c1711 House Renovation

[Eric.]

Just now, bgreenb said:

Second to last pic?  That's the threshold.  It's black, so it looks like a gap in the photo.

Ah, right on.  I figured you wouldn't allow such an egregious infraction.

That really is a beautiful kitchen man.  If it was in my house I would have gone with a more contemporary floor and countertop (not befitting of that style house, obviously)...but otherwise I would be super duper happy if that kitchen was mine, MDF panels and all.  Looks awesome.  So clean and sharp.

[CandorLush]

35 minutes ago, bgreenb said:

 

Living outside the city, I can tell you that the city is becoming even worse than even the show could have predicted. 

[Alan G]

That's a great looking kitchen. 

For a first time doing a run of cabinets that was quite an undertaking. Adding to that beaded inset doors....really great work. 

What color of milk paint did you end up using? I have been reading more and more about people finishing cabinets as you did. Would you do the same finish schedule again or maybe try a pigmented topcoat? 

[wdwerker]

Very nice looking kitchen ! I hate inset door cabinets ( mostly because I'm a perfectionist ). 

[bgreenb]

58 minutes ago, Alan G said:

 

What color of milk paint did you end up using? I have been reading more and more about people finishing cabinets as you did. Would you do the same finish schedule again or maybe try a pigmented topcoat? 

Thanks for the compliments!

I used snow white.  I would have no reservations using the same finish schedule again.  It was super easy, looks great, and seems like it should be plenty durable, though time will tell I suppose.  It does take a little longer because obviously you're using two products and the milk paint and GFHP take a little longer to dry than (I assume) lacquer would.  I don't know much about the lacquer/conversion varnish products but I'd definitely consider it to get a true commercial finish, but I do like the fact that the GF products were readily available, easy to apply, and safe/water based.  

[Llama]

I hate to be the Baron of bad news, but I have a sick sense about these things. I used to take it for granite and even though you are having a feel day with this I am here to bring you back into reality. Someone has to nip this in the butt because I have zero taller ants when it comes to really bad grammer. 

[davewyo]

That is a spectacular kitchen, B!

Very unique. It has excellent cache. I'm sure it helped to sell the house.

 

[bgreenb]

The house has 2.5 bathrooms.  A powder room downstairs, and then two full bathrooms upstairs.  For the powder room, I went with a pedestal sink, since space was at a premium and there isn't really a ton of need for storage in a powder room, and whatever storage is needed can be taken care of with a medicine cabinet.  

The guest/kids bath upstairs has a 36" space for a vanity, so I went with a home depot special that was actually surprisingly nice for a couple hundred bucks.  

The master bath has space for a double sink vanity, about 68" wide.  The "off the shelf" double sink vanities at the big box stores are actually shockingly expensive for brutal quality, so I decided to bang one out myself.  I've already built a couple of vanities before, so this was a piece of cake.  Again, not exactly fine woodworking, but I'll take you through the process regardless.  

For the case pieces I went with prefinished maple, since I was already getting a ton of it for the kitchen and was sure to have offcuts that I could use for this.  I thought about using walnut ply (which I used for a vanity I built for my own house), but it just didn't seem worth it given that the vanity was enclosed on 3 sides, so the case would only be visible from the inside, and this was an investment property after all.  I used good quality prefinished maple from a reputable supplier.  

The vanity would have a sink at either end with a false/decorative drawer front and then a set of double doors, and then a 3 drawer bank in the middle.  I decided to make the case out of 3 pieces for ease of installation even though it uses a bit more material.  I was usually working on my own over there, so the three pieces made the install dead simple.

I used dominoes for the case construction here, in contrast to the kitchen.  Not sure I would do that again.  I actually think that the dado method is much faster without compromising much in the way of strength (or not enough to matter anyway).  

 

All the show parts of the vanity would be walnut from a bunch of rough offcuts I had from previous projects.

I used dominoes for the face frame as well, which I made in one piece, with wide stiles on the ends for scribing.  Here she is all glued up:

And dry fit to the case:

I built the vanity before I built the kitchen, so I hadn't yet consulted with my kitchen consiglieres and learned to build the face frames first.  I also didn't use tongue and groove to attach to the cases - it's just attached via pocket holes in the upper case rails and beneath the bottom panels, and in the drawer bank, so none are visible.  Here she is on install day:

That dark stuff in the back of the drawer bank is dust, not a gap, just for the record

Drawer boxes I built from the same maple stock as the kitchen drawer boxes, also dovetailed with the leigh jig.  For the doors I used dominos and cut stopped grooves in the stiles and rails to receive a 1/4" walnut plywood panel that I had left over from my own vanity.  For finish I sprayed 3-4 coats of GFHP.  First time I haven't used an oil based product on walnut.  I actually think it looks pretty good, but in the future I will probably still apply at least one coat of oil before anything water based because it definitely adds more life.

