The Kitchen - the final frontier ~ Part 3 - The Cupboard Condundrum
It was time to move on to the dreaded, final project - the cabinets.
It started off ok...
The cabinet doors were in relatively good shape - except for the two under the sink. Before I moved in, I was aware that there had been a leaky pipe under the sink and that there was damage (why it is so hard for some people to do a simple repair, I'll never know - it took 1min and a small bit of Plumber's Putty).
The bottoms of each of the cabinet doors were "chewed" by the water, and a little warped.
I thought that replacing the cabinet doors would be a snap.
Uh. No.
First off, these types of doors really aren't "a thing" anymore. Yes, there are melamine cabinets and matching doors, but I was hard-pressed to find melamine cabinet doors with the metal pull-bar. So I decided to remove the pull-bars to install them on the new doors. The first one came off relatively easy, but not the second.
There I sat for a good 1/2 hr, burying at the door like some kind of frantic hamster. The glue was definitely on the industrial side, and made getting the dang thing off a little bit of a chore. But, eventually, after making a bit mess, I freed the bar.
Second problem. Standard size for these type of cabinet doors is 30". My doors are indeed 30"...with the pull-bar attached. My first error was that I measured the doors with the pull-bar on, and ended up getting the 30" doors. I then returned them - thinking that I must be able to get 28" cabinet doors. Uh. No. Didn't come to the realization that they don't come in this measurement until after I returned the doors. I then went back to buy them again - this time I was going to go to the cutting service, at the back of Home Depot, to get them cut - only to discover that their saw was out of order.
Damn.
So I put off buying them until I could get them cut.
I then went back to buy the doors again a couple days later. During the time in between, I thought "how the heck was I going to put the appropriate groove in the tops of the doors without the right tool?" How indeed. Knowing me I would find some make-shift way to do it, only to experience a "slip of the tool" and crack the front of the cabinet door. So I decided the best way to solve this problem was to avoid it, and instead replace the 3rd small door as well, in the lower area of the cabinets, and just find suitable door pulls in place of the pull-bars. Seemed like an easy solution...
Uh. No.
So I got the doors home. The one I got to replace the smaller door was a little smaller than it should be, but it would still fit alright. I then noticed that the grooves for the European latches were in a completely different place. Ugh...I'd have to break out the drill for some new pilot holes.
Then, I took out one of the larger doors to see how I would have to adjust the hardware locations...only to realize the doors were too small! How the heck did I manage that? I had noted down the right width measurement. Duh.
So back to Home Depot I went. Returned the doors - again.
Then it got worse.
I needed 19 1/2 inch cabinet doors. Do they make 19 1/2 inch cabinet doors? No. No they don't. They make 18" (which is what I bought the first time), and they make 21". I took a chance and bought the 21" (hoping at that point that the "Theory of the 2x4" applied to the 21" measurement....Theory of the 2x4: Many always ask why 2x4's aren't actually 2x4. It's because the measurement is taken when the wood is wet. Once it dries, it shrinks a bit, thus resulting in a small measurement).
I was hoping the 21" really wasn't 21".
It was.
Way too big. Plus...if the odd-sizing wasn't enough...the new doors were thicker too. It would look weird.
Disaster.
The alternative at this point was to go "custom" (aka. expensive), or risk having the cabinets cut, which I was warned by the HD associate could result in splintering.
Sigh.
What the heck was I going to do? I was cursing my decision to replace the doors for just a minor issue at the bottom of them. The doors were otherwise fine. I could have just fixed them
WHY DIDN'T I JUST FIX THEM???
Yeah, they were "fine" - before I pulled the pull-bars off of them. Especially the one that I hacked like a crazed hamster in to.
So what to do...
I decided to go "off the grid", (as I'm pretty good at doing that), and attempt the "repair to end all repair jobs". I was determined to fix the cabinet doors...at least enough that my "reno crimes" would be unnoticeable.
First, I put the pulls back on with Hard As Nails glue. It recommends a good 24 hrs of drying time, so I just let it sit and cure fully before I attempted anything else.
