For this segment of HouseCalls, Ron's traveling toolbox arrives in Windermere, Florida, located near the Orlando area. Here, Rita Brockway, who is ready to learn a little something about power tools and home improvement, is eagerly awaiting Ron's arrival.
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Rita has an alcove in her living room that would be perfect for a built-in home entertainment center. She needs a place for her television, VCR and stereo, and she would also like to store books, knick-knacks, and various other items.
1. Make a drawing:
The first step in nearly any custom building project is to draw a rough sketch of the project. Rita wanted a base section with doors and drawers for plenty of out-of-sight storage. Above, Ron designed three cabinets with adjustable shelving. Finally, to give the project a professional, built-in look Ron designed trim around the outside edge of the structure. |
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2. Base cabinets:
To save time, money and a lot of work, construct the base from stock kitchen cabinets purchased at a home improvement center. First clamp the cabinets together and then secure them with #10 x 2 ½" flat head screws. On each end, attach a filler strip to conceal the space between the cabinets and the wall.
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| Before setting the base section into place,cut holes in the back of the cabinets with a jigsaw to provide access to the electrical outlets and the television cable jack. Also, use a hole saw to bore holes through the sides of each cabinet to allow wires to be run wherever needed between the cabinets. |
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3. Countertop
The next step is to measure for the width and depth of the countertop. Transfer these measurements to a sheet of three-quarter-inch plywood and then cut it to size using a circular saw and a clamp-on straight edge as a guide.
Then use a nail gun to attach the plywood to the cabinets below.
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| A piece of one-by-eight poplar, notched to fit around the corners, can be used to conceal the edge of the plywood. This is also attached to the cabinets with a nail gun. |
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TIP:
If you were building a wet bar or a built-in side bar, you could stop right here. Of course you would have to attach a finished countertop of plastic laminate, granite, or tile. But the point is this is a great way to create built-in base cabinets using off-the-shelf kitchen cabinets. These go together in a very short time and the cost can be quite reasonable. |
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4. Shelving
The upper portion of the entertainment center is made in three sections. The center section for the television and the two side sections for books, audio equipment and collectibles. |
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| Once again using the circular saw and a clamp-on straight edge as a guide, cut the sides, bottoms and tops of each section from sheets of three-quarter inch birch veneer plywood. |
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| The upper section of the entertainment center was designed to have adjustable shelves. These shelves were supported by pins, which were set into a series of holes. It is extremely important that the holes begin at the same point, usually near the bottom, and they are spaced at precisely the same distance apart. |
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| After measuring and drawing a baseline, align and then clamp a pre-drilled plastic template to the cabinet side. Using a self-centering drill bit, drill the series of holes about two-thirds of the way through the wood. This process is repeated on all of the cabinet sides. |
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| The face of cabinet-grade plywood is smooth and clean, but like most plywood, the edges are rough and unfinished. To conceal them, apply edge banding, which is a thin strip of wood with a heat activated adhesive backing. Apply the heat with a household iron. Edge banding can be trimmed using a razor blade, but it is much easier to use an edge banding trimmer, which is a special tool designed just for this purpose. After trimming and sanding the edges, the plywood panels look just like solid wood. |
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| The edge of each shelf is then faced with a solid piece of one-by-two lumber, attached with a bead of wood adhesive and then reinforced with nails using a pneumatic nail gun. The edges make the shelves more rigid and give them a thicker, more substantial appearance. Wood filler is used to fill the nail holes. |
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5. Assembly
After all of the pieces are cut for the three cabinet sections, each one is assembled individually. Lay out all the pieces on the table before gluing and nailing them together. To help position these pieces for assembly and to make them stronger,use wooden biscuits or splines. |
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| With the biscuits in place, more glue was applied to the surface of the wood and the pieces were pressed firmly together. The splines held everything in the correct position while the two pieces were nailed together for added strength. |
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| Completed this same assembly process for all three upper cabinets and then carry each one back into the house. |
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