Jan 31, 2010

January gone...

Somehow the month slipped away with no more posting. A lot going on, some relaxing, some fun, but I’ll start with a work report.
Have now built all our kitchen cabinets, adding three more over the stove. They each have recessed lighting under their lower lips.
And I built drawers, two banks of drawers, one on each side of the sink. This was the first time I had ever done drawers. Had to learn how they all went together. Only three of the seven drawers are cutlery-sized, the other four are quite large, so I went with heavy duty all-metal sliders. And I learned how they had to be built within tight tolerances for the slides to work -- like within a 1/16 of an inch side to side.  With a lot of measuring, and a little shimming, they work!
We're not done yet, as we haven’t designed / chosen / built or ordered to be built the cabinet doors and drawer fronts. We have spoken to a local cabinet maker (Marcos, the guy who last year built and installed our doors). I’m sure he would give it a dandy final look, but somehow I am reluctant to give up, having brought the project this far myself.

3 comments:

John's Florida Blog said...

Nice looking cabinet doors take some special tools and skills. I've remodeled three kitchens and always had a cabinet maker make the doors. I like raised panel hardwood doors and I found an Amish guy in Ohio that would do them for not much more then I would have had to pay for just the wood at Home Depot. Of course I've seen some Mexican crftsmanship that really looked bad.

If you could go with simpler doors, buy 3/4" hardwood plywood and some thin veneer to do the raw edges. I've built several cabinets that way also.

Your place is looking good, I keep thinking we should drop by to say hello when we pass by in the colectivo. We have been at Xpu-Ha for almost a month. We love the beach here.

Glen and Susan - said...

Hi John,
As you will see, I've gone ahead on our own. Labour intensive, for sure, but it has come together I think.
I found the material will add up to a small fraction of what I would have to pay for custom doors.
Come by in about a week and have a look.
We'll be down to Xpu Ha in the next week or two (we bring our whole volleyball gang every two weeks or so). It is a lovely beach. Cheers

John's Florida Blog said...

Stop by the La Playa campground if you get down to Xpu-Ha. We are in the little Class B+, Ohio License JK1