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00:00Today on This Old House.
00:02I'm working on an upgrade for the homeowner's new primary bath.
00:05Then, as the locals say, I'm down the cape to see our custom kitchen cabinets made.
00:11And I'll show you how to make this kitchen cabinet go from this to this.
00:26That's it.
00:49Hey there, I'm Kevin O'Connor and welcome back to This Old House and to our project here.
00:54This house was built in the late 1800s and now, 130 years later, it is getting a series of upgrades.
01:01Compliments of the Silvas.
01:02Hey, Charlie. Hey, Tommy.
01:03Hey, Kevin. How are you?
01:04I'm doing alright. So, what are you guys working on?
01:07Well, we're all board and plastic. Wood floors are in. And now it's time for trim work.
01:10Very nice. I like the sounds of that. What about you, Pops?
01:12Now, this is the old living room. And now it's going to be changed into a dining room.
01:16Yeah.
01:16And we weren't taking any of these bookcases out, but we had to do some damage to get the ductwork
01:21up to the second floor on each side.
01:23Mm-hmm. And also, the homeowner wants to change the look of the front edge of the shelves, simplify it
01:28a little bit.
01:29Doesn't like that detail anymore?
01:30Yeah. It'll simplify that. And then we're going to make them look like a built-in.
01:34So, we're going to bring it right up to the ceiling, put a crown mold around there and dye it
01:38into the wall, and the same thing over there.
01:40Alright. Well, not a complete rebuild, but actually quite a bit of work.
01:43Yeah. It's a simple little project, but I think it'll make a big difference.
01:46Alright. Sounds good. And while all that's going on upstairs, Heath is actually making an upgrade to our primary bath.
01:56So, I'm here in the primary suite. And what used to just be a bedroom, a small closet, and an
02:01odd carpeted area with two sinks,
02:02now has his closet, her closet, the toilet closet, and a brand new primary bathroom.
02:08Now, for the bathroom, the homeowners have chosen to treat themselves to heated floors.
02:12So, I'm here to meet our tile installer to put the system in.
02:15What's going on, Mike? How are you?
02:16Good morning, Heath. How are you doing?
02:17Good. So, you had to do a little bit of prep work before we can get started.
02:20We did. We installed the anti-fracture membrane yesterday, which we secured the plywood down, got everything nice and clean,
02:27and then cemented down our anti-fracture membrane, which will receive our heat wire.
02:31Gotcha. Alright. So, since your portion is done, we had to do a little prep work ourselves.
02:34So, what we did is we installed a new circuit down to the panel, so we can choose either 120
02:39or 240 volts,
02:40depending on the system you chose to install. Install a box similar to this, so we have the depth of
02:44that thermostat,
02:45and then we put a couple of these flexible conduits in, so we can pull the sensor and the heat
02:49cable back up.
02:50That's correct. So, it makes it nice and easy in the wall.
02:52And the next step is to start installing the cable? Let's do it.
02:54Alright, Mike. Now, before we install it, we want to check to make sure the cable's in good shape and
02:58not damaged.
02:58So, the tag actually has all the information we're looking for on here.
03:02So, we have the 120 volt, but we also have that 36.9 ohms is the resistance of this cable,
03:07so we want to check that to make sure it's accurate before we install it.
03:09Yep. Let's do that. We're going to connect these two wires here. This is a little resistance meter here.
03:14Yep. That will give us, basically, the electricity is going down one wire and coming up the other to let
03:19us know that there's no break in the wire.
03:22So, let's turn this on. And right there, we have 35.9. So, within reason.
03:28Within 10%.
03:29Exactly. And actually, when this goes in cement, it actually can change and fluctuate a little as well.
03:34So, don't get nervous. We're good.
03:35So, as long as we see in that range, we're good.
03:36Well, yeah.
03:37Alright. Let's start the install.
03:38Excellent.
03:39Alright. So, we're going to go ahead and put that up that first conduit.
03:41And then the second conduit, you want to leave for the sensor?
03:43Yeah. This is the sensor wire, which is going to tell the thermostat when to turn on and off.
03:47Alright, Mike. So, if you want to feed that in there, I'll go ahead and pull that up.
03:50Alright. Sounds good.
03:52There we go.
03:55And we want to take this just to the point where we have that lead end where it changes over
03:58from the wire to the actual heat cable, correct?
04:01Correct.