Next...well, I had to figure out how in the heck I am going to fill in those huge holes in the one door. I sifted around through my supplies and found and old container of spackle. It was almost dried out, it was no longer useful as a spackle. However, it was surprisingly still pliable. Sort of the consistency of Play-Doh, which was perfect. So I used a bit to start building the huge, gaping holes back up.
But I still needed something with a little more strength. I Bing'd around a bit and came across references to the great uses for Bondo. But when I went to Home Depot I couldn't find it, but I did find Elmer's Probond Max Wood Filler.
Seemed to be just as effective, and there were recommendations of using wood filler in my searches, so it was a viable substitute. It's not that I really need something that had mega-strength, just enough to keep the door together and allow someone to open and close it without it disintegrating in their hands. So I went with the filler.
After the globs of spackle dried, I slapped on the wood filler. It requires a good 24hrs drying time before you can cover it with anything else, so this was not a quick process.
Alrighty. Looks ok.
But I found that the wood filler is a little grainy, and is also a little dark.
To allow for some fine-tune sanding, I put some spackle over top, let it dry, and then gave it a final sand. I definitely recommend using DryDex, as it starts out pink and then dries to white. It eliminates the guessing on when the spackle is ready for sanding.
After that, it was 2 coats of the gloss white on the outside, and then one quick coat of flat white on the inside (to disguise my reno crimes). This wasn't a quick process either, as they recommend a good 24 hours drying time between coats.
O-M-G.
I did it...sorta, kinda.
DOORS BEFORE
DOORS AFTER
Why, why, WHY did I not just do the repair??? It looks fine. Could have saved myself a lot of aggravation.
So here it is. The long-awaited completed kitchen:
BEFORE
AFTER
Ok, that project kind of sucked....but it was my fault for assuming things and not doing my research.
But - dang - it does look good, don't it?
Stay tuned for a final condo entry, that I'm going to post over the weekend (after I clean up). A little summation of my latest "Reno Madness", the Before and Afters, and a video tour (as the pics don't always do it justice).
I can't believe I'm done.
Love, Laugh, and Make It Gorgeous!
Blogger on the Run
It started off ok...
 |
| Cleaned the cabinet doors off, and added 2 coats of White Gloss Tremclad |
The cabinet doors were in relatively good shape - except for the two under the sink. Before I moved in, I was aware that there had been a leaky pipe under the sink and that there was damage (why it is so hard for some people to do a simple repair, I'll never know - it took 1min and a small bit of Plumber's Putty).
The bottoms of each of the cabinet doors were "chewed" by the water, and a little warped.
I thought that replacing the cabinet doors would be a snap.
Uh. No.
First off, these types of doors really aren't "a thing" anymore. Yes, there are melamine cabinets and matching doors, but I was hard-pressed to find melamine cabinet doors with the metal pull-bar. So I decided to remove the pull-bars to install them on the new doors. The first one came off relatively easy, but not the second.
There I sat for a good 1/2 hr, burying at the door like some kind of frantic hamster. The glue was definitely on the industrial side, and made getting the dang thing off a little bit of a chore. But, eventually, after making a bit mess, I freed the bar.
Second problem. Standard size for these type of cabinet doors is 30". My doors are indeed 30"...with the pull-bar attached. My first error was that I measured the doors with the pull-bar on, and ended up getting the 30" doors. I then returned them - thinking that I must be able to get 28" cabinet doors. Uh. No. Didn't come to the realization that they don't come in this measurement until after I returned the doors. I then went back to buy them again - this time I was going to go to the cutting service, at the back of Home Depot, to get them cut - only to discover that their saw was out of order.
Damn.
So I put off buying them until I could get them cut.
I then went back to buy the doors again a couple days later. During the time in between, I thought "how the heck was I going to put the appropriate groove in the tops of the doors without the right tool?" How indeed. Knowing me I would find some make-shift way to do it, only to experience a "slip of the tool" and crack the front of the cabinet door. So I decided the best way to solve this problem was to avoid it, and instead replace the 3rd small door as well, in the lower area of the cabinets, and just find suitable door pulls in place of the pull-bars. Seemed like an easy solution...
