The one where I disappoint a man

I took a couple of mental health days from work in order to stay home and help Paul with hanging the cabinets.  I didn't get to do much, other than running out for more shims (those incidentals) and I did hold a cabinet or two while he was attaching them to the wall.  

One of the things that makes many of our projects look "custom" are the extra items we add to things, for example our cabinets.  We decided not to order the upper molding and the bottom molding from Kraftmaid, because one - we are cheap and two - we decided to do something a little different on the bottom molding.  We just can't leave things alone.


So, the upper molding was easy, we just bought a smaller version of the crown molding which runs around the ceiling.  But what to do, what to do about the bottom molding?  Double ogee, single ogee, triple axel - oh lord.  I should also tell you that in Mansfield, we once built our fireplace mantel piece by piece at Home Depot with various moldings (yes we were there about 2 hours) and it looked pretty spiffy.

Off we go to Rockler Woodworking in Richardson, Texas.  Paul had been there before, he just didn't tell me until we were in the car.  Now Rockler Woodworking is a magical place.  It is primarily devoted to woodworking, they have routers, router bits, veneer, lumber and anything your heart might desire.  If I was a furniture maker, I'd be in there all the time.

We took one of our doors with us so we could look at router bits for the bottom molding.  Now if you have ever seen a router bit, they don't look like much, in fact, I am really surprised that they can do what they do.  So I let Paul and salesman look at the different router bits and narrow it down to a couple.  No point in confusing myself further, right? We ended up picking a bull nose router bit.

As we are checking out, the salesman keeps telling me what a beautiful well constructed cabinet door we have (and it should be for what it costs).  And then it comes, the dreaded moment, he asks me, "what color are you staining your cabinets?"  I mumbled, "I am not staining them, I am painting and distressing them."  Seriously, the man looked at me like I shot his mother.  Now, I am in a customer service profession,  and the the word no normally doesn't come out of my mouth, except for my children and my husband on occasions I can't write about here.   I felt really bad and I even rethought for a minute about staining them rather than painting them. BUT, after all the time I spent looking for the perfect white, did I want to spend another six months looking for the perfect stain.  NO, NO, a thousand times NO.   I might  invite the salesman to my house if I can find him again to come see my kitchen when it is finished.  Or maybe not. 

For those of you who have never used a router or a router table, it's dangerous.  This tool scares Paul more than anything and he doesn't scare easily.  Here's a photo of the wood going through the router or as Paul calls it, the meat grinder.

It also makes a bucket load of dust.

Here's a photo of the finished product.  Note we also decided to add a small piece under the crown molding.  Now do you think that was simple, oh no, the piece went through the router and then the wood was split in half with the table saw.  It's just the "Havens'" touch.  

 


  And here is a close up of the bottom piece.  

 
 

Cabineting 101

So it is time Rafiki.  The cabinets are ready to be hung! Huzzah!!! Can you tell I am excited?   If you have never hung cabinets before (and I haven't), there are many things you have to think about before you start.  And I had to consult with my technical advisor on this one, so it may be more wordy and technical than my normal posts.

In theory, setting kitchen cabinets should be easy: Strike a couple of level lines, fasten cabinets to the wall, and presto! You have a new kitchen. Setting cabinets is a tempting DIY project because the installation principles are basic (isn't that the way they show it on the DIY shows), but the reality—especially in the old-house world of crooked floors and uneven wall surfaces—is more complicated.  And even brand new houses, as much as we'd like to think they are - aren't perfect.

First, you have to find your highest and lowest point on the floor.  As much as we'd like to think so, when slabs are poured, they are NEVER level.  I walked in one night and saw Paul with three (yes count them, three) levels on the floor trying to find the highest spot (since the low spots can be shimmed up, but the high spots can't be taken down).  Once you have determined that, you measure upward from that line.  The bottom of your top cabinets sit 54 inches from that line (normally). 

Then you have to check your wall for plumb (and no it is not a fruit). Plumb meaning the vertical line of your wall. (To my husband, houses are living, breathing things which change constantly, and what once was plumb may not be now.)   Or in layman's terms, whichever part of your wall sticks out more, that's where the cabinet will set and you will have to shim the others to make the other cabinets sit in a nice straight uniform line from there.   And if you live with a perfectionist, like I do, somewhat straight ain't good enough.

At this point, you are probably going, hmhm, maybe I should hire a contractor.  Stay with me folks, it gets somewhat better.