04:01Okay.
04:02Alright. I got it, Mike.
04:03Yep.
04:04So, now we can start clicking this heat cable into the track.
04:06And we're going to keep it about three pegs right off the baseboard so we're safe. We're not too close
04:11to the edge.
04:12And you can go a little tighter if you need to in spots, but if we keep it at three,
04:15it keeps nice, even heat through the floor.
04:17Correct.
04:18So, as we're coming down with our pattern, one of the other things we have to watch out for is
04:22you don't want to cross the cables as well, correct?
04:24Yeah. This heat wire cannot touch at all.
04:27What happens if they touch?
04:28It could short up.
04:29Got it. And that's the last thing you want to do is have a failure under the tile.
04:32Absolutely.
04:32There's no easy fix at that point.
04:33One shot of this, yeah.
04:35Alright. So, on that side we have the shower and we're coming over to the tub. So, we have the
04:39line that you marked there. That's the tub?
04:41That's the tub base.
04:42Okay.
04:42Correct. So, I think we'll make a turn here and that way if you're stepping out of the tub, you're
04:46going to be on the heated area.
04:49And you had to get this cable sized roughly for the room, correct?
04:52Yeah, they make them in five to ten square foot increments.
04:55Okay.
04:56So, what we did was we took the length between the tub and the shower and between the wall and
05:01the vanity, which was roughly about eight by four, which is 32 square feet.
05:06Sure.
05:07And then we got a 30 square foot heat wire, which basically says three peg will get you 30 square
05:12feet.
05:13Got it.
05:13Yeah.
05:14So, this wire isn't field cuttable, correct?
05:16Correct. It comes in those different increment lengths.
05:18Yeah.
05:19And you have to fit it to the space.
05:21You should have to make this one last pass at the vanity here. So, when you're standing, your feet will
05:27definitely be on the heated wire. So, you won't have any cold spots.
05:30And we're just going to make this last turn and dye the end of the wire right here.
05:33All right. So, now that it's all clipped into place and installed, I want to go ahead and check the
05:36resistance again and make sure that we're still at that 35.9 ohms, give or take, that we had before.
05:41Correct. Just to be safe.
05:42We should be in that range. It's supposed to be 36.9. We're in that 10% range. So, we're
05:46perfect.
05:47All right, Mike. So, next we got to install the sensors. And you actually have two.
05:51We have two just in case. A long time ago, some of these can burn out.
05:54Yeah.
05:55So, it's better just to install two.
05:56One connects to the thermostat only?
05:58Correct.
05:58And if we have an issue, we have the backup.
06:00That's it.
06:01Good enough.
06:01Give me a little flag so we can pull that off. Yep.
06:04All right.
06:05So, again, if you want to feed that up, I'll pull them up.
06:07Okay.
06:10All right.
06:11All right.
06:12Yeah, we're right there.
06:14Next stop is, where do you want to land these?
06:16We want to land these in between the heat wire with the three-pack.
06:19And we never let the white wire touch the blue wire.
06:22Nothing crosses those.
06:23Correct.
06:23Pretty good. So, a little piece of tape.
06:25Yep.
06:25All right, Mike. So, the last part of my install is putting the thermostat in.
06:28I mean, the nice part about this unit is it's nice and digital, easy to see and adjust, but it's
06:32also Wi-Fi enabled so the homeowner can control it from anywhere.
06:34Yes.
06:35So, we're simply going to install it in that box that we have, make our connections once everything's painted, and
06:39I'm done.
06:39But with that, what's left for you?
06:41A skim in the floor.
06:42Mm-hmm.
06:42And then, basically, our install, which we're using this tile here.
06:45Oh, nice.
06:46Throughout the primary bathroom floor, shower floor, and into the toilet space.
06:50Great. And do we have to let this sit for a little bit before we turn this on?
06:53By the time this floor is done and you come back for finish, everything will be nice and dry. We'll
06:57be ready to go.
06:58All right. I'm going to let you get to work.
06:59Perfect. Thank you so much.
07:00All right, thanks. Appreciate it.
07:00Nice seeing you.
07:03Chatham, Massachusetts, a quintessential seaside town right on the elbow of Cape Cod, loved by locals and tourists alike.
07:12Known for its beautiful beaches, its historic lighthouse, and a scenic downtown.
