HappyMonkey/HMD WOODSHOP

glatt · 03-08-2005, 08:53 PM

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's kind of dead, and I figure I'll keep it alive with a project I'm working on.

The current project:

Our upstairs bathroom is one of the ugliest rooms in our house, and I've been meaning to address it for a long time. It has self adhesive vinyl floor tiles, and glued-on vinyl strips of "baseboard" trim. The fixtures are the cheapest money can buy, and they look it. The one good thing about this bathroom is that it is the largest bathroom I've ever had, so there is potential. I've been planning to build some cabinets into a nook in one corner. I've been sketching things for a few months, but this week is finally the week. I took this week off from work because I'm not allowed to carry too much leave over from year to year. So I'm forced to take a vacation and I might as well work on this bathroom.

You might notice that I'm posting this on a Tuesday. I didn't actually get any work done on the bathroom yesterday. It was the first nice day of the year in Arlington, Virginia, so I trimmed a tree that was too close to our electrical service entrance, and I washed our car. In my short-sleeve shirt! So Monday was a good day, but I made no progress.

Today, I planned to go to Home Depot, buy my lumber, and bring it home in a rental truck. Well, it started to snow on the way to Home Depot, which was a huge drag after hanging out in my short sleeve shirt yesterday. I got there, and checked with customer "Service" to find out about the truck rentals before I loaded up my cart with hundreds of pounds of lumber. Turns out the computer system is down, and they won't be renting any trucks today. So I drove home, and put the roof top rack on my car. I drove back, and bought two sheets of 3/4 inch birch plywood. It's about all the weight my roof rack can hold. As I was loading the plywood onto the roof of the car, the damn wind kept howling through the parking lot, trying to pick up the plywood and carry it away. The snow had stopped, but the parking lot was all iced over. I nearly ruined my back wrestling that plywood onto the roof of my car in the wind, and then down into my basement when I got home. I was originally planning to make another trip or two to get the rest of the lumber I needed, but called it off because of the wind.

So instead, I went up into the bathroom, and cut up the vinyl flooring where the cabinet will sit. The bare floor shows where the cabinet will contact the floor. The cabinets will actually be larger than this, the toe kicks are 2.5 inches deep.

glatt · 03-08-2005, 08:55 PM

After I figured out what the shape of the base will be, I needed to actually make the base. I have plenty of scrap 2x4 material lying around, so picked through the pile the best I could to find straight pieces, and I cut them all to length.

glatt · 03-08-2005, 08:57 PM

I have a huge box of leftover 2" drywall screws. They will be perfect for screwing the base frame to the floor. Only problem is the base frame is 3.5 inches tall. So I drilled all the pieces to create pocket holes for the screws. The screw will have about an inch of material in the 2x4, and then another inch of the screw shank will penetrate the plywood subfloor to hold the base down.

glatt · 03-08-2005, 08:58 PM

I put all the pieces in the bathroom to see if they fit. The kids are in bed now, so I'm not going to do any more work right outside their rooms. Tomorrow, I need to shim the base as needed to make it level, then I will screw it down to the floor. Another trip to Home Depot if the weather is better, and I can start making the cases.

Happy Monkey · 03-08-2005, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's kind of dead, and I figure I'll keep it alive with a project I'm working on.

No worries! It's no hijack. The more the merrier! Especially more than zero...

03-08-2005, 08:53 PM	#1
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's kind of dead, and I figure I'll keep it alive with a project I'm working on. The current project: Our upstairs bathroom is one of the ugliest rooms in our house, and I've been meaning to address it for a long time. It has self adhesive vinyl floor tiles, and glued-on vinyl strips of "baseboard" trim. The fixtures are the cheapest money can buy, and they look it. The one good thing about this bathroom is that it is the largest bathroom I've ever had, so there is potential. I've been planning to build some cabinets into a nook in one corner. I've been sketching things for a few months, but this week is finally the week. I took this week off from work because I'm not allowed to carry too much leave over from year to year. So I'm forced to take a vacation and I might as well work on this bathroom. You might notice that I'm posting this on a Tuesday. I didn't actually get any work done on the bathroom yesterday. It was the first nice day of the year in Arlington, Virginia, so I trimmed a tree that was too close to our electrical service entrance, and I washed our car. In my short-sleeve shirt! So Monday was a good day, but I made no progress. Today, I planned to go to Home Depot, buy my lumber, and bring it home in a rental truck. Well, it started to snow on the way to Home Depot, which was a huge drag after hanging out in my short sleeve shirt yesterday. I got there, and checked with customer "Service" to find out about the truck rentals before I loaded up my cart with hundreds of pounds of lumber. Turns out the computer system is down, and they won't be renting any trucks today. So I drove home, and put the roof top rack on my car. I drove back, and bought two sheets of 3/4 inch birch plywood. It's about all the weight my roof rack can hold. As I was loading the plywood onto the roof of the car, the damn wind kept howling through the parking lot, trying to pick up the plywood and carry it away. The snow had stopped, but the parking lot was all iced over. I nearly ruined my back wrestling that plywood onto the roof of my car in the wind, and then down into my basement when I got home. I was originally planning to make another trip or two to get the rest of the lumber I needed, but called it off because of the wind. So instead, I went up into the bathroom, and cut up the vinyl flooring where the cabinet will sit. The bare floor shows where the cabinet will contact the floor. The cabinets will actually be larger than this, the toe kicks are 2.5 inches deep. Attached Images Last edited by glatt; 03-08-2005 at 09:02 PM.

03-08-2005, 08:55 PM	#2
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	After I figured out what the shape of the base will be, I needed to actually make the base. I have plenty of scrap 2x4 material lying around, so picked through the pile the best I could to find straight pieces, and I cut them all to length. Attached Images

03-08-2005, 08:57 PM	#3
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I have a huge box of leftover 2" drywall screws. They will be perfect for screwing the base frame to the floor. Only problem is the base frame is 3.5 inches tall. So I drilled all the pieces to create pocket holes for the screws. The screw will have about an inch of material in the 2x4, and then another inch of the screw shank will penetrate the plywood subfloor to hold the base down. Attached Images

03-08-2005, 08:58 PM	#4
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I put all the pieces in the bathroom to see if they fit. The kids are in bed now, so I'm not going to do any more work right outside their rooms. Tomorrow, I need to shim the base as needed to make it level, then I will screw it down to the floor. Another trip to Home Depot if the weather is better, and I can start making the cases. Attached Images

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