Here's a bathroom shelving project that looks simple, but both the contractor and I made unnecessarily complex.
We wanted a inset shelving unit based on a pic my wife saw in a Delta catalog. Guessed on dimensions. The contractor thought they needed a custom woodworker to handle this, so I said leave me an opening and I will finish it; they installed 1x6 jambs around the opening and painted it. Simple enough - EXCEPT the jambs were not plumb and the opening was not square. The jambs were proud of the drywall and tile by 3/4 and 3/8" respectively.
Upon completion by contractor, I got to finish the job. I added 'jamb extensions' and a back to make an inset box of 11" deep, 16" wide, and 48" high. The fact that the jamb/opening was not square made adding extensions more complicated than necessary (I can make a box out of square, and have done so, but this one had to match an out-of-square box and match seamlessly). Added joint compound to smooth the inevitable seams, primed and painted the box with the wall paint.
Shelves were 1/2" plywood, that I veneered with shop-cut veneer of thermally modified ash. Sloppily done but acceptable. Added a front face of solid wood on each shelf that extended wider than the jambs and is notched around the 'proud jamb.' This notching was very fiddly and time consuming - mostly I guess because I was trying to get a notch fit that was too tight and because the out of square opening meant no two shelves were alike.
As yet unfinished, but they will get a light double coat of Target Coatings EM6000 (the acrylic 'lacquer').
We wanted a inset shelving unit based on a pic my wife saw in a Delta catalog. Guessed on dimensions. The contractor thought they needed a custom woodworker to handle this, so I said leave me an opening and I will finish it; they installed 1x6 jambs around the opening and painted it. Simple enough - EXCEPT the jambs were not plumb and the opening was not square. The jambs were proud of the drywall and tile by 3/4 and 3/8" respectively.
Upon completion by contractor, I got to finish the job. I added 'jamb extensions' and a back to make an inset box of 11" deep, 16" wide, and 48" high. The fact that the jamb/opening was not square made adding extensions more complicated than necessary (I can make a box out of square, and have done so, but this one had to match an out-of-square box and match seamlessly). Added joint compound to smooth the inevitable seams, primed and painted the box with the wall paint.
Shelves were 1/2" plywood, that I veneered with shop-cut veneer of thermally modified ash. Sloppily done but acceptable. Added a front face of solid wood on each shelf that extended wider than the jambs and is notched around the 'proud jamb.' This notching was very fiddly and time consuming - mostly I guess because I was trying to get a notch fit that was too tight and because the out of square opening meant no two shelves were alike.
As yet unfinished, but they will get a light double coat of Target Coatings EM6000 (the acrylic 'lacquer').
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