07:17But it's also home to an old-school woodworking shop that is going to fabricate the cabinets for our Needham
07:23project.
07:26Michael, Kevin, nice to meet you.
07:28Nice to meet you as well.
07:29Thank you for having us.
07:30Sure.
07:31Love your little spot down here, tucked down in historic Chatham.
07:34It's been good to us for probably 12, 13 years now.
07:36That's how long you've been here?
07:37Yeah.
07:37So that's a shift for you, right?
07:39Because you used to be in general contracting.
07:41Right.
07:42Before you got into the custom cabinetry.
07:43Correct.
07:44Yeah, I was in GC for probably 20 years or so.
07:46And I realized at some point I was just building the house to get to the interior.
07:50So an opportunity came up to just focus on cabinetry and that's the move I made.
07:54You're a Finnish guy.
07:55I am.
07:56Turns out.
07:56I am.
07:57So no regrets on that decision, never looking back.
07:59None at all.
07:59That's awesome.
08:01All right.
08:01So I know you're helping us with the kitchen here.
08:04You guys are sort of soup to nuts, right?
08:06Fully custom and you take it from the very beginning all the way to install?
08:09Right, right.
08:10Yeah, I think of it as four phases, right?
08:12There's the design, fabrication, finish and installation.
08:16Yeah.
08:16And then if we control all four phases, then we control the quality, we control the cost and
08:21then we control the timing.
08:22All right.
08:23I'd like to hear.
08:23So we've got some designs to look at.
08:26We've seen the kitchen in its rough form.
08:28Right.
08:28But why don't you walk us through what you settled on?
08:31Sure.
08:31And where did this start?
08:32Are these your drawings?
08:33Yeah.
08:33So these are my drawings.
08:35And then what we do is we work with the owner or the architect.
08:38And once we get the details finalized, we can create shop drawings and then build it.
08:41Okay.
08:42So just roughly perimeter cabinets, lowers and uppers.
08:45Looks like a nice big range hood.
08:47Is that wood?
08:48It is.
08:48So you'll fabricate that?
08:49We are, yes.
08:50Okay.
08:50And then a big, beautiful island as well.
08:53Correct.
08:53So what are you guys going to be doing for us today?
08:55So today we're going to be milling the rift oak for the island.
08:59And then we're also going to be doing some face frame work.
09:01And then the range hood is just ready for paint.
09:04All right.
09:04Looks like it all happens right here.
09:05Let's see it.
09:08So I see you guys are actually starting with rough lumber.
09:11So we buy it rough.
09:12That way there we can control it.
09:14We can get a nice flat surface.
09:15We can get everything milled just the way we want it.
09:18So first step through the planer?
09:21Yep.
09:22First step through the planer.
09:23We use that to get it to the exact thickness that we want.
09:26Several passes.
09:28And then of course we're doing the oak island.
09:30So really we're just working on face frames.
09:32And then we go to the joiner for a straight edge.
09:37And then that straight edge sets you up for success on the table saw.
09:40Yeah.
09:41And then from there we've got a nice flat board.
09:43It's exactly the thickness we want.
09:44We've got a nice straight edge.
09:45And then we can just rip it down to the widths that we need.
09:51And long lengths for you guys.
09:52Yeah.
09:53For this one it is a ten foot island.
09:54And so we're going to have some ten foot lengths.
09:57Typically eleven.
09:58And we'll cut it down.
10:00And then of course we'll have some shorter stuff for the verticals.
10:05Okay.
10:06So different material for your boxes for upper and lowers than the island?
10:10Correct.
10:11Our boxes are going to be three quarter inch thick sides, top and bottom.
10:16This is a pre-finished maple veneer that we use for the unpainted boxes.
10:21And why do you choose pre-finished?
10:23I think it's a better value for the customer.
10:24Right.
10:25And it's a good quality finish for the interior of a cabinet.
10:28I mean it's a nice, thick, beefy, and it's a great material as you say.
10:32Right.
10:32Yeah.
10:32So that's about as good of a box as you can get, right?
10:35And then face frames on these just like we'll have on the island.
10:39Right.
10:40What's your material here?
10:41So this is a solid maple.
10:43And again, it's the same process.
10:45We start with that four quarter and we go through the same process to get it exactly where we want
10:49it for thickness.
10:50We use pocket screws and glue to put it together.
10:53We find it's a good quality hold.
10:56And then it goes over to the finish side.