Anyway here's the final product with a white quartz top.  All in cost to build was under $700, including the top, sinks, fixtures, etc.  Not bad.  

Certainly nothing earth shattering about it, but I'm happy with how it came out and the buyers specifically commented on how much they liked it.  

[BonPacific]

Love the vanity, that's a very classy look, especially with the marble tiles. Really, I'm loving this whole thread, incredible work.

[CandorLush]

30 minutes ago, BonPacific said:

Love the vanity, that's a very classy look, especially with the marble tiles. Really, I'm loving this whole thread, incredible work.

*this hole threat

 

[Janello]

This thread is super-california-magna-expedia-ala-delicious!

[Alan G]

10 hours ago, bgreenb said:

Drawer boxes I built from the same maple stock as the kitchen drawer boxes, also dovetailed with the leigh jig.

I am about do some drawer boxes for two dressers I am making. I got a Leigh jig used from a friend and was going to try to do the single pass half blinds.

What did you do for your boxes?

[bgreenb]

We're getting close to the finish line...

During the plumbing disaster delay, I decided to bang out the mudroom built ins I was planning on doing.  Here's a reminder of the first floor floor plan.  I was planning on putting a bench, coat hooks, and upper cubbies on both sides of the mudroom.  

They would be painted white (same color as all the trim), so I built the carcasses out of birch ply and the face frames from poplar.  Each set of builtins had two pieces.  A lower portion (a simple bench) and an upper portion with a frame and panel back.  Unfortunately I didn't get many pics because I was trying to work quickly, but here's what I have.  Here's the upper case minus the back:

Face frames once again built with dominoes, cases assembled with dadoes, glue and screws (rabbets for the top and back).  I left the stiles a bit wide for scribing as usual, which turned out to be a life saver during installation, as I'll get to in a minute.

The back of the upper case was frame and panel, as I mentioned.  I assembled the frame with dominoes, then I used a router and rabbetting bit to rabbet out the back of the frames, then cut panels to fit from 1/4" plywood, secured with glue and narrow crown staples.  The reason I didn't float the panels is that they would rattle or sound hollow if you knocked on them, which I didn't want.  I actually left the panels slightly proud so they would be pressed against the wall during installation and therefore feel more solid.  I did the same thing with the back and side panels of the kitchen peninsula.

Here you can see the mudroom built ins assembled and sitting in the back corner of my storage facility aka the in law apartment of my house.  You can also see the face frame from the vanity leaning up against the mudroom built ins.  All of this behind the kitchen dry fit.  

Installation...did not go smoothly.  I swear I measured the space three or four times, but somehow the width of the built ins was an inch (!!!) too wide for the space.  Ugh.  I was working so quickly that I must have just misread a number somewhere or misremembered a measurement.  Still don't really know what happened.  So I consulted with the league of extraordinary minds and we decided that the best thing to do would be to cut the drywall where it was going to go, which would give me the extra inch and would hopefully give me enough room to bang it in.  Easier to patch the drywall than to redo the cabinets.  

Unfortunately, that didn't work.  It still wasn't enough room.  So I decided drastic measures were necessary.  I unscrewed the dadoes and rabbets from one side of each cabinet.  Then I *gently* tapped the joint apart with a dead blow hammer.  It was actually disconcerting how quick and clean it came apart.  I guess dadoes and glue really aren't the strongest joint.  Anyway, I then used my track saw to cut an inch off both the shelf and the top, then I put them back in the dado/rabbet and screwed it back together.  It actually worked out great.  And thankfully the center stile by the top cubbies was wide enough that shifting the entire thing over by an inch still kept that center divider hidden.  So the top cubbies are an inch "off center" but nobody will ever notice.  Disaster averted, and only took me about two hours of disassembling and reassembling.  In any case, here's the finished product.  There are two of these, one pictured, and the other one behind me as I take the picture.

Somehow it looks oddly disproportionate in the picture, but it looks good in person.  Shrug.

No process pics of this one, but I also built a door for the linen closet we cut out in some dead space above the ductwork.  Once again, dominos, poplar, and MDF floating panel.  Spray finished using Ben Moore latex paint (same as the trim) through my MM4.  I installed it surface mount on the cased opening with HL hinges and bought an iron clasp to match.  The reveal is a little off because somehow the opening was a little bit out of square.  I blame the trim carpenter.  What a jerk that guy must be

Next up, fireplaces.

