# crammed kitchen build



## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Inspired by Mr. Loafer and helped by many here, I decided with 4 weeks until baby due, why not build a kitchen.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

4 weeks!!!! Your pushing it. You going on HGTV 
Renovation realities? Lol
Congrats on the upcoming baby.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

So really most of the work had been done. the last picture of our temporary kitchen is where I started a couple of weeks ago.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

haha, thanks dominick...I love that show. Sooo glad no one is watching me during all this! The upper cabinets and two of the lowers we had donated from the in-laws. Except the lowers were already 24" deep and we wanted inset, so I had to rip off 3/4" from the fronts of them...also the bottoms.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looking good.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

When was that house built? I have never seen construction like that.

George


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## rrbell (Oct 22, 2012)

It's an old one, you can see the lath marks on the studs where it was plastered.


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

Go Man Go!!!!


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## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

If my wife came it to see that demo......labor would have been induced immediately...:yes:. I'm a kitchen redo-survivor too so the few weeks of cooking off a hot plate and getting a cold drink out of the fridge in the living room is all worth it once everything comes together. Good luck, moreso for a healthy little one.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

George, the house was built in 1839. Like rrbell said, it used to be all plaster, but at some point it was made into a duplex and they thought using 1/4" plywood (skimmed over) was a better replacement:no:. Right before we got married was when I got some rough stairs inside. So the first year of marriage we lived upstairs and downstairs was gutted. We had the drywall up downstairs right at our first anniversairy mark. now i'm in the midst of refinishing a bit of stuff upstairs and doing the kitchen. I started rebuilding the back porch, then came to senses and got priorities straight. I have builders ADD.

So you can see my shop. I tried jointing on my table saw. Didn't proove too successful so I tried using a straightish piece of 1x6 poplar as a straight edge clamped to the board and used my circular saw to rip. The boards were pretty straight flat to start with so that helped! The joints weren't the best but I used the handplane after to try and make them better. There still not perfect but I dont think the cracks are all that noticeable. 

I planned to do mitered corners, then half way through friday realized I didn't do my math right for that so i went back and got two more boards, then when we laid them out, i decided the herring bone which was perviously recommended did look kind of cool. Do we recut the boards to lenght to go with that. 

I tried the boiled linseed oil and it gave a nice color. I had already ordered behlens two walnut dyes so i'm going to see how that turns out, then start the finishing process (in the dining room:thumbsup I have two sections glued up now and three more to do tonight. 

My dog loves the walnut. She also loves eating the shavings. Which is making her throw up. Then she lays in the planer shavings and eats that and her throw up :blink:. Man I need a shop!


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks Al. Yeah, all this reno is starting to get old and also has me worried about the health of wife and baby. I'm really trying to keep the place as clean as possible and get it done asap! It will be so nice when it's all done and every night and weekend isn't consumed by all this.


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

chsdiyer said:


> Thanks Al. Yeah, all this reno is starting to get old and also has me worried about the health of wife and baby. I'm really trying to keep the place as clean as possible and get it done asap! It will be so nice when it's all done and every night and weekend isn't consumed by all this.


Well you know the verse that says "train up a child in the way it should go and when it is old it will not depart from it". My father was always building and renovating and it has never stopped for me either and I don't expect it ever will. My kids had a little chant whenever I finished a reno, "Let's have a celebration, no more renovation....". 

But you certainly want to keep it clean for the little one. You and I certainly must have a good wives to put up with renos. :laughing: Speaking of, I better do something on my kitchen this weekend, or else....:furious: :laughing:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

chsdiyer, looking good so far. You undertook quite a task for having only a 4 week window. I hope it comes together smoothly for you.

Carvel Loafer, I think all of us woodworkers must have patient spouses. Thank goodness for that. We know one guy who's been rebuilding his kitchen for over 2 YEARS now! :laughing: They've been working out of a temporary kitchen for all of that time. And since it's set up in their living room, they've been without that room for over 2 years now too. His wife is getting REAL tired of it. I have no clue why it's taking him so long. He has no job so he's at home all day virtually every day.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Haha...nice chant. I'm yet to hear any chants but I'm also yet to finish a renovation. The wife certainly has been patient! 

Thanks Steve. I'm definitely ready to crash. Been going to work at seven then getting home and working on the kitchen till 11-12. About 25 hours on the weekend. I really hope it turns out well but also long lasting. I don't know how long we'll be in this house but I try to make sure nothing I do will give the next owner any trouble. Got the counters oiled with watco dark walnut last night. Its feels very drynow but I guess I'm supposed to wait 3 days before top coating it.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Sooo....for those of you who said this build would never get done in time, you were right and I thank you for your wisdom. For those who encouraged me to go for it anyway, I thank you for your encouragement. The baby came a week late and that seemed to be the theme at the time because we tried three times to order the cabinet hardware but everyone was backordered. So the picture above is about how the kitchen ended up before baby was born. 

