The Big Orange Box

I suppose I should have given this post a different title.  It was supposed to be about how to "scribe" the strip that goes between the cabinet and the wall.  Otherwise you end up with an uneven gap along the wall, as in the first photo.

That process is well described elsewhere - just google "scribe cabinets" and it will return a bunch of links (this one even shows how to make your own scribing tool!).  Done right, the strip, in this case the pillar, matches up perfectly with the profile of the wall resulting in no gap.

I ended up using my daughter's compass from geometry class because they sell a cr@ppy plastic one that won't hold it's setting at The Big Orange Box.

Also, I have a nice jack plane (big one in the photo), but wanted a one-handed block plane to do this scribing.  The only one they carried at The Big Orange Box was a "cheap" one (small one in the photo), so I had no other choice.

I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the little one, so I used my big one; the quote "this is not a precision tool" comes to mind.  Perhaps it will work better if I hone the cutting edge before its next use, but should I really have to mess with a new tool to get it to work right?

Then, to get the spacing uniform between the cabinets, I wanted some thin shims to use as spacers.  These would have been perfect.

So I went to the store looking to buy a few.  Ten should have been more than enough.  But as you can see, they come in bundles of one hundred.  There were several broken bundles in the store so grabbed what I needed and headed to the checkout.  I caused much puzzlement with several cashiers.  You see, the individual shims are not marked with a UPC barcode.  The could sell me 10 shims at the "bundle of 100" price.  Each!  That's $84.30 for those that are math challenged...  But dividing the case price by 100 was apparently too complicated.

Needless to say, those babies are still at the store and I found a different way to accomplish my goal.

I wonder if I'm going to have the same problem with these.  I need only one and The Big Orange Box only sells them in bags of twenty five...

I'm in there so often, the staff should shout my name when I walk in, like Norm from Cheers...

Perhaps my 76 cents will get spent where I can "Save Big Money"...

Man, I miss Seven Corners already.

The Cass Gilbert Experience - Post Postscript

During the tour, one of the guests asked about a website that talked about plaster repair.  I pointed them towards Big Wally's Plaster Magic which is a product I haven't tried yet, but will be soon.  There's a spot in the master bedroom that this should work for.

Now I find out the guest on the tour was actually asking about where I'd heard about the product (though that wasn't really communicated very clearly).

So if you're out there and reading this, the two forums were Old House Web and Wavy Glass.  I wouldn't bother with either of them, though; they've both been overrun by spammers and are now zombies.

A better place to find other old house lovers, blogs, and tips is thehistoricdistrict.org.

Master Bath - Part 13

Last week, the correctly made piece of glass arrived for the shower surround.  The installer came back and installed it, along with the shower door.

The door swings both in and out, but we'll have to be careful that it doesn't hit the shower valve or head when we swing it in.

During the week I dry-fit the cabinets along the one wall before fully installing them over the weekend.

Since these have a pre-installed front apron in the toe kick, leveling was a bit different than normal.  Normally you'd shim-up the low side, but the floor drops half an inch over the width of the cabinet on the left.  It would look pretty funny to have a half inch gap under the "foot" on one side.  So I shaved some off the bottom on the other instead.

Scribing the pillars to the wall on each end didn't take too long, though.

However, it was a lot of messing about to get the gaps between each piece to be uniform so that the whole assembly looked right and spanned the length of the wall.

Now that these are installed I can move to the corner cabinet that will be directly behind me in the second photograph.

Master Bath - Part 12

Last night I installed the old kids' bath sconces in their new home; the master bath.

I don't know that I'd go so far as to say this room is cursed, but everything is late.

The cabinets should have been here already, but they missed the truck.

Some of the plumbing fixtures must be made of unobtanium by Bavarian elves, because they're still not here even though we ordered them in the previous decade (OK, I jest, but we ordered them many weeks before the claw foot tub which has already been delivered).

