Making Your Own Kitchen Cabinets

If you want to achieve a custom look to your cabinets without spending a lot of money, there are a number of steps to the process of making them yourself. In so doing, a little planning and preparation will allow you to save money, yet create cabinets that are just what you want.

Get Ready

So, step one, assemble the tools and materials you need. You’ll need a table saw, a jigsaw router, a drill, a sander and sandpaper, some medium and small-sized clamps, wood glue, several sheets of ½-inch plywood, some 1”x6” lumber, some wood dowels, hinges and knobs, a box of flathead screws, a box of finish nails, some wood putty, some drawer slides, and a measuring tape.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Next, measure the opening(s) for the cabinet(s). Use the table saw to cut the ½-inch plywood for the pieces to the back, side, top and bottom pieces of each cabinet. If you’re unsure about a template, you can buy one at a hardware store of download it from a woodworking website. Once you have template, frame the cabinet pieces according to the design specifications. Use the finish nails to connect the pieces and some glue to give it extra strength. The clamps can be used at this point to hold the frame together until the glue dries.

Attaching the Face Frame

The next step is to attach a face frame. So, drill holes into the sides of the frame. You then need to make the face frame with some 1”x6” lumber. The face frame is what you use to attach the doors to the cabinets. You’ll need to cut four pieces of 1”x6” lumber for each cabinet that you’re making. Attach the 1”x6” pieces to each other with some wood screws. After that, drill holes into the face frame so you can attach it to the cabinet frame with nails. By pre-drilling the holes, this will allow for the finish nails to be driven in without any chance of splitting the plywood. Once all the nails are in place, use the wood putty to cover the nail holes.

Cutting the Wood

Now you’re ready to cut the wood for the doors. You want them to have a ¼” to 3/8” of overhang so that they can be easily opened. Once again, use the table saw to cut the plywood, and then sand the doors to make them smooth.

Applying a Finish

Here’s an important tip: apply wood stain and a polyurethane finish to the cabinet and the doors before you attach them. Apply the wood stain, set everything aside, allow them to dry, and then apply a second coat. As soon as everything is dry, put on a coat of polyurethane finish to all of the components. After that, let it all dry overnight. Another point to remember: always apply the stain and polyurethane in a well-aired room, or outside.
Hanging the Cabinets
Once the cabinets have completely dried, you can attach them to the wall. Another hint to consider: be sure to find walls studs to screw the cabinet into. This is where you’ll need help, because you don’t want to screw the cabinet in all the way at first. Get them started, and then use shims and a level to set the cabinet into place, before screwing them all the way into the studs. After that, attach the doors, and your done

So you want to do a Textured Ceiling!

You have owned your home for quite a few years and have done some DIY around the ol’ homestead. You one day look at your ceilings and discover that they are perfectly fine except for the water marks left from when your kid played sailor Sam in the tub last month. You decide after discussing it with the “little Mrs.” that it is time for a textured look for the living room. Checking with various contractors, you find that the price to have it done is a bit out of the ballpark for you, and you decide to do-it-yourself.

So, off you go to the local large department store type chain hardware store with your ideas and questions. You learn it can be done by the DIY’er simply and easily and for a fraction of the cost of the contractor’s price. And then there is the satisfaction of doing the job yourself and living to tell about it! The sales person stops you in mid sentence with “are you spraying it on?” You look at him like he just stomped on your cat and say…”what?” With that he looks at you strangely and guides you to the line of sprayers they have made just for — you guessed, it spraying on a textured ceiling! Until just this moment you thought they were all done by hand!

He politely explains about the different types of texture hopper sprayers. He simplest has a container (the hopper) mounted on top of the spray gun that you load the texture mix into and then spray it on the ceiling.

You mix the material into a thick texture, usually like a biscuit batter, load it in the hopper and spray away.

There are some safety precautions and things that will keep your job easier too, like a short scaffolding to reduce the distance between you and the ceiling, goggles to keep the spray out of your eyes and a mask to keep it out of your lungs. You also should work in a well-ventilated area. You aren’t sure if you want to do more than the one room in the house, so the sales person advises you to rent the equipment rather than buy it and only use it once. Not very cost effective. Or you could buy it and let your neighbor borrow it. Then you might get it back should you need it again.

So, you get everything together, the texturizing material, plastic for the floor, scaffolding and your protective safety equipment and a video to watch while you wait for the weather to be the optimal above 70 and low humidity. In the meantime, you prep the ceiling making sure there is no dirt or loose paint that needs to be removed before you texture it. It just wouldn’t be right for a loose chunk to fall in your coffee when the textured weight hits a weak area and it eventually comes down and once again, proves that gravity does work.

Finally the weather is right, and you send the wife and son off for the day to the zoo so you can work un interrupted. You head for the hardware rental center in the big store and rent your equipment, get a last minute coaching from the sales person, and, off you go to spray up a ceiling.

After a final check for loose paint and covering the floor with sheet plastic you assemble the scaffolding, then mix the texture material to it’s dough consistency, load the hopper, put on your goggles and mask and you’re good to go!

Secrets to Installing Laminate Flooring

If you’re going to install a laminate floor – and you’re not an expert – there are a couple of things you need to, and several of them are not all that obvious. First off, it is not the sort of task to take on yourself – get at least one or two people to help you. Most rooms are a good size, and even a small room is going to require two to three planks in a row. Well, all of the joints have to be supported while you lock the new row into the old (previous) one. There is no way to do that by yourself!

Next, depending on the quality of the laminate, the tongue and grooves on each board might be nothing more than fibreboard, which is nothing more than pressed cardboard. You can avoid this by buying good quality laminate. Ask the clerk at the store you shop at as to what the laminates they have available are made from. These days, you can get them made of bamboo, which is a very durable material, yet not at all expensive. Now, if you do end up with the inexpensive laminate – that is, the ones with the fibreboard tongue and groove – know this: you can only reposition each board about five to six times before the tongue and groove start to give out. This may seem like a lot of chances to get the boards in the right position, but – for the inexperienced installer (amateur) – you can burn through those options quicker than you know. If you have a situation where a board just isn’t connecting with the others – toss it aside (for later use, to be explained below). It’s better to try again with a fresh board than end up with a floor that looks shoddy.

However, here is another priceless little tip – just because a board has its tongue torn off, that does not mean you have to throw it away. Now, if the groove is badly damaged, there really is not much you can do with it, unless the damaged area is small enough to cut away. In that event, you may end up with a short length of plank to use on an end or corner. In the case of the tongue, you can use food glue and try to re-attach it to the board. At the very least, set the plank(s) aside and let it (them) dry for about 24 hours. If, after that, they feel good and solid, you can use them again.

Finally, there is the underlayment fabric you place between the bare floor and the laminate you put down. Technically, you are supposed to completely cover the floor, but if you run short, there is an option you can use to avoid having to buy an entire roll for just a small space. You can just substitute some folded up newspaper. Place several pages together and fold them until they are the same thickness of the under layer. Just make sure that you don’t use newspaper to cover a large area – something a few inches wide is all.