On the Skive
580 ViewsIt’s not very clever skiving off when you’re self employed but none the less, I have taken the morning off to catch up with e-mail and drink too much tea. Last nights activities are partly to blame, not getting to bed until 2am and waking up feeling like I’d been hit by a sledgehammer. Not one drop of alcohol passed my lips.
I bought a new kitchen… well … new to me and I have to say… it might as well be new. I reckon that had I purchased the whole thing from a reputable kitchen vendor, it would have cost somewhere in the region of an arm and a leg and maybe another leg as well. Instead, I had the pleasure of gleaning an eBay bargain for a very measly sum of £250. Anyhow, last night we took a big van all the way to Larne (the place of my ancestors) and filled the big van with the new to me, dismantled kitchen and drove it home only stopping briefly in Bangor for pizza.
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The living room is now warehousing for carcasses which will be fitted over the holidays. No big deal when you don’t do Xmas, and I don’t do Xmas. I hope it doesn’t upset the neighbours too much while gnawing on yet another plate of turkey in the conservatory and watching the DIY activities in my kitchen. Then there’s the power tools and all the noise. I’m sure they’ll think I’m quite mad but then I’m not the one telling children lies about old nick disguised in a red suit.
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Looks wonderful! I hope it all goes well.
We now have a store with second-hand cabinets here, part of the non-profit Habitat For Humanity. I bought a couple silver wall sconces there for $2.50 each!
I wish I could help you install it all. You’ll need plenty of wedge shims and a spirit level. Though these days everyone has gone mostly laser level. Hope your drill doesn’t wear out. You have block wall frame then?
Those under-cabinet lights look nice. How are you running electrical to them without seeing wiring all over?
wedge shims?? huh? block wall frame? you mean stud wall or what? One wall is 18″ stone the rest standard brick cavity…. although I’m sure you lot call it something else!
The electrics… I assume in that kitchen the room was wired accordingly. It came out of a new house. Under cupboard lights weren’t included… just the spots over the sink. Still haven’t figured out the logistics of it all. My kitchen is somewhat smaller so there may be a few spare carcasses for the workshop.
Love the furniture, but what is that ‘white thing’ over the kitchen sink? that has to go…
That white thing is a Belfast sink also called a butlers sink…. they came back into vogue in the 90’s for some unfathomable reason. I remember being small enough to have a bath in one although under protestation that the neighbours could see me. Apart from the fact that they’re a back breaker to use for anyone taller than 4′ 2″, that traumatic childhood memory meant I didn’t buy the sink.
The sink is cool, Im talking about what looks like a plastic curtain…
Vertical louvre blinds… also very popular in the 90’s and oh so practical in a range of colours and fabrics to suit every window on the planet. Where have you been?
LOL. I prefer your fabrics…we are in a new decade now
Block wall = standard brick cavity
( last thing I learned from your North Antrim fellow with the phony job offer towards installing cast stone hoods for over cook stoves ). I suppose you use plastic wall anchors, but to drill into your walls you’ll need a hammer drill, which is different from a regular drill. Hate to hear of you spinning your wheels, so to speak, with a regular drill bit for the first hour. You’ll need a carbide-tipped mason’s bit anyway.
Given you’re walls are absolutely plumb and square you won’t need anything but a caulk-line and a tape measure to line them up, but then there are the floors. That is where you’ll need a level and some shims to put under the low spots. With wedges you just tap them in with a hammer until it rises up enough and stop. I buy them in two types, rough framing and cabinetry. I like the wood ones because you can cut them off flush with only a utility knife. The plastic ones are okay, but just can’t get used to them. Sometimes construction adhesive works where you can’t drive a screw into the floor (or wall). Sometimes the base cabinets are so massive that all you have to do is bolt them to each other with cabinet connectors (machine-threaded jobs that don’t project past the cabinet walls). Do you have any clamps? Clamps help with this sort of project.
I hate doing dishes that low myself because of back strain. If not the Butler’s sink then what? Do you use PVC tubing there for the venting and drain? I wonder if you have the same kind of easy threaded flexible supply hose hook-ups instead of compression fittings.
With wood framing one just finds the studs with a battery powered sensor, marks where they lie and drives a wood screw through the carcass bracing into them. I used to install them for commercial locations. You need either a pal (or your Da) to hold them up and steady, or some kind of T-jack for going it alone. A four-foot ladder would be a big help too.
Big Birtday present Caroline , but do you have so much room for all these kitchen cabinet,s, otherwise maybe there is more place in your livingroom.
much sucses with all the coming installation problems ????
Herman… it isn’t much of a birthday present when you have to pay for it yourself!
Andy: Don’t need wedge shims… the carcasses are all on adjustable legs and heavy enough that they only need joined together. They wont be going anywhere. Yes I do have a hammer drill/masonry bits. Fitting curtain rails is pretty much impossible without them! I’ll be using a standard stainless steel single drainer sink that drops into the new worktop which I have yet to buy along with the plumbing bits (all plastic since it’s dead easy to use) and electrical stuff.
yes ,if you get a big present like this for your birthday ,you have to look out what was the reason why you should get it ,
so after all its safer to buy it your self i think.
and if i was real rich [ in money] i will be a sponsor for a part from the kitchen, maybe a door front
I guess I must say the kitchen looks great. It was to my surprise that you do have electric/lights there, and a bigger surprise that you have TV.
looks brand new to me too. Why the hell were the owners auctioning it?
Life’s full of surprises Dave…
madcap.. I can only assume that the vendor had more money than sense.
That all looks very tasteful… do you get a free maids outfit with that ??
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