" in a custom kitchen, as the idea of
"custom" to me is insuring that all space is functional space). Most
importantly, this also insures that the sink insert will be flush with the back
wall and that expensive granite will fit perfectly.
Bottom line at this stage is that
there are still two small, sliding drawer, 'spice rack' cabinets that are yet to be
built. I will knock them out in the morning. All I really need to do is to
make their face frames and use those as temporary 'spacers' between the sink base and the
adjacent cabinets, which would allow me to go ahead and install the adjacent line of base
cabinets ... another advantage to making your face frames first ...
but in this instance these two base cabinets will be small and can be put together in
couple of hours because the shop is already set up for this type work.
All in all, and from what I've seen today,
I am comfortable that this kitchen should go in nicely.
* Someone e-mailed and wanted to know
about "level" and how and where do you start to establish this all
important line:
I scribe a "reference line" around the perimeter walls, somewhere
between the top of the base cabinet and the bottom of the wall cabinets. I
generally use a mark at 35 1/2" above the floor (1" above the top of
the base cabinets, sans substrate and countertops) and then carry this reference
line around the walls, using a level (in the
old days), a water level hose (in the days when you were confident about
passing the Mensa IQ test), or nowadays (the lazy ones), a laser level.
Once this line is established, you can determine the high spots in the floor
(places where the distance from your "reference line" to the floor
is less than 35 1/2" (I think that may have been on that IQ test)).
The highest spot is the spot that I use to
establish the exact height of the lower line of the wall cabinets. This
reference line also lets you determine where you will need shims, and shows up
any possible trouble spots in leveling your line of cabinets ... a must for
granite or natural stone countertops.
Day 2
and 2 1/2 - April 15 & 16, 2005 (Leveling, shimming and
installation)
The two
narrow cabinets on either side of the sink base, which will hold pullout spice/cookie sheet racks (and which in most
"factory built box" installations would be useless 'spacers'), were built
in the shop Friday morning, transported to the site, and installed on either side of the sink
base, making one solid unit.
The entire line of wall and base
cabinets on the East wall have been shimmed and fastened into place with #8 3" wood screws through the bottom and top hanger plates
into the previously installed 2" x 6" backing behind the sheetrock; and with 1/4" x
3" lag screws, with washers, through the top hanger plate.
These lag screws are considered overkill
by many, but they guarantee I won't be waking up at 3 AM ten years from now
worrying about whether future occupants might attempt to store their 800
pounds of priceless Egyptian artifacts in my kitchen cabinets.
During this entire operation the Face Frames of adjoining cabinets are
flushed and fastened together with #8 2 1/2" lubricated wood screws, and
the leveling 2 x 3's removed.
The last two pictures show the hidden
"toe kick" drawers in the two base cabinets which flank the
stove. Depending upon your lifestyle, these can hold anything from cookie
sheets, to your stash, your valuables, or your weaponry of choice.
Actually, the ones
pictured are just "dummy" drawers intended to perform the function of insuring
that the slides work after the necessary shimming
and leveling (examples of said shimming which are visible above along the walls and between
units). The real drawers will be built during the next couple of weeks and
replace the dummies.
Not to mention that it is a lot easier on the knees of
old "One-Sock-Hung-Low" (pictured above, proudly testing the solidness of
the installation) to have those cabinet-side drawer slide components installed
so he doesn't have to try to resume an upright position after attempting to
install them at floor level.
The older you get, the more you have to
take such minor details into consideration.
Day
3 and 4 - April 18 & 19, 2005 (finish installation and start
trim-out)
At the end of the day on Tuesday, all
base cabinets have been leveled, shimmed and installed by screwing to the blocking
previously added behind the sheetrock, the plywood substrate added for the
countertops, visible edges trimmed out (seen in the first three pictures
above), and crown molding added to top of the wall cabinet run (the bottom oak trim
for the wall cabinets is back ordered and will have to be installed later).
All the electrical and plumbing rough-in has been coordinated with both
contractors, and the countertops and backsplashes can now be installed without
further ado. Sometime in the next few days, and as the opportunity arises, I
will rip some 3/8" oak plywood for a more or less seamless run of kick
plate.
At this point it is time to get out of
the way, let the granite and tile installers have a go, and it's back to the
shop to complete the drawers, doors and add-ins. The kick plates and any additional
trim can be added later as long as it is done before the paint contractor is
scheduled to start.
The granite and tile crew will be in the
house about at week to ten days, all things going smoothly.
Day
5 - April 23, 2005 (Granite countertop installation)
The granite on the kitchen
countertops were done first and then covered with contractor's paper for
protection while the backsplashes go in. The backsplashes will take a bit
longer, as they are individual stone tiles set in a diamond pattern.
There are only two seams in the entire
granite countertop surface - about a foot to the right of the sink just before
the wall angles back toward the stove space; and where the base cabinets go
from 24" depth to 12" under the far window in the last picture
above. The granite on the island is one piece and is cut beautifully to follow
the fair curve I laid out and cut into the substrate. These guys are good, do
the kind of work that complements my cabinets, and their attention to
detail is on a par with the quality built into the cabinets themselves!
