A furniture? The biscuit joiner came from there and it works pretty well. The strain and varnish on the small pieces I'm playing with is coming out well now that I started stirring the stuff instead of shaking up the can. Gotta follow the directions...

sorry, furniture dolly from Harbor Freight.

2nd on Harbor Freight.


Look for the ads with the $1.99 12" clamp. Bought like 10 of them, since they are the universal grip. Not the world's greatest, but enough for wood projects.




I saw this thread and hoped there was an update. Might start posting "Happy Gilmore" photos....

~egon

I bought a ton of the clamps and made all the shelves this weekend. The top side of three of them has coat #1 of varnish and the last one is still drying. The big holdup on my end is getting flooring finished...

There's finally something worth showing. 3 of the 4 shelves are on their second cost of polyurethane along with a bunch of the small pieces that will attach it to the wall. I used 220 grit in between coats but will need to finish it with something a lot finer. Suggestions?

I'm doing a lot of learning with the pantry shelves that will hopefully make the master bedroom closets come out a lot nicer someday. I only have about $130 invested in this so far.

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There's finally something worth showing. 3 of the 4 shelves are on their second cost of polyurethane along with a bunch of the small pieces that will attach it to the wall. I used 220 grit in between coats but will need to finish it with something a lot finer. Suggestions?

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00 or 0000 steel wool?

Usually if I am good with sanding between coats the final one comes out really smooth.

I haven't tried to "finish" it with steel wool, but I know you can.

I tend to go a little heavy on the last coat though to help level out the urethane.

~egon

I'll have to take a look at how it dried out overnight but may try and buff out whatever tiny bumps there may be. It's not so important now but will be when I redo a huge console radio we spotted by the curb a few months ago, although I'll probably do that one in shellac.

The finish came out pretty nice as-is. Two shelves in, three to go. Just these two are more food storage than we had in the old kitchen.

Is there a reason you didnt mount your face piece on the front of the shelf as opposed to on the underside? That way you wouldn't be able to see the seam like you can now, it'd be on the top of the shelf.

I thought it would give a little better support that way but if that isn't true, no reason other than inexperience. The span is 8.5 feet but it seems sturdy enough so far. I will probably put a divider underneath the microwave and continue it to the floor though since it's heavy.

Is the back of your shelf sitting on a support rail?

Yep. Support rail on the front/back/sides. I used 1x2 on the back rail for the shelves that aren't going to carry much of a load and will go with 1x4 on the back of the bottom two that will. It's attached every 16" into the studs.

FYI, 1x2 will be enough for the heavy shelves if you'd rather use them. I would glue and screw if you don't plan on adjusting heights down the road. Did you glue the shelves to the supports or screw them down?

Cool, thanks!

Right now they're just sitting on the supports since I planned on removing them when someone finishes the flooring so they don't collect dust or get damaged. I also need to trim a few spots on the back side of the shelves because the work that was done to smooth out the old paneling that wall has instead of sheetrock left a nice bulge in the middle that keeps it from sitting flush.

I would think if you are using 3/4" wood for the shelves that a 1x2 would be fine for the back. Especially since the shelf isn't too deep (18" or so).

I was interested how you attached the shelf to the back railing. Just glue or what? Mostly because I want to do the same thing for my pantry down the road. Solid shelves with LED lighting on the front/back with a door activated switch.

~egon

The bottom two shelves are two 1x8s joined together with biscuits and the top three are single 1x12. Once I get the back to match the wall I may just use a small finish nailer to get them in place along there and the sides. The supports along the sides/back are held in place with cabinet screws.

The 1x2 at the front should be a great place to hide the LED strips. I may need to get a 45 degree channel for them... the more I think about it the better the idea sounds.

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The 1x2 at the front should be a great place to hide the LED strips. I may need to get a 45 degree channel for them... the more I think about it the better the idea sounds.

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Really looking forward to seeing the finished product and hear any of your lessons learned comments as I too plan to be doing something similar in the very near future!

Doing a major renovation on our house now. Just installed a 36 port Manabloc manifold and PEXed the entire house (NO more slab leaks) using 33 of the ports. SIL says it looks like Medusa considering all the insulated PEX lines attached to it.