[bgreenb]

26 minutes ago, Alan G said:

I am about do some drawer boxes for two dressers I am making. I got a Leigh jig used from a friend and was going to try to do the single pass half blinds.

What did you do for your boxes?

Because mine were applied fronts in this case, I used through dovetails for the boxes because through dovetails are a lot easier to set up on the leigh jig.  But I've done plenty of half blind DTs on the leigh.  I've never used the "single pass" feature though - if I remember correctly it's fairly limiting in terms of how the spacing works, and I think it requires a special bit.  

Half blind DTs are a little more finicky to set up on the leigh jig because the depth of the bit is what determines the tightness of the joint, so if you're using a plunge router sometimes it's tough to really hit it dead on.  It's a lot easier if your router has a micro adjust mechanism.  ANd once you route the HBDTs, if they don't fit, you have to start fresh, whereas with TDTs you can make some adjustment after routing the pin board.  

Don't get me wrong - the leigh jig is great and in my opinion the clear winner.  Just saying TDTs are a lot easier.  

[Woodenskye]

Brian, great job on the kitchen, vanity and mud room. 

[Alan G]

16 minutes ago, bgreenb said:

Don't get me wrong - the leigh jig is great and in my opinion the clear winner.  Just saying TDTs are a lot easier.  

I will have applied fronts also. Was just trying to save a step. Might be over complicating it though. 

I'll start with the through dovetails on this project then play a bit with the single pass another time. Thanks for the advice!

[Alan G]

24 minutes ago, bgreenb said:

Spray finished using Ben Moore latex paint (same as the trim) through my MM4.

Did you spray that on the mudroom cabinet and bench also? 

Was that Regal semi gloss? 

PS - beyond impressed with the amount of work you have gotten done and how great it all looks! 

[bgreenb]

17 minutes ago, Alan G said:

I will have applied fronts also. Was just trying to save a step. Might be over complicating it though. 

I'll start with the through dovetails on this project then play a bit with the single pass another time. Thanks for the advice!

Yeah if you're doing applied fronts then I would strongly recommend doing TDTs.  It's very straightforward and I can usually nail it after one test joint.  Any questions feel free to let me know - I've used the leigh jig a ton and know all the ins and outs.  If you don't mind shelling out a bit of money, I'd recommend getting a couple of routers that are dedicated to the leigh jig so you don't have to switch bits and the routers stay set up.  A couple of PC690s will do - don't need anything special.

17 minutes ago, Alan G said:

Did you spray that on the mudroom cabinet and bench also? 

Was that Regal semi gloss? 

PS - beyond impressed with the amount of work you have gotten done and how great it all looks! 

The mudroom cabinets were hand painted by professionals, along with the rest of the trim in the house   Only reason I sprayed the the linen closet door is that I didn't get around to building it until after the painters were already finished, and I wasn't gonna pay them to come back.  Plus any excuse to use the MM4 is a good one.

Thanks for the compliments!

[Coop]

Truly impressed man! You do great work.

[cstandi1]

This is like watching "This Old House" but I actually get to see more than one episode for the project and I may get to even see the end if I remember to follow this thread lol. I love your work, this is a great thread and I am in love with that kitchen.

[bgreenb]

With three fireplaces in the house, I obviously had to build three fireplace surrounds.  Unfortunately I have no process pics at all here, but I will display each surround here and talk a bit about the design and construction of each.  The fireplaces were in the kitchen, dining room, and living room.  Let's start in the dining room.

I felt that the dining room should be the most "formal" of the three rooms, so I decided to go with a classic colonial look.  In fact, I decided to mimic my front door surround design to kind of tie together the interior and exterior.  If you've never built a fireplace surround/mantel before, Norm had a good primer on NYW, and you can find it on youtube.  My construction differed from his in a few respects, and I'd quibble with a couple of his techniques, but they are minor quibbles and I still genuflect to Norm.  

As I said, I was going for a close match to the front door surround, but with everything scaled down.  Fluted pilasters, plinth blocks with standard base cap, etc.  The fillet is a piece of 5/4 poplar with a 1/4 roundover on all edges.  The frieze is a piece of 5/4 poplar with 3/4 applied to each end to bring out the depth.  Then standard 3 5/8 crown and a 5/4 poplar cap.  I routed a classic cove and bead on the underside of the cap, and applied stair cove to the transition between the pilaster and fillet.  Finally, I used 1/2" poplar to scribe directly to the brick and create a small reveal on the inside.  This mantle and the next one were both painted in place by the professional painters with Ben Moore regal select semi gloss white.

