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00:05On Ask This Old House, our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.
00:18Today, Tommy shows you how to build mudroom cubbies.
00:23Then, Mauro gives a few tips on painting the cubbies.
00:27At the front, you have the nozzle that you can flip it and you can go vertical or horizontal.
00:33And, Jen talks mulch, how to calculate the right amount and the different varieties available.
00:38What the heck is this?
00:41On Ask This Old House.
00:50Hey, Tommy.
00:51Hey, Kevin. How are you?
00:52Doing all right. What are we looking at today?
00:55Building some cubbies.
00:56Oh, yeah.
00:57And we built one a while back, but it had a back on it.
01:00And a bench, right?
01:01Yeah.
01:01So, it was more sort of like the sit-at with a spot for your shoes underneath, hooks up top.
01:05Right.
01:06This is more sort of like the locker design?
01:08Yeah.
01:09There will be three individual sections made of three-quarter-inch plywood with openings on the bottom for two baskets
01:15and two baskets at the top of each.
01:18So, you said individually?
01:20So, each one is going to be separate and then you're going to put them together?
01:23Yeah.
01:23Yeah.
01:23It's a big cabinet.
01:25And so, you've got to move it in there wherever it's going to go.
01:28Yeah.
01:29Also, we have to be able to get it downstairs.
01:31So, we're going to put it together with these cap screws right here.
01:34And it's basically, you unscrew them.
01:38There's a cap screw and a bolt.
01:40You just drill a hole and you screw those together and basically make them nice and tight.
01:46And all you have is a finished screw on each side.
01:49Nothing's sticking out.
01:50I like it.
01:51And then, obviously, your hooks.
01:53You've got a row of them up top here.
01:55Right.
01:55We'll put a wide board across the back and place our hooks in there.
01:59Very nice.
02:00On the outside, we'll also do a piece of three-quarter also.
02:03So, each side, each center section will be an inch and a half thick.
02:08And to hide that, we'll use some solid wood to make the styles and rails.
02:13And when it's painted, it will look great.
02:14Love it.
02:14Did you rip your sides to width already?
02:17Well, the nice thing is I went to the home center and I said what I needed.
02:21A bunch of pieces.
02:21I need them rough cut to about 16 inches.
02:24He cut all the sheets up for me.
02:26But we still have to fine-tune everything to give it the exact size that we want.
02:30Yeah, that's nice, actually.
02:31Because if you had to go in and get that 4x8 sheet of plywood times two or three,
02:35carrying it out of there could be trouble.
02:36So, I'll cut it for you.
02:37Carrying it out.
02:37Getting it onto the truck and then also getting it up here is tough.
02:40All right.
02:41All right.
02:42So, now we'll cut our length.
02:44So, you're going to cut a bunch at the same time?
02:46Yeah.
02:46I'm going to stack them up and I'm going to cut these three right here.
02:49But I have four pieces.
02:51And we're going to score the bottom of that.
02:53So, what I want to do is I want to mark my length of 80 inches.
02:56And I always like to make a little check mark like that.
02:59So, I always put my straight edge on the point.
03:02Now, you ask me what the point is.
03:04Hmm.
03:06Now, I put the straight edge on that.
03:10Take my square.
03:29All right.
03:31So, now that's the first and the last time that I have to measure for the height of the
03:36sides because I've cut three.
03:41Now, I actually have a mark right here.
03:43So, I make the other end even.
03:45I use this as a reference.
03:47It'll make the rest of the sides all the exact same length.
04:01That's nice.
04:02All right.
04:03That's our sides.
04:03Now, we can cut all of the lengths for our shelves which will be 23 and 3 eighths.
04:24All right.
04:25We have all our pieces cut to length.
04:27Now, what we all need to do is true them up width wise on the table top.
04:44So, how long do we put them on the table?
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05:00have tooss at the right as well.
05:04Now that we have all of our pieces cut, we have to start thinking about how we're going
05:08to install the shelves and attach them to the sides.
05:10And I decided to use dados.
05:13The shelves that are in the middle and the seat on the bottom are going to be two pieces
05:18of three-quarter inch plywood.
05:20So they're going to go into an inch and a half dado, and at the top, right there, it's
05:25only going to be three-quarters of an inch, single piece.
05:27And the bottom is a three-quarter inch dado.
05:31Okay.