After he was born, I was able to get some of the doors and drawers mounted before going back to work. Since then we took a couple of months off from kitchen building. Decided to do some work on the back porch to screen it in for fall, but before finishing that, I got back to cabinets to get the uppers built. So the lower cabs were built with baby time crunch, and the uppers I wanted to get done in 3 weeks before my dad came in town. He'd had a bad spinal infection 1.5 years ago and hadn't been able to come see the house for a while. So I wanted to get the kitchen done before he arrived. I got all the boxes built and painted and the doors all built and painted. Hardware was in, but I found out it takes oil paint a little longer to fully cure than I thought:bangin:. It ended up making the hinges sink in ever so slightly which was enough to keep the doors from closing all the way so I surrendered to give the rest time to cure. Although turns out it kind of works out because it keeps a little pressure on the doors to push out which keeps them flush with the faceframe. Anyway, enough blabble. Here are some pictures of where I am now... 

I still need to get the crown molding in place and I want to build a mantel on the range hood which will be of the same style as the fireplace on the other wall.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

more pictures...i'm not sure why they're not autodisplaying


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

That is looking so nice chsdiyer!! Very impressive counter top and it contrasts so nice with the white.

Congrates on a son...:thumbup:

I started my kitchen long before you and you are going to finish long before me. :notworthy: But I do have to be 100% done before Christmas when the kids come home or my wife's patience will be a thing of the past for sure.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks Carvel...I appreciate the complements. When i'm working on it I always think back to the pictures of your build and try to stay as organized as you were and have as clean cuts. Unfortunately I believe I fall short of that goal, but hey...I think it makes mine look like they were built yeeaaars ago which is what I was going for  We're still trying to decide which color to paint the backsplash and island. The wife is hoping for a light teal/mint color. I'm not sure how that's gonna turn out. 

Haha, I too have been saying i'm going to have this house finish by Christmas...the last 3 years. Looking forward to seeing updates of your build. Nice work on those barn-wood frames!


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

It is looking nice! You're done with it. You are talented. Amazingly beautiful project. Beautiful wood.


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Hey thanks Gus! It definitely hasn't been easy, and looks better in the pictures than up close, but we're both happy with it...especially cause it's a huge step up from what we had the 3 years prior. We also saved a ton of money building it ourselves


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

I don't know how I missed this thread, or the fact that we are from the same town! I wish I would have caught it earlier... I have a jointer, and would have been more than happy to help you square up the walnut stock!

Your renovation came out amazing, and judging by what looks like heart pine I saw in some of your pictures, I'm curious as to where this house is located. Downtown? Wagner Terrace? Either way, it looks incredible. Job well done.

Send me a PM if you want some of my contact info.

Sean


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks Sean. We've definitely learned a lot over the years working on this house and FINALLY just got our final inspection passed. And I'm sure my brother is still laughing at me for thinking it would be a short one year renovation. 

Yeah, having the jointer would have been real nice. I did have a guy in the charlestownewoodturners club offer to let me use his, but at the time I thought it would be more of a pain to haul all that wood over to his house than to do it the way we did. In hindsight...I'm a doofus:bangin:. 

An updated pic of some more progress with the crown molding and such. still have some details to finish with adding door catches and the island cabinet door hinges, range hood mantel, etc.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Those are high ceilings!!!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Very nice work! It came out beautifully! Good job on passing inspection too :thumbsup:


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Sorry for the random resurfacing of this thread...trying to wake up for wood working dormancy and get the final few kitchen projects done...

Thanks Steve, getting the final inspection was a huge relief.
Ryan, the ceilings are 10ft give or take some waving.

My questions are, what kind of hinge can i use to make the "secret" door in the island work. I want it to be where i can push on the panel and the door will pop open. I looked at some of the hinges that are usually on overlay cabinet doors but they are way too stiff to allow the door to pop open. I tried a piano hinge but it creates too much of a gap and the hinge still shows. So far i'm thinking that may be my best option and i may have to paint the hinge black so it shows less. 

The other thing is what to do with my microwave area. I tried making a wood cover like the stainless ones with air vents on top and bottom but it didn't work out too well. Anyone have any ideas on a way to finish that off? People have told me to leave it the way it is, but to me it just looks like it needs something. the microwave is pretty strong and puts out a lot of air so it does need a decent amount of vent space.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

I would look into the SOSS barrel style hinges for the secret door. They are a little pricey but wouldn't show when it was closed.

For the microwave, what about a panel that hinges at the top and then slides in above the microwave when you need to use it?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

For your "secret door", you could use a euro hinge, and get one that's free swinging. If you have one for overlay, and it has a spring closure, you can defeat it by removing the cam in the arm of the hinge (you can pop it out). The euro hinge will allow the hinge side to back up and hide the gap, with the adjustments available. For the opening and closing use a small touch latch, or a magnetic touch latch.

For the M-wave, a pocket door (AKA flipper door), will work well, if you have enough room. 








 







.


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## wood shavings (Mar 20, 2009)

For the M-wave old style cabinet slide wit a pin an the door, think of it as a garage door with out the side rail.

Jerry


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## chsdiyer (Dec 12, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out those hinges. I do have a euro hinge that is stiff so I'll see if I can't finagle it to work like a free swinging one.

Sounds like the slide up door is the unanimous suggestion and it makes sense to me.

Thanks again!!


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## Quality Wood (Jan 26, 2014)

just freaking nice!

good job, thanks for sharing the photos


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Well done, it's a beautiful kitchen. You are quite a craftsman!

Bret


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