Then you "pop" your level line or chalk line to start setting your upper cabinets.  It's better to set your upper cabinets first, since you don't want to be crawling over your base cabinets.   Locate all of the studs in your wall  and mark them for easy access.  Then, decide where you want to start and then set a ledger line (normally a piece of straight wood) in order to set the base of your cabinet on while you are setting them.  I didn't take a picture of Paul doing this, but here's one off of the internet:

Then, take a deep breath and hoist the first cabinet up there (take  everything that you can off and out of the cabinet, it will make it easier to handle).  It is REALLY, REALLY important, that that first cabinet be right, because from that cabinet all other cabinets are hung.  So, once you get it in, you need to check level and  plumb (meaning vertically perfect) and square.  And sometimes,  in order to get it level, plumb, and square, you may have to stick cedar shims on the backside of  the cabinet in order to get it there.  Bear in mind that you may have to do this a couple of times.  Once it's perfect, then you fasten it to the wall.

After you have gotten the first one right, you hoist up the second one. The tricky part of this one is to make sure the face frames are flush and together, as well as level and plumb.  Clamps!  Did I mention you can never have enough clamps.  Clamp the second cabinet to the first one (this also helps hold it in place so that you aren't killing your back as much).  Attach the second cabinet to the first cabinet through the face frame with the screws provided (Paul bought a "quality" countersink bit so that the screws could be hidden and plugged - remember those incidentals).  And then again you attach the back to the studs in the wall, checking to be sure they are flush with the wall (shim as needed).  And you continue onward until they are all hung.  One note, be sure you check the measurements for your range hood, before you call it a day. 

Here's a visual of ours

Then, you get to tackle the bottom cabinets. Remember the floor issue, so you need to make sure when you set them in, they are square, plumb and level.  So again, keep that package of shims handy.  You won't use a board to rest them on since they sit on the floor, but you will need to mark a level line on the wall from the high point in the floor to the cabinet height.   Make sure you use a level, so that this line is a true horizontal, it does you no good to have wiggly lines.  Again, use your stud finder to find and mark all of the studs on the wall. 

Then, take another deep breath and place your base cabinet.  Check again for plumb, level and square (especially across the countertop), make whatever adjustments are needed and then screw it into place.   Continue with other cabinets until finished.

You also want to make sure you check your measurements for your appliances and sink, as there is nothing worse than getting all of your cabinets in and then the stove, sink or dishwasher not fitting and having to take things apart and put them back together again.

More visuals

Is this everything you need to know about hanging cabinets?  NOPE.  These are the basics.  BUT, if you have questions, comments, etc., feel free to send them to me in the comment box and I'll have Cabinet Master Paul try to answer them.  DON'T use Wikipedia.

As with all of our projects we did have one small glitch with our cabinets.  Since the pantry was pulled out an extra 1 1/2", we lost 3/16" of the face frame. The cabinet door of the cabinet beside the pantry would not open the full 90 degrees needed (it opened to about 86 degrees).  It needed that 3/16".  Paul made the mistake of showing it to me and I made him fix it.  The fire in his eyes was priceless.  When i asked him why he showed it to me in the first place his answer was "I though you would give me a pass on it".  So he had to go out to the work shop and cut a shim 1/8" thick by 3/4" wide by 30" long, take down the two cabinets already hung, glue the shim to the cabinet face frame, wood putty it, sanded it smooth and rehang the two cabinets.   Would I have made a contractor redo it?  You betcha.  And, when we moved that cabinet an 1/8th of an inch, it mucked up the measurements for the range hood.  So it had to be moved also. 

I guess I am more Type A than I thought.

The final reveal.

  



       

The Lazy Susan Dilemma (or the One Where I Have an Idea)

If you have been following my posts, you might remember when the cabinets were delivered, they were first put in the garage and then moved to the sun porch in the order in which they are to be hung in the kitchen.


EXCEPT, the lazy susan cabinet.  It was too big to go through any of the doors in the back and I had my doubts about it going through the front door, with taking it or the door apart.  It's heavy and bulky.

Now I really didn't want a lazy susan cabinet to begin with.  I had one in Mansfield, and I didn't like the thing.  I couldn't store things in it and the things I did store, I couldn't reach them properly.   So I had bad feelings from the start against this cabinet.   I know V, my KD, probably thought again I was nutsy fagan not to want a lazy susan, but if I put a regular cabinet in, I would lose space, so I went ahead and put the @#@$#@ thing in the design.

So, it's now time for Ms. lazy susan cabinet to come in the house.  Paul thought, hey, let's take it out of the box and the kids, myself and he would carry it from the garage around the house and in the front door.  Now did I really want to carry this bemoth of a cabinet out of the garage, around the house and in the front door. NOPE. And I don't really have the upper arm strength to continuously carry something of that weight.   Normally, I have to carry sheet rock and MDF (medium density fiber board) one board at a time.  Sometimes I can carry sheet rock, two at a time, but not often.