Uh. No.
So I got the doors home. The one I got to replace the smaller door was a little smaller than it should be, but it would still fit alright. I then noticed that the grooves for the European latches were in a completely different place. Ugh...I'd have to break out the drill for some new pilot holes.
Then, I took out one of the larger doors to see how I would have to adjust the hardware locations...only to realize the doors were too small! How the heck did I manage that? I had noted down the right width measurement. Duh.
So back to Home Depot I went. Returned the doors - again.
Then it got worse.
I needed 19 1/2 inch cabinet doors. Do they make 19 1/2 inch cabinet doors? No. No they don't. They make 18" (which is what I bought the first time), and they make 21". I took a chance and bought the 21" (hoping at that point that the "Theory of the 2x4" applied to the 21" measurement....Theory of the 2x4: Many always ask why 2x4's aren't actually 2x4. It's because the measurement is taken when the wood is wet. Once it dries, it shrinks a bit, thus resulting in a small measurement).
I was hoping the 21" really wasn't 21".
It was.
Way too big. Plus...if the odd-sizing wasn't enough...the new doors were thicker too. It would look weird.
Disaster.
The alternative at this point was to go "custom" (aka. expensive), or risk having the cabinets cut, which I was warned by the HD associate could result in splintering.
Sigh.
What the heck was I going to do? I was cursing my decision to replace the doors for just a minor issue at the bottom of them. The doors were otherwise fine. I could have just fixed them
WHY DIDN'T I JUST FIX THEM???
Yeah, they were "fine" - before I pulled the pull-bars off of them. Especially the one that I hacked like a crazed hamster in to.
So what to do...
I decided to go "off the grid", (as I'm pretty good at doing that), and attempt the "repair to end all repair jobs". I was determined to fix the cabinet doors...at least enough that my "reno crimes" would be unnoticeable.
First, I put the pulls back on with Hard As Nails glue. It recommends a good 24 hrs of drying time, so I just let it sit and cure fully before I attempted anything else.
Next...well, I had to figure out how in the heck I am going to fill in those huge holes in the one door. I sifted around through my supplies and found and old container of spackle. It was almost dried out, it was no longer useful as a spackle. However, it was surprisingly still pliable. Sort of the consistency of Play-Doh, which was perfect. So I used a bit to start building the huge, gaping holes back up.
But I still needed something with a little more strength. I Bing'd around a bit and came across references to the great uses for Bondo. But when I went to Home Depot I couldn't find it, but I did find Elmer's Probond Max Wood Filler.
Seemed to be just as effective, and there were recommendations of using wood filler in my searches, so it was a viable substitute. It's not that I really need something that had mega-strength, just enough to keep the door together and allow someone to open and close it without it disintegrating in their hands. So I went with the filler.
After the globs of spackle dried, I slapped on the wood filler. It requires a good 24hrs drying time before you can cover it with anything else, so this was not a quick process.
Alrighty. Looks ok.
But I found that the wood filler is a little grainy, and is also a little dark.
To allow for some fine-tune sanding, I put some spackle over top, let it dry, and then gave it a final sand. I definitely recommend using DryDex, as it starts out pink and then dries to white. It eliminates the guessing on when the spackle is ready for sanding.
After that, it was 2 coats of the gloss white on the outside, and then one quick coat of flat white on the inside (to disguise my reno crimes). This wasn't a quick process either, as they recommend a good 24 hours drying time between coats.
O-M-G.
I did it...sorta, kinda.
DOORS BEFORE
DOORS AFTER
Why, why, WHY did I not just do the repair??? It looks fine. Could have saved myself a lot of aggravation.
So here it is. The long-awaited completed kitchen:
BEFORE
AFTER
Ok, that project kind of sucked....but it was my fault for assuming things and not doing my research.
But - dang - it does look good, don't it?
Stay tuned for a final condo entry, that I'm going to post over the weekend (after I clean up). A little summation of my latest "Reno Madness", the Before and Afters, and a video tour (as the pics don't always do it justice).
I can't believe I'm done.
Love, Laugh, and Make It Gorgeous!
Blogger on the Run
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