Back To Plan 9
I got the doors hung and the latches on today. Except for the counter top I officially have complete and working cabinets. I thought I had a potential problem with the cabinet that houses the dishwasher. I had spoke about it in a blog entry a few days ago. A reader named Neil commented on it and came up with what I thought was a great solution to the problem.
In a nutshell the solution was to have the cabinet door open down just like the DW door. I went to the hardware store and bought some “Friction Lid Supports” that would assist the door on its way down (The doors are surprisingly heavy) and a magnet catch that would go on the inside and keep the door closed. I just happened to have one extra cast iron bin pull that matched the others in the kitchen. The idea was to use a the bin pull and have the cabinet look like an old flour bin.
However (There is always a However) when I started to try and put things together I discovered a fatal flaw in the plan. On the old pull-out bins they use a small surface hinge that mounts completely on the outside of the cabinet. They do this because you can't use a butt hinge because that would be driving screws in to the end grain of the wood. End grain will not hold screws in the long run. Because I have toe-kicks on the cabinets there is no room for these style of hinges. If the cabinet went all the way to the floor I could use surface hinges. Major bummer. So it was back to the original plan. Or one of the original plans. This assumes there was a real plan to begin with. We'll just call it Plan 9 From Outer Space.
As it turns out there was just enough room for the DW door to clear the cabinet door. Whew! All of my fret and worry was for naught. There is not much room but as it turns out a little is really all you need. It is the inside corner of the door that I was concerned with. I do only have about a half inch but that is OK. Once everything is secured and fixed in place it can never be less than a half inch. Had I made the cabinets any narrower it would have been a deal killer. I got lucky. Very lucky. I’ll take it.
Both Cabinets In Their Native Habitat
DW Cabinet Closed
DW Cabinet Opened
Next up: The Kitchen Sink.
6 comments:
I'm so glad that it worked out! It looks great, and it is always so satisfying when there has been some major problem solving involved.
Something that has been bugging me for a few days (I really need to get back to my own renovations and mind my own business), is what are you going to do with the venting of the dishwasher? They spit out quite a bit of heat and moisture during the cleaning process, and confining it to that all-wood cabinet with all-wood counter-top is a recipe for disaster (and new cabinets and counter-top, I might add)!
Awesome! Congrats!
All the wood with the DW was a concern at first. Keep in mind that this is all old-growth redwood (and some old-growth fir). If you think about it, redwood is primarily used out doors and has no problems with moisture. I could bury those cabinets in the back yard and dig them up 10 years from now and they would still be pretty much in one piece. I do have a concern with moisture build up creating mold. I'm thinking about putting vent holes on the left side near the top (where the sink will go), and a small slit at the very top/front of the cabinet front where the counter top will hang over. Also, the cabinet door is not really an air tight seal. I think it will be OK.
We tend to do our dishes at night before going to bed. If we do something like this I would tend to put some sort of latch on it so that it would be open while running -- like a hook and eye. Or just leave it open entirely and close it up after unloading in the morning. It's not like you would trip over it. But then I haven't had a shower for a whole week and am feeling particularly low maintenance today.
I think you definitely have a mold concern and that will have subtle effects on your immune system at best.
didn't i suggest putting vent holes in a while ago??? lol!
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