Anyhow, working on the kitchen relay-out with cabinets expected to be received early June. Tons of work to do beforehand to be ready to install them.

Your work is very impressive and it's helping me along the way as well! So THANKS!!!

Thanks!

Nothing new so far as lessons go aside from having people lined up a lot earlier than I thought would be necessary. I dumped the flooring guy because he's unable to stick to any real timeline and someone with a great resume who's hopefully a bit more professional will be by on Tuesday.

I spent the weekend wrapping up the plumbing, so besides putting 1/4 turn shutoffs in the cabinets that part is done. I thought I was done but the new model wall oven needs a water connection and I took the time to run a line to the back yard so we have a spigot back there now.

The cove lighting is in now and it looks awesome. The drywall immediately above it on the other hand, does not. There are a few screw pops and one other area that needs attention. I'll take care of that at the same time I patch the small area I had to open when I put in the steam oven water line.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

The new flooring guy dropped off a sample and it's about as perfect as it will get. I'd like just a hair lighter but I think the floor will come out great. The stuff is Rubio Monocoat 5% and work should start mid-late week.

The kitchen sink is picked out. It will be a Blanco Silgranit Cascade Super Single, probably in Metallic Gray

The faucet will either be a Grohe Minta or Hansgrohe Axor (Starck or Citterio). I'm not sure which will hold up better or have less plastic bits so... still working on that one.

Today I'm taking it easy, just finishing up the biscuit joints on the last shelf and swapping out old outlets for Decora sized ones in the family room.

I believe all products I have suggested.

Looking forward to some more pictures. Looking at your unfinished floors makes me want to pull up the laminate that the PO installed in our home. If it wasn't glue down I may have already started.

I don't remember a definitive 'which faucet is better' rec. From what I've been told though you really can't go wrong with either.

I'll post some when there's something worth posting. For now it's been swapping outlets, drywall touchup and things like that. Guess furniture needs to get out pretty soon too in the front living room. The changes later this week and next will be huge though, can't wait for that part!

Rooms are empty now and flooring work starts tomorrow.

Formal living


Entry hall view


Kitchen


Family room looking back

Are you having them treat wood base to match?

There are no baseboards at the moment. We're going with minimal / white because that's typical of the architectural style we have. I've seen some cool places with no baseboards or a sort of small toe kick down there but it was going to be way too much work to pull that off.

edit: I just got a call, they were able to sand everything already since there was nothing at all installed to slow them down anywhere. Finish is probably going in today!


[This message has been edited by the fife (edited 6/5/2014 1:28p).]

Finish is done and it looks awesome! We have no access to the front or back doors so we are becoming expertise at entering and exiting from a window.

You forget the rules.

RULE FREAKIN NUMBER ONE!!!!

Pics don't have the greatest lighting but you can kind of get the idea... The formal living room is no longer orange.



Late afternoon light in the family room.


It's a very subtle finish and I'm curious how different it will look once it's dry.

I like it personally, but I thought you were going for a more white/chalky look?

Originally, but that turned into more trouble than it was worth. After seeing some other MCM houses that have similar flooring and a large panel from our cabinets I warmed up to it a lot.

Looking Good!!! You're keeping my wife in stitches as she can't wait to see the final product!

Got a question about the can lights in your kitchen area. I went back to your precious posts but wasn't certain what your final verdict was on the can light spacing you used.

Reason I ask is I'm totally renovating our kitchen as well (another reason my wife is in stitches as she gathering ammo for me) and put in a total of 10 each 6" cans spaced 26" from the exterior walls and 4 feet apart in a galley that is approximately 9-1/2' wide by 19' long. As soon as I lit it up with various light bulbs I had laying around the house, the first thought that came to mind was "Oh hell, I just lit up runway no 9!"

Therefore, wanted to get your thoughts on your lighting situation.

TIA

There's a pretty big difference between your lights and mine. Ours are 4" LEDs @ 575 lumen instead of 6" and an unknown wattage. There are other things but I'm out on my 5 th anniversary and my wife is coming back.