The tub has it's own story, though.  We'd picked one out online. Sometime between when we selected it months ago and went to purchase it, it went up in price by 30%...  Fortunately we found something similar through a local brick-and-mortar vendor, Star Supply, at roughly the original price target.  Now I just have to figure out how to get a 350 pound cast iron tub up the stairs...

And the glass for the shower surround wasn't made correctly.  The installer was here twice, but no cigar (and not his fault).  A new piece of glass is on it's way apparently.  The hole for the clamp that holds the pieces of glass together at the corner (brass piece in the photo) isn't in the right spot.  They forgot to account for the thickness of the glass that's perpendicular.

Those with a sharp eye (!) will note that the walls have been painted in the meantime.  The same artist that did the entry and dining room ceiling did the walls with a Venetian plaster-type finish that ties back into the neighboring dressing room.

The blank spots on the walls are where the cabinetry will go, once it arrives... perhaps tomorrow...

Yet More Sconces

Back when we did the kid's bath we needed some sconces.  We found four at a local salvage place (Art and Architecture), but we had to take all four even though we needed only three.

That was a stroke of luck as it turns out.

Because we need four in the master bath.

We looked around at various salvage and antique places in town to no avail.    We ended up finding these new ones at Creative Lighting.  Reasonably priced and coordinate well with everything else in the room.

It took a while for them to come in, but they finally arrived a week ago.  Just in time for me to install them prior to a party.

No surprise there...

They are a little less ornate as well, but that's good for this bathroom.  The extra detail in the previous ones will go perfectly in the master bathroom.

Pics of the previous ones in their new location coming soon!

The Dining Room Ceiling

For a long time we've been thinking of doing something interesting in the dining room.  All the paneling on the walls is very cool, but it's all Ivory Tusk, so the only splashes of color and interest are the window treatments and knick-knacks.

One idea I threw out was to cover the ceiling in gold leaf.  I'm not sure exactly where I've seen it before, but I thought it would be interesting and reflect a lot of light throughout the room while still giving it a warm glow.

The artist that did the entry ceiling came back last week and did the dining room as well.

It is a mixture of silver and gold which is really interesting and is much "softer" than a monochrome gold would be.

The room is less stark and now has a much warmer feel to it.  It also feels much cozier, even for a big room.

I had to touch up some of the crown where her tape pulled the paint off, so it's a good thing I saved the old cans.  The paint was all dried up but I was able to get back to the correct store and get them to match the paint exactly.

The Front Entry

There were several projects underway in the run up to the tour.

One that I was not responsible for was the front entry's ceiling.  The heavy lifting was done by an artist.

All I had to do was remove and re-install the light fixture several times.

The first time I forgot that this light is on a 3-way switch.  That meant I shocked myself several times before I figured out why the wires were still hot.

I'm apparently a slow learner.

The Cass Gilbert Experience - Postscript

Saturday's tour went well.  There were about 25 people on the tour.  We received a lot of very nice compliments and feedback.  The group had quite a few questions.  Fortunately no one was able to "stump the band".

One popular question was who our florist was and where the flowers came from.

The answer is SWMBO and the Saint Paul Farmers Market...

Master Bath - Part 11

It's been a busy few weeks so I apologize for not posting.

We installed this chandelier over the weekend.

Yes, there's a chandelier in the master bathroom.

I need say nothing more than...

SWMBO.

Eventually the claw foot tub will be located directly underneath.  Of course, I used a dimmer switch so she can dim the lights and soak.

The chandelier was a "inherited" from her aunt and uncle.  It used to be in their dining room.  After they both passed, none of the cousins had a use for or wanted it, so they gave it to us.  Once we figured out the plan for the "master suite", we knew right where it would end up.

And it looks fabulous even if I say so myself.

The Cass Gilbert Experience

A reminder that a handful of spots are still available for The Cass Gilbert Experience tour this Saturday August 15.  Proceeds go to the MN Historical Society.

In addition to our house, the tour also includes the Pioneer Endicott building.  A very interesting structure designed by Cass Gilbert and home to his Saint Paul office for a period.