# Golf's Over and I'm Back - New Project



## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

As most of you know, I don't visit the forum much during the summer - golf, golf and more golf. I play at least four times a week.

Well, this summer wasn't any different - but it wasn't all fun and games. I did spend some time working on a project I had planned for some time.

My daughter, who lives in Mississauga, about an hour from me, needed to update her kitchen, or at least add some new cabinets. The old configuration wasn't very functional.

So I spent about 5 weeks (on and off) working on this at my friend's shop. So, lots of pictures - read on if you like.

Here's a couple of pics of the original layout:

The dishwasher was on the wall opposite the sink - impractical. And the base cabinets on that wall were buried under a large countertop that had a curve in the front. Made access to the cabinets difficult and the curve in the countertop also reduced the space between the the cabinets on that side and the cabs on the sink wall.

*Fridge Wall* - Original countertop over base cabinets and dishwasher placement that made no sense.

First order of business - had son-in-law relocate the dishwasher to the sink wall.



Si*nk Wall*

The original doors and drawer fronts needed some TLC - decided to make new ones





*Production Started* - I won't go into the actual build process. I'm sure everyone here is aware of the process - European style cabinets (no face frames) 6-way adjustable hinges. Cabinets and drawer banks start as basic boxes. Slides (full extension/soft close) are added to the drawer banks, shelf pin holes are added to the cabinet panels. All construction (gables, bottoms, shelves, nailers (top and back on base cabinets), drawer boxes made with 5/8" melamine, any exposed edge is edge banded
*
18" Bank of Drawers - Slides installed*



*36" and 18" Bank of Drawers - Drawers installed*






*Installation

Pantry and Drawer Banks in Place*



*Corner Base Cabinet, Microwave Cab and Uppers installed.*



*New Doors* (Shaker or rail and style, pick a name) installed on Sink Wall Cabs. Doors and drawer fronts sprayed - 2 coats of primer and 1 coat of paint with lots of sanding in between - came out smooth as glass.



*Doors and Drawer Fronts, Pulls and Knobs on New Cabs, Crown Moulding* on new side (old side had a bulk head, so no room for crown)

You'll notice there are two end panels that look like doors. There are actually 5 end panels total (3 on the sink wall). Made fake doors for these and attached from the inside of the cabinets so no screws visible from the outside on these and dressed up the ends a little to make them look like the rest of the doors.





The pantry at the far left is full depth, and 80" inches tall. Constructed in two cabinets -lower cab is 55" and upper cab is 25". The pantry has six doors but each side of the lower doors open in pairs - with 2 hinges per door and a steel dowel set into holes drilled in the upper/lower edge holding the front of the door together. The pin can be removed once one set of hinges is removed, allowing the doors to come apart.

*Grandson admiring new Cabinets* (yup, he helped with some of the drawer knobs)



So, total of 29 doors, 12 drawer fronts - enjoyed the build and thanks to my friend who has a large shop and spray equipment.

All that's left to do is new countertop - leaving that up to daughter to pick out and have installed ... and they're leaning towards granite.

All in all, a worthwhile project, more than doubled the storage space in their kitchen and there's so much more room to move around.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very nice work as always Vince . That would be quite an undertaking for a guy like me , but you always seem to make things look so easy.


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Beautiful


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

What a gift to your daughter and her family. Very nice work, and I bet you still got a little golf in as well.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Very nice job Vince, nice see you back with a great project.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Good job.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

very nice...


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

Daughter now has a beautiful,functional kitchen.Good job Vince.


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

Great job, it's always nice to have a mission when building something. The new cabinets look a lot nicer than the old ones.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Outstanding project! That is a big undertaking with building and installation.
Why didn't you extend the cabinets to the ceiling? Another shelf for storage. My parents built a house in 1970 with 42 inch wall cabinets. Tons of storage for items that you don't use all the time but accessible with a step stool. We are short people.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Nice work Vince. I think you made a wood worker out of your grandson.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Good Show.

We had ours refaced with new doors and drawers. 1/2 the price of new. Took longer. Hired it all done. Now way was I going to attempt it myself.

Hats off to you.

And you still had time for golf. I'm impressed!!


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Good to see you back, Vince. Beautiful project. Maybe we can get a pic when the top is on.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

@Knothead47

John: Couple reasons for not extending to the ceiling:

30" uppers/base cabs make better use of materials - each 4x8 sheet (49" x 97") yields 6 panels (for base cabs) with room to rip straight edges plus some nailer strips.
As you said, getting to the top of the uppers would require a step stool.
Extending all the way up means you have to deal with walls that are out of plumb and a ceiling that may not be perfectly level, so there'd be a slight gap anyway - no room for crown moulding. A larger space makes any imperfections in the walls/ceiling less noticeable.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

@honesttjohn

John: new doors on the original cabs made a big difference and they needed to match the doors on the new cabs anyway. Doors were made from 3/4" mdf for the rails/styles and 1/4" mdf for the flat panel. Drawer fronts made from 3/4" mdf. All outside edges got a small chamfer both for looks and to remove the sharp edge. MDF was a good choice because it's stable and these were getting painted anyway
@TenGees Paul hoping my daughter/SIL get their counter tops soon - will post a pic when I see it.


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## hilldh (Mar 7, 2009)

Oh to have your skills!!
Beautiful job.....lasting memories!!


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Got it. I sold cabinetry of three years- custom and factory built. I heard of a builder who would staple strips of cardboard to the wall studs where the backsplash of the countertop would be. He would run a tight string along the wall to see where the high and low cwere. His reasoning- when the sheetrock is installed, it would be straight with no gaps.


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

All that AND golf, amazingly well done!


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## brewermoe (Apr 24, 2015)

vchiarelli said:


> @Knothead47
> 
> John: Couple reasons for not extending to the ceiling:
> 
> ...


Very good points Vince, newbs like me would not have thought about use of materials!


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## brewermoe (Apr 24, 2015)

vchiarelli said:


> @honesttjohn
> 
> John: new doors on the original cabs made a big difference and they needed to match the doors on the new cabs anyway. Doors were made from 3/4" mdf for the rails/styles and 1/4" mdf for the flat panel. Drawer fronts made from 3/4" mdf. All outside edges got a small chamfer both for looks and to remove the sharp edge. MDF was a good choice because it's stable and these were getting painted anyway
> @TenGees Paul hoping my daughter/SIL get their counter tops soon - will post a pic when I see it.


(Newb here) Was cost a factor in choosing MDF? How does it compare in price against other materials?


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

brewermoe said:


> (Newb here) Was cost a factor in choosing MDF? How does it compare in price against other materials?


MDF for the drawer fronts and doors because they were going to get painted. Cheaper than solid wood, and no reason to use solid on this application. Cost was a slight factor but MDF machines nicely.

The cabinets were made from 5/8" melamine.


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