05:32All right?
05:32So now, we want to make sure that all of the dados line up with all of the sides exactly
05:38right.
05:39So is this essentially now your template to set your dados for all the other boards?
05:43Right.
05:43This is my guide for every shelf, every board.
05:46To do that, we clamp the boards together, and to cut the dados, I made a jig.
05:52And that's basically an adjustable piece, and it's set to the width of the double in
05:58this case.
05:58Mm.
06:01It goes right on there, just like that.
06:03Oh, so it actually is also holding your jig in place.
06:05It's lining everything up exactly.
06:08I'll tighten the jig up onto my pieces, make sure that they don't move.
06:11Once it's square, clamp it.
06:15I'm ready to use the router.
06:17And this is the router we're going to use with a templating bit, also known as a flush
06:22cutting bit.
06:23And there's a bearing right here at the top of the bit.
06:27And this is flush with the cutter.
06:29This bearing is going to ride along the side of our templating guide, and it's rolling right
06:35along, cutting off the piece below, flush with our jig.
06:41I just move it back and forth because I have the bit set at the depth that I want.
07:05All right, so now we're just going to change the width, go down to a single piece, bring
07:10them in nice and snug, tighten it down, perfect.
07:29Now I'm going to drill a series of pilot holes through each dado, three-eighths of an inch
07:33up and three-eighths of an inch down from each edge of the dado.
07:38That will ensure that each screw goes into the center of each shell.
07:44While I drill the holes, why don't you sand the board flat on each side of the dado.
07:48You don't need to sand the entire board, but it'll make it easier when we put the system
07:52together so you don't have to sand tight into the corner.
08:13Now we're ready to install the shelving.
08:15We've pre-drilled all the holes.
08:16We have our double pieces right there.
08:19I'm going to use a two-inch coarse thread screw.
08:26Pulls it together nicely.
08:27Here we go.
08:30Here we go.
08:34Here we go.
08:46Here we go.
09:13All right, now the last thing for the cubbies, we're going to put this six-inch, three-quarter-inch-thick
09:17backer piece right here, and that will be a place that we can mount our hooks to hang
09:22a jacket or a coat or whatever you want to hang to.
09:32All right, now we stand it up, put the three pieces together.
09:53All right, now we stand it up, put the three pieces together.
09:55Now we're ready to face frame the cabinet.
09:58I'm only going to nail on this side right here into this cabinet only because I don't want
10:04to fasten it to this cabinet.
10:06I want to be able to release this cabinet from this cabinet if we want to move it.
10:12I'm going to turn it up.
10:13I'm going to turn it up.
10:31I'm going to turn it up.
10:42All right, there you go.
10:44Look at that.
10:46Looks pretty good.
10:46It looks really good.
10:48Now I think we need to convince Mauro to paint it, but I think it looks really good.
10:52And I presume that you want to put the hooks on after the paint is on.
10:55Yeah, I think it would be better than cut around the hooks.
10:57Yeah.
10:58So, you know, I mean, pretty simple joinery, pretty simple hardware, but that's a really
11:02effective, good looking piece.
11:04Nice job, Tommy.
11:05Well, thanks for your help.
11:06It was a lot of fun.
11:11Hey, Jen.
11:12Hey, Kevin.
11:13Favorite day.
11:14You know this, my favorite day.
11:15Absolutely.
11:16Mulch day.
11:16I love it when it goes down.
11:18I know.
11:18It makes everything look terrific, although it serves a purpose too, right?
11:22It certainly does.
11:23So on my list, water retention helps keep the moisture in the bed.
11:28Yep.
11:29And then also weed suppression keeps those down.
11:31Yes.
11:32What am I forgetting?
11:33Temperature control.
11:34But then also when you use a mulch like this, this is leaf mulch.
11:37It's an organic leaf mulch.
11:38The leaves have been composted, turned over and over, and it's breaking down towards the
11:42soil.
11:43So it's just going to add all those nutrients into the existing plants.
11:45Beautiful.
11:45And it's a total bonus.
11:47Kick it up for next season.
11:48Yep.
11:48All right.
11:48So as you're laying it down, you've got a wheelbarrow here.
11:51You've got a pile over there.
11:52I have a pile.
11:54How did you know how big of a pile to get?
