SMHRB is a group dedicated to fixing the varied multitude of small (and not-so-small) problems and issues that come with owning any house, with an eye towards intelligent improvement at all times. Even the best ideas of previous home owners can have horrible results if not done correctly, resulting in what we commonly refer to as "Teh Stupid". One of our collective hopes is to not add the list of things that later needs more attention - band-aid solutions are never the best way to go.
WARNING
The following diary contains ancient, splintered wood; redneck engineering; and a complete disregard for measurements or level construction. Replicating the original construction is not recommended, and should bring a small pang of shame should anyone leave behind similar work.
Reader discretion is advised.
One of the fun (?) things of buying an old home, especially a foreclosed one, is sorting through what had been left behind. From the original 1915 interior doors stacked in the basement (all junk, btw), to a massive amount of junk in the attic (like car rims!), there was no shortage of broken, useless crap carelessly tossed in corners for decades. Even after filling a 20 yard dumpster to the brim with unusable junk, there was still a ridiculous amount of random stuff to go through, some of which was still of use. Storing and organizing what I kept became a slight issue, as I have only two closets per floor, both in the bedrooms.
Tucked away in a corner of the basement, however, was a cobbled-together shelving unit filled to the brim with paint, brushes and rollers, Romex, coaxial cable, ducting hoses, PVC....you name it, it was there. Unfortunately, there was no rhyme or reason to how this was all stored, and every time I tried to go through it wound up with dirty, splintered hands. Right after Christmas, I decided it was time to do something about it.
Here's what I had to start with. The left side is an interior door that had been replaced at some point in the past, while the rest was ancient (possibly century-old) wood that had been cobbled together. Because the basement is unfinished fieldstone, the dirt that had built up over the decades was insane - hardly a good place to store painting supplies...unless you happen to like a mottled finish. The wood itself had begun to self-destruct from age, causing massive splinters to anyone who even looked at it wrong. The whole unit was, however, huge - standing 6 feet tall - and I desperately needed the storage. After an hour with a shop-vac, a plan formed.
The first thing I realized was how badly it had been built. Two shelves were never even attached, instead just resting on the horizontal supports, but a full inch thick. As I began to screw the boards to the frame, I quickly realized the original builder never measured any thing (as evidenced by the boards sticking out on the right side), nor was a level ever used. From the bottom shelf to the top one, it measured 44" on the left side and 47" on the right. A shim here, screw there, some extra supports and plywood back, and a cabinet began to take shape.
As an indication of how off-kilter the whole thing is, the plywood for the back was all cut straight; the frame of this thing was definitely not. A full, thick coat of primer on the old wood to help the longevity (and stop additional splintering) was in order. It took nearly a gallon for the first coat, as the old wood absorbed the primer like a sponge.
I had the intention from the beginning of storing painting and plumbing supplies, so I knew that enclosing the entire thing was necessary. After a cross-beam at the top front, another sheet of plywood on the top, and some doors made from left over wood from previous projects, tack nails, glue, and more of the 1/4" plywood.
Once the primer (Kilz 2, btw, which has a fungicide in the mix; great stuff for damp areas like an unfinished basement) had dried, I stapled plastic sheeting to the inside of the right side to keep dirt from coming in the gaping spaces between the boards. A few door handles later, I moved it back to where it originally was and attached it to a board coming down from the floor joist to add additional stability. Even though the cabinet was huge and outweighed me by fifty pounds or so, I wasn't taking any chances on stability. The poured concrete floor is far from level, and didn't want to risk it falling over while full of paint and other chemicals.
And filled it with everything I deemed usable. Now with a top, plastic sheeting and doors, the majority of dirt and grime stays off the supplies. And I can find stuff - it is exceptionally annoying to buy plumber's putty only to find later you already had some and didn't know it because of disorganization.
Not a major house improvement, and not one that is visible to anyone but me, but entirely needed. Between waiting for the primer to dry and swearing endlessly about the haphazard nature of the original build, the cabinet took nearly a week of extremely late nights - I can't start any work until the wife gets home around 7PM and takes over with the midget. And a special nod to the Coors brewing company for producing the liquid patience it took to get this done.
OK, the floor's open, and the coffee flowing. What's on your agenda this week?