The most exciting news this week for Barbara is that she now has a working sink, dishwasher, and bathtub. Ever been exicted to be able to do dishes?
There is a bit of back story to this conclusion, though. First Don had to move three pipes the plumber put in the wrong places. Not the only ones, nor even the first he had to adjust.
After adjusting the pipes, cutting holes in the floor, etc. Don still had to get them inside the cabinet. Our friend who helped us with the plumbing cut the pipes off too short, but Don was able to make them work.
Our all around handyman friend came out from American Fork to help us get the plumbing working. He got here and realized he had picked up the wrong part. He went into Santaquin (about a half hour away) and still had the wrong part, so it was another trip into Santaquin to get the right part. It ended up being a full day. Here, he and Don are installing the kitchen faucet.
Now for the cabinet Don has been dreading-- the big, pantry cabinet that is almost entirely in pieces. After scraping and chipping off the old, dried glue, Don can finally start putting things together. First the doors.
Only the frames of the doors are glued. The panels must be free to move with changes in humidity and temperature.
If at first it doesn't fit, use a bigger hammer!.
Then you clamp it tight...
...and set it aside to dry. Don only has six long clamps, so he can't work on the whole cabinet at the same time.
Next, we re-build the face frame--the front of the cabinet. Don knows how to do this because he spent a year working in a cabinet shop.
Glue in the holes, then the dowels in the holes. Not too much glue, or the wood will break.
After gluing and clamping, Barbara helped Don check the diagonals. If they're equal, the face frame is square. They were off by 1/4", so Don had to cock one of the clamps at an angle to pull it square.
Don spent a lot of time pulling old nails and staples out of the box back and sides. They'll just bend and get in the way. It's actually much easier to build the whole box new from scratch than it is to re-build it. If you have the tools and the room to work in. Ask any cabinetmaker.
At last! Starting to rebuild the box.
The box also did not come out square on first try, so had to be adjusted while the glue dried. Cabinetmaker standards: verticals and horizontals exactly equal; diagonals equal to within 1/16" or less. FUN!
Test-fitting the face frame to the box. Don's cabinetmaker's standards paid off: they fit perfectly, first try!
Don didn't let Barbara see how he stood up this heavy cabinet. Using a pry bar, he pried each end up a couple of inches and slipped a 2x4 underneath, then repeated several times, until it was about six inches off the floor, supported by several layers of boards near the top and several more layers about six inches from the bottom. It was then easy for two men to tilt up, into position. Oak is heavy!
Cabinets out of the way (mostly), Don started laying vinyl flooring.
We woke up Tuesday morning to snow. It has been warmer since but is still pleasantly cool.
New visitors to the bird bath/feeding area:
Mountain blue bird
White Crowned Sparrow
And a couple of old timers
Scrub Jay always likes a drink
This spotted towhee got all puffed up in his bath
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