11:56I mean, I guess what I'm really asking is how thick are you putting it down so that we
11:59can then figure out how much we have to order?
12:01Good question.
12:01Because like something that doesn't have any mulch on it, I typically do three inches,
12:05you know, but also keep it away from the base of the tree or any plant.
12:08But top dressing, sometimes people already have mulch on the bed, maybe do an inch.
12:13But in this case, three inches.
12:14So I would take the length times the width times the depth.
12:18So three inches would be 0.25.
12:20Because we're doing it in feet, basically.
12:21Correct.
12:22So that gets your cubic feet.
12:24But when you call the nursery or wherever you're going to get your delivery from, they
12:27want to know cubic yards.
12:29So you take the length times the width times the depth.
12:32You get cubic feet.
12:33And then you divide that by 27 to get the cubic yards.
12:37So if a 10 by 10 foot area that's three inches deep, you're going to approximately need one
12:41yard.
12:42Right.
12:42And you can sort of tell the guy, drop me 20 yards.
12:45Yep.
12:46Big yard.
12:46Yes.
12:47A lot of mulch.
12:48Or the bags are labeled.
12:49Yes.
12:49So usually they come in two cubic feet bags.
12:52And so if I know I have 25 cubic feet, take a 10 by 10 foot area, three inches deep.
12:58That's 25 cubic feet.
12:59Okay.
12:59You get 12.5 bags or 13.
13:02Perfect.
13:02A little bonus.
13:03Okay.
13:03So you said this is organic.
13:05Yep.
13:06Smell it.
13:06I love it right there.
13:07It's beautiful.
13:08Which is awesome.
13:08Although there are options.
13:10Lots of options.
13:10I mean, how do we decide?
13:11Well, I brought a bunch of samples just because I knew you were going to ask me these questions.
13:17Oh, yeah.
13:18Like you said, a lot of options.
13:20These are only some options.
13:22True, right?
13:22So let's start with the gravel.
13:24A lot of people like to use this in like high traffic areas.
13:27Mm-hmm.
13:28You know, like parking lots and stuff where you just see so much foot traffic or in erosion situations.
13:33So I think of it as sort of commercial or industrial.
13:36Yeah.
13:36We don't use it a lot here, but sometimes out west you see it a lot.
13:39Yep.
13:40There's a lot of landscapes that have just primarily rock.
13:42Then you have cactus around it and succulents.
13:44Very area.
13:45Yeah.
13:45You have to use plants that are drought tolerant because this will heat up the ground.
13:49Right.
13:50Although on the list of attributes, this is never going to break down.
13:54Nope.
13:54You may have to tune it up or clean it up, but that's not going anywhere.
13:57Correct, correct.
13:58And what am I looking at here?
14:00Well, this is rubber mulch.
14:02Oh my gosh, like shredded up tires.
14:04Yeah.
14:04So you can look at it from a recycle point of view or a lot of times where you'll see
14:09it is where in playgrounds.
14:11That's what I think, under a swing set or something.
14:13And that's definitely going to not have weeds grow underneath it.
14:16It heats up a lot.
14:18I personally wouldn't use that around plants because I think it doesn't contribute anything back to the plant or the
14:25soil.
14:25Right.
14:25If you were looking for a list of attributes, maybe like the stone, this will never break down either.
14:31And you get the black color.
14:32Right.
14:33If you're going for that.
14:34Yeah.
14:34So if you have a high traffic area, that might be a go to.
14:38I hear you.
14:38All right.
14:39So am I looking at color choices here?
14:42These are all dyed mulches, right?
14:43Red, brown, black.
14:45This is typically what a lot of people use and see.
14:48These are all dyed.
14:49I mean, this is all wood, but these are all dyed mulches.
14:52But definitely when you're done mulching, if you're using one of these, you're going to see the color on your
14:56hand.
14:56So in terms of effectiveness, though, the three of them are working basically the same and similar to what we
15:01saw back there.
15:02Three inches or so.
15:03Minus the organic nutrients.
15:04Minus the organic.
15:05So we'll get the water retention.
15:06We'll get the weed suppression.
15:07Correct.
15:08And to me, moving down this way.
15:11This is your corner.
15:11This is my corner.
15:12So these are all organic.
15:14This is a hemlock mulch.
15:15So this is not dyed.
15:17This is all organic.
15:18Correct.
15:19This is just the-
15:19Smells so good.