I also like the "waterfall"
edge on the granite, particularly along that curve in the island. The "bullnose"
edge is most often seen on builder installations hereabouts ... the
waterfall edge is much classier, IMO.
The trim for the bottom of the cabinets
has arrived, but I will wait until the backsplashes are in to install it so
that it can be butted up against that surface, giving a more finished
appearance overall ... it's these details, even coming down to the order of
doing things, that give the project that little extra 'something'.
May
4, 2005 (Backsplash installation)
The backsplash installation has
been completed by the tile crew, in the kitchen, as well as throughout the
house. The bottom trim will be applied to the cabinet boxes and at that point
they will be ready for final sanding and staining. While the granite and tile
installation progressed, the drawers, drawer fronts, and doors were being
finished. All should be ready for the paint contractor in the next few days.
After his crew does their work, we will cover and tape the entire assembly for
the time that it takes to get the surrounding walls in the house spray
painted..
On that note, I have just about decided
to forego the usual drawer slides from Blum or Accuride and go with Hittich
QuadroV6 under mount, full extension drawer slides. I picked up a sample
slide and built a prototype drawer as a test. Although these drawer slides
cost more and require a
few more steps when building the drawers, they are sturdy, very
quiet, and have a very nice, expensive feel on opening and closing,
drawing further attention to the quality that is built into this job.
May
20, 2005 (cabinets uncovered and doors hung)
After all the trim was applied and the
stain and finishing steps were completed, the cabinets were taped and covered
for the past two weeks to protect them while the kitchen and surrounding walls
were being spray painted.
I just uncovered them today and mounted
the cabinet doors, the drawer slides, and set the maple drawers temporarily in
place to make sure there were no problems since I haven't used this particular
type of drawer slide before and wanted to make sure that the dimensions were
absolutely dead on. The drawers will now be taken back to the shop and
finished out with the under mount hardware catches that hold them on the
Hittich full extension slides, the drawers will then be sprayed with an amber
shellac finish before being re-mounted. After that I will install the spice
rack drawers and apply all the drawer fronts.
June
2005 - Wrapped up
For all practical purposes this kitchen
is finished and ready for use:
20/20 Hindsight Department:
Except for taking one of the hardwood floor finishing crew's kids as a hostage on the next one ... at least until they
successfully do their thing without creaming one of my precious cabinet doors with a floor sander
(most folks would have "repaired and refinished". NOT in any of my
kitchens, thank you, It was replaced with a new one) ... there is not much to re-think
or second guess on this one.
The installation went well, with few hitches, and those few that did arise were minor and easily solved, a circumstance which is not always the case. That's the nice thing about building the house
where you're putting your cabinets ... you can take those extra steps that make the process go smoothly before you ever build a cabinet.
That said, the electricians, despite my best efforts, and their presence for just that
eventuality before
the cabinets went in, did manage to lose a hot circuit BEHIND the kitchen cabinets and were in a tizzy until
I pulled up the digital
photos of the
electrical and plumbing rough-in that I always take before insulation and sheetrock go up (it was behind the dishwasher cabinet and the photos allowed us to pinpoint it to the 1/4"
and retrieve it as if the cabinets weren't there ... it's those kind of things that make you a hero to your pocket book, if to no one
else).
I very much like the under-mount Hittich drawer slides and will most definitely use them again, but you do need to make your drawers to
accommodate their peculiarities. I am also glad I took the time to make the toe kick
drawers on either side of the stove ... a nice touch ... but just remember to repeatedly remind, in at
least two languages, the floor finishing crew (those guys again!) to NOT nail down the shoe molding in front of
them!
All in all, due mainly to the extensive
and meticulous planning
that went into it <ahem>, this project completed nicely,
uneventfully and with a great deal of pride. Amazing how
that works, isn't it?!
Page
1 (Bedside
Table; Kitchen Cabinets)
Page 2
(Trivet; Writing
Desk; Trad. End Table; Lamp)
Page 3 (A&C Coffee
Table; TV Cabinet; Walnut Coffee Table; A&C End Table)
Page 4 (Walnut Hall
Table; Granite Top Mission Table; Mission Hall Table)
Page 5 (708 Style Writing Table)
(Mission Trestle Table)
Page 6 (Arts and
Crafts Bench)
Page 7 (New
Construction-2005 Kitchen)
Page
8 (Tool
Drawers; Stacked Tansu)
Page 9 (Plan
Rack; Door Restoration; Spice Rack; A&C House# Frame)
Page 10 (Craftsman
Chair Reproduction)
Page 11 (A&C
Kitchen Dining Set)
Page 12
(Cherry/Walnut Hope Chest)
Page 13 (Mission
Sideboard)
Page 14 (Kitchen
Drawers; Calendar Frames)
Page 15 (Corner
Cabinet)
Page 16 (2008
Kitchen Project/Trash Pullout)
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