So I made a suggestion.  What if we took it and loaded it in the back of our Honda Van and drove it around to the front. And, at least that way, we wouldn't have to carry it so far.     Bear in mind, I am not an engineer, but I am left and right brained (or at least at times).  We had to measure to make sure it would fit and you can bet I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would.

Well it did.  So we load it, drive it around and then maneuver it in the front door (it has to go in diagonally), and then carry it into the kitchen.  The good news is we didn't drop it.  The better news is, it is in place.

Now let's just see if I like the thing better when the kitchen is finished.    



 

The Perfect White

Now that the floors are down and the cabinets are about to be hung, the search for the paint color begins.   I wanted white - the perfect white - not too yellow, not too grey, not too brown, not to peachy, not too green, but like Goldilocks - just right.   But unlike Goldilocks, it took trips to Home Depot, Lowes and Walnut Hill Paint to find that perfect white.

I despaired that I would ever find it, as everything I looked at was too green, too yellow, too peachy, too grey, too brown, when I got it home and looked at it in the sunlight as well as in my kitchen under natural as well as unnatural  lighting (meaning the lights were turned on).   Until one day I picked up my Southern Living and read in the letter to the editor about the "perfect warm white" - Benjamin Moore Ivory White 925.   Maybe this was it or at least I hoped so.   Since I had to go to Walnut Hill Paint Store anyway to pick up some paint for Paul for the crown molding and I knew they carried Benjamin Moore, I thought this might be kismet.

By the way if you are looking for a good high gloss oil based enamel, we recommend Benjamin Moore.   And we recommend Walnut Hill Paint Store in Dallas, Texas.  A lot of professional painters get their paint there and the folks behind the counter are always helpful.

So I started looking through paint chips and I couldn't find it.  Was this the fickle finger of fate?  Nope, they just don't put out every single paint chip.  So, I had to go through books looking for this perfect paint.

I wish I could say it was - but it was too peachy  and yellow - obviously the editors at Southern Living have different ideas about white than I do.

BUT,  I did find it - Cotton Balls by Benjamin Moore- the perfect, soft white. 

So I can now stop looking for the perfect white, but now I have to find the glaze for the distressed look for the cabinets.  I can only hope it doesn't take as long. 



  

Floors, the good, the bad and the oh so ugly

Right now in my kitchen I have ceramic tile.  It is a pinkish color and never looks clean no matter how much scrubbing and cleaning is done.

When we first moved into our house in 2005, in addition to this lovely tile (please insert sarcastic tone), we had the dirtiest, ugliest carpet you had ever seen.  And even cleaning it was not going to help, since the former owners had dogs that had brought in mud and other things.  At one point, I asked Paul to rip up the carpet in the living room, because I couldn't stand to walk on it anymore, I would rather walk on slab.   But I digress.

The plan for the house was to replace everything with either hardwood floors or tiles.   Again, being the bargain hunters we are, back in 2005, Lumber Liquidators (affectionately known to us as Lumber Louie's), had 5 inch white oak plank engineered hardwood at 99 cents per square foot. So we bought enough to cover the entire house.   Now it rests comfortably on my sunporch.   When it is ready to become part of the house family, it it brought in and acclimates for a couple of days so it won't warp or cup after you put it down.

First, however, the tile had to come up.   When we (and again I use the royal we) did the breakfast nook the tiles came up pretty easily, so of course Paul thought, piece of cake to get the tiles up in the kitchen right?  Oh so wrong.   Those tiles knew their days were numbered and they weren't coming up.  So a jackhammer had to be hired to lure them to their eventual grave.  And where did they go you may ask?  The nearest roll off of course.

And do you think then we could just put the mastic down and lay the floors?   Nope, they have a fancy beveled edge put on them so they look like they are hand planked.  Here's a photo:

As well as a plywood sub floor to make sure they are level:

Floors before staining:

The floors are also distressed with chains, bottle caps, etc., to make them look old, prior to staining.

Floors after staining

Now it was in Mansfield, that we had a special color mix for the stain.  And it took forever to get it right. And I thought we were still mixing that stain until Paul enlightened me.   However, here is a red mahogany, which I like just as well.  Once the stain is down, then the polyurethane goes on, one painstaking layer at a time, then after it dries, a light sanding is done in between each layer .  Six coats of these - 4 clear and then 2 satin were put on this floor.  And you can get headaches from the smell or get very cranky (as Paul sometimes does - however, I don't know if that is from the fumes or the project), so be sure you are working a well ventilated room.   The bad thing is you can't walk on it for about 72 hours, still bad, we had no way to get to the laundry room or the sink, the good thing  - laundry was postponed, washing dishes were postponed and all adult beverages were moved to the front refrigerator.

The floors are now covered with a brown craft paper to protect them, until the final reveal.