15:20The branch is all chopped up.
15:22It's broken down a little bit more, a little more fine.
15:24Yep.
15:25So you can get color variations, natural.
15:28You're a little bit more red here versus the darker ones.
15:31And this is a-
15:32Pine bark.
15:33So this is pine.
15:34And this is leaf mulch, what I was using over there.
15:37I mean, I really have grown to love this the most because it's breaking down.
15:41It's going back to the soil.
15:42You get your nutrients and it looks like soil.
15:45And what in the world?
15:46This is natural?
15:47So these are buckwheat hulls.
15:49Oh.
15:49They're super light.
15:51Have you ever used it?
15:52I have.
15:52I've had clients ask for it in like more formal gardens and perennial gardens where you don't
15:57want a really heavy mulch.
15:58You know, if you have all perennials, sometimes mulch, if you put too much, it could really invite
16:03moisture and rot.
16:04Yeah.
16:04This is super light right here.
16:05Yep.
16:06So a con is when it's super dry, it's just going to blow away, right?
16:10And sticking to your toes.
16:11Yes.
16:12Yeah.
16:13It's going to stick into your toes.
16:14But otherwise, the color is a nice natural option as well.
16:17So if you need a little pop in a small area, go to something really unique like that.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Something different like that.
16:23Very nice.
16:23All right.
16:24Well, I appreciate the tour taking me through all of this.
16:27Something tells me you might have just lured me into helping you spread.
16:31Yeah.
16:32I have another pitchfork, so.
16:33I saw that second one out there.
16:35I was wondering who it was for.
16:40So a couple of Allen screws, you take these together.
16:42Ah, nice job, Tommy.
16:43You convinced him, huh?
16:44It's persuasive, isn't he?
16:45It's a one for the 10.
16:47Yeah, I told him you got to do a little more sanding.
16:50You can take it apart, three sections, a couple of Allen screws, no problem, and all
16:54the hooks.
16:55Good.
16:55Well, you guys did a great job.
16:56Look at this piece.
16:57All yours, Mauro.
16:58Nice.
16:58So I guess he's taking off, but I'm going to stick around if you need help.
17:01Absolutely.
17:02Let's take the one.
17:03Mauro, we did hit the corners with sandpaper as we were putting it together.
17:07Okay.
17:08So now all we have to do is sand the rest of it, and I'm going to use a two
17:12-terranean grit
17:13sandpaper.
17:20Hey, Kevin.
17:21Time to prime this beauty here, all right?
17:23Okay.
17:23What are you using for primer?
17:24We're going to use this tinted primer.
17:25It's a water-based primer.
17:27Interior next year.
17:28And why tinted?
17:29Because of the color that we're going to use.
17:31It's a dip-based color.
17:32Tinted primer.
17:33Can't go wrong.
17:37Tinted gray.
17:38Tinted gray.
17:39All right.
17:40Let's pour some of that.
17:41We've got a brush handy.
17:44Some over here.
17:45So I take it we're going to have one roll, one brush?
17:48Yes.
17:48Do you want to have a preference rolling or brushing?
17:51You know what?
17:51You have to steady hand, so I'll be the brute force and I'll roll.
17:55All right.
17:56Deal.
18:02So okay that I'm painting over the hardware, right?
18:05That's what you wanted?
18:06Yeah.
18:06I think if we paint it, it'll look much better.
18:10So Mauro, this is probably going to end up in a mudroom.
18:13Hard-working piece.
18:14I can see muddy boots, wet coats dripping down here.
18:17Yeah.
18:18Have you taken that into consideration?
18:19Absolutely.
18:20So we got this good primer going.
18:22And also the paint that we're going to be using is a very tough paint.
18:27Scuff resistant and you know, all the moisture resistant and everything.
18:31Okay.
18:35Well, now that the primer is dry, it's time to fill up all the nail holes, lightly sand and we'll
18:40be ready to paint.
18:49Okay, Mauro.
18:50What do you think?
18:52You approve?
18:52I approve.
18:53It looks good.
18:54Prime is done.
18:55Sand is done.
18:56Clean.
18:57Because we're going to be spraying this, I like to protect the back and the surround.
19:13All right, Mauro, time for the reveal.
19:14This color.
19:15Play it on me.
19:16This is a big reveal.