I built it mostly in place, but with all the parts pre-cut/processed at my shop.  The "backing" of the pilasters are just 1x5 stock that is screwed to the back of the pilasters, and then two 1x4 rails are pocket screwed into the two 1x5's, so you have a nice stable frame that gets screwed to the wall all in one piece.  Before you apply it, you level it by cutting short the side where the floor is higher.  You hide the screws behind the mouldings which are applied later.  Then the fillet (milled in the shop) gets placed atop the pilasters and finish nailed downward.  Frieze placed atop the fillet, nail upward through the fillet into the bottom of the frieze, then screw the frieze into the wall where it will be covered by the crown.  A 2x4 screwed into the studs is placed behind the frieze as a cleat into which you can fasten the top.  Then the all the mouldings are applied in the usual fashion.

 

In the living room, I went with a frame and panel design.  This one was an easy install because I could essentially build the whole thing in 4 pieces in my shop, then just fasten on site and apply crown.  I made the frame and panel with cope and stick set...poplar and MDF.  Applied the poplar plinth wrap and base cap in my shop.  So I had two matching "columns" ready to go.  Then the big frieze piece I also made with cope and stick, glued and screwed backers on the ends to give it more depth (and a filler strip along the bottom).  One big mistake I made was that I *thought* I had figured out the necessary width of the top rail on the frieze piece such that it would be identical width as the bottom rail once the crown was applied, but I must have done some math wrong or something because it's narrower.  Oh well.  After the install I realized I could've just brought the cap piece up more by raising the cleat (installed the same way as the first mantel), and then the crown would cover the gap, but I wasn't gonna redo it.  Live and learn.  

Install was straightforward, just had to cut wedges to make the transition to the brick correctly.  Of course I was dry fitting the big frieze piece and making sure it was level, I went to grab my level across the room thinking the thing was stable enough sitting there.  Nope.  It fell.  And of course it landed on a corner.  And then there was the "F$@%" heard round the neighborhood.  Pretty decent dent in the corner.  So I fared it in as best I could with a rasp and sandpaper and then did the same on the other side to match so it wouldn't be so obvious.  Turned out fine, but very very annoying.  

 

The third fireplace is the one you've already seen in the kitchen.  It's huge and magnificent, and I thought that an ornate surround would only detract from the beautiful work of the original (and restoration) mason.  I wanted something fairly simple and dark, to tie in the beams and kind of add to the gravitas of the look.  And since staining wood is against my religion, I went with walnut.  I got a kick out of imagining future visitors to the house asking the homeowners "wow what color stain is on that pine????"  

Here's the stock I started out with:

It was kind of a challenge because this fireplace is HUGE.  The cap piece is over 8' long, and as I'm sure you know it's hard to get good quality walnut in lengths like that, and I needed fairly straight stock because all the parts here were too wide for my jointer, so I'd be skip planing them all.  The milling worked out well though and they ended up mostly flat, or at least close enough to be coaxed into flat with a few screws (hidden by mouldings).

And here she is after a coat of ARS:

 

As I said, fairly simple design.  Flat columns, a fillet, a frieze, a large cove moulding, and a 5/4 cap with a cove and bead routed on the bottom.  The one "first" on this one for me was that I made the walnut cove moulding on the table saw.  It was pretty straightforward and easy, though a tiny bit disconcerting going sideways over the blade.  The ridges left by the blade were kind of a pain to remove, but I used a gooseneck scraper to clean it up and then hand sanded it.  Whole process from milling to finished cove moulding probably took about 45 minutes.  

Install was straightforward, though there were a couple of screws that I couldn't hide with mouldings so I used a face grain plug cutter for those.  I sanded the parts to 150 before installation and then sanded them in place with 180 and wiped on two coats of ARS, and a third coat on the cap piece.

Sad to say, but that's pretty much it for construction.  I'll tie up a few odds and ends in the next post and include some better pics of the finished product.

[Tom King]

It all looks great!

[Chet]

This is some great work Brian.  I liked the book match all the way across on the vanity doors.

[Eric.]

All three look great.  The kitchen fireplace IS magnificent and I now have fireplace envy even though I never use mine (stinky and PITA).  But wow that would be cool to have in your house.  Should be a huge selling point.  I really like the living room one, too.

 

3 hours ago, bgreenb said:

genuflect

Good word.

[shaneymack]

Brian, this is amazing man. Really fantastic work. Did you take the year off work to do this?