19:16You want to see the color?
19:17This is just another gray.
19:19I'm going to be very disappointed.
19:19Not another gray.
19:20Not another white.
19:23Oh, that's not gray.
19:24No, that's not gray at all.
19:26Right?
19:26What color do you call this?
19:28This is called classic burgundy.
19:30Beautiful.
19:31And we're going to be doing a semi-gloss this time.
19:33For extra durability.
19:35For extra durability.
19:36High gloss.
19:36High gloss.
19:37We use a lot of satin.
19:38This will be a semi-gloss.
19:39A little bit of sheen.
19:40More to resist and everything for this piece that goes to a mudrum.
19:45And then when we're going to apply this paint, we're going to use this little sprayer here.
19:49So not your usual professional one, huh?
19:52This is homeowner friendly?
19:53It's a homeowner friendly.
19:54Electric?
19:55You know, it's an electric hand-held sprayer.
19:57At the front, you have the nozzle that you can flip it and you can go vertical or horizontally.
20:04Okay.
20:05And over here, you control the airflow.
20:08And then this is your basin.
20:09This is not out of a bucket, just out of this.
20:11Not out of a bucket.
20:12This is like a container that holds up to one quarter paint.
20:16Okay.
20:16All right.
20:17Well, let's put it through its paces with some classic burgundy.
20:19Classic burgundy it is.
20:20Let's go.
20:24So what's your application technique?
20:27You overlap by 50% on each pass.
20:35That looks pretty good.
20:36So I'm watching you, Mara, work, and you're actually flipping the nozzle so that you're not actually flipping the whole
20:42gun, right?
20:43Absolutely.
20:44That's one of the main reasons I cannot be flipping the container or the gun is because of the tube
20:50that's in there.
20:51Tube is sitting down here, pulled from the bottom.
20:52Tube is sitting down here, and it curves down this way.
20:55So if you ended up turning the gun up on its side or even worked upside down, you're not going
20:58to draw paint?
20:59I'm not picking up any paint, and no paint will come out to the tip.
21:02So instead of tipping the gun, just tip the nozzle?
21:04Instead of tipping the gun, I'll have to do it.
21:06Like right now, we have the horizontal position.
21:09If you want a vertical, all I have to do is that, and I just can go like this.
21:14I don't have to be tilting the whole gun.
21:17Right.
21:17Helps to be in the hand of a pro, but yeah, get after it.
21:20Well, we need to put more paint on this.
21:22Oh, right.
21:22A little more.
21:25That's it.
21:27So you can see the tube you were talking about, right?
21:30So this is the input.
21:32You can see how you got the angle up.
21:33Yeah.
21:34If that's sitting down in the bucket, it catches right at the bottom there.
21:44First coat looks really good.
21:46First coat is beautiful.
21:47Looks good.
21:48We're going to let it dry, and then we'll come back, and we put the second and final coat on.
21:56And with the second coat of paint on, we can add the hooks.
22:03Last hook.
22:04Three in each bay.
22:05Wow.
22:06You like?
22:07I love it.
22:07Look at this.
22:08Yeah.
22:09It's a good color, but it makes a statement.
22:10It's called hooks.
22:11Hey, looks good, guys.
22:12What do you think, Pops?
22:13Red, huh?
22:14No, no, no.
22:15Classic burgundy.
22:16Oh, excuse me.
22:17Smells like the wine.
22:18I like the sheen, too.
22:19Looks good.
22:20Nice job.
22:21Nice job.
22:21It looks great.
22:22I like it.
22:23All right, well, that's it for us.
22:24Until next time, I'm Kevin O'Connor.
22:25I'm Mario Henrique.
22:26And I'm Tom Silva.
22:27For Ask This Old House.
22:29Yeah.
22:29How'd you like that spray gun?
22:31Oh, that spray gun is okay.
22:32Yeah, looks pretty good, Mario.
22:35I'm Mario Henrique.
22:36I'm Mario Henrique.
22:52I'm Mario Henrique.
22:53I'm Mario Henrique.
22:55I'm Mario Henrique.
22:55I'm Mario Henrique.
22:55I'm Mario Henrique.
22:55I'm Mario Henrique.
22:55I'm Mario Henrique.
22:56I'm Mario Henrique.
22:58I'm Mario Henrique.
22:59I'm Mario Henrique.
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