10:59Wow, that's beautiful.
11:00So we get two coats of primer and two coats of finish.
11:03And then it comes back over to be assembled.
11:16All right.
11:17What are we working on now?
11:18So we're working on this drawer base right here, which is next to the range.
11:22And then here's the elevation of it.
11:24It's about six feet long.
11:25It's this section and it's a nine drawer base cabinet.
11:28Behind us?
11:28Yes.
11:29Okay.
11:29So again, same process, right?
11:31You're using the maple ply for the box?
11:34Yep.
11:35Yeah.
11:35Same thing.
11:36Hang on a second.
11:37I'm sorry.
11:38Is this one big box or three that you've put together?
11:41Yeah.
11:41No, this is one single box.
11:42And that's one of the advantages to, you know, being able to build custom.
11:45Same construction.
11:46We just all starting with your maple ply and then your painted maple face frame.
11:51And you guys have already gone and installed the drawer hardware.
11:55So your glides are in, which means you're ready for drawers.
11:57Yeah, ready for the boxes.
11:58Okay.
11:59And so this is our typical drawer box.
12:01And this is the clip that holds the drawer box onto the runner.
12:05Okay.
12:06And this is a solid maple box.
12:08Yeah.
12:08And then it's all dovetailed.
12:10Beautiful.
12:10But we don't make these here.
12:12You don't?
12:13No.
12:13You know, you can imagine the amount of time it would take to make all these dovetail joints.
12:17You know, it's a better value to the customer to outsource these.
12:20This detail is terrific as well.
12:21Yeah, it is.
12:22So this is ready to slide in?
12:23Sure is.
12:27And there's the click.
12:28There it is.
12:29Yep.
12:29Simple as that.
12:31And then this is all soft close.
12:33Right.
12:33All right.
12:33So this beautiful paint is on the face frame.
12:37Any chance we could see your process for getting this beautiful finish?
12:41Absolutely.
12:41Yeah.
12:41John's actually just getting ready to start the range hood cabinet.
12:45All right.
12:45So, Kevin, this is the paint side of the shop.
12:48Okay.
12:49And this is John and he's just doing some touch sanding.
12:53And so when all the sanding is done to the paint process, which is what?
12:56So the paint process is a primer, sand, primer, sand, finish, sand, and then a finish coat.
13:03And you guys do that on site.
13:04Yeah, we do.
13:05And I think it just helps the quality as well.
13:08All right.
13:09Looking good.
13:10Yeah.
13:10I'm excited to see the finished product.
13:12So thanks for the tour and we'll see you on installation day.
13:15Sounds good.
13:16Appreciate it, Michael.
13:16All right.
13:41Behind the kitchen is this butler's pantry.
13:44And here they've done two things differently.
13:46In addition to newly built cabinets, they're also going to be reusing some of the original kitchen cabinets.
13:52You may recall Tommy and I took those off the wall months ago and set them aside.
13:56And instead of white in here, they're going with a green gray color.
14:00And to get this perfectly matched on the old cabinets, Mauro has set up downstairs.
14:06Hey, Mauro.
14:07Hey, Kevin.
14:08Love what you did with the place, huh?
14:09You like my spray boots?
14:10I do.
14:11So plastic on all the walls, little air handler, drying rack.
14:15Air handler, nice and clean, warm.
14:17Yeah.
14:18Perfect.
14:18So you always tell us that the prep work is like 80% of the effort.
14:22Any painting project, 85% is into the prep.
14:25These look like they've already been primed.
14:27How'd you do that?
14:27Well, here we're cleaning, degrease the whole thing.
14:30And the next step is to lightly sand.
14:33So I'm using the 220 grit sandpaper.
14:36And we're just going to break down this existing finish in order for my primer and top coaters to get
14:43a good adhesion to it.
14:44Okay.
14:45Just like that.
14:46Yeah.
14:46So once you get those cleaned up again, you will prime these and you'll top coat those?
14:52Absolutely.
14:52We're going to use a bonding primer.
14:54The only thing about this bonding primer is it takes 24 hours to dry.
14:58All right.
14:58I'll get out of your way.
14:58All right.
14:59All right.
15:19Now that the final cabinet is primed, I will move on to the first coat.
15:25Hold the nozzle 8 to 10 inches away from the surface you are painting.
15:31Long strokes works best.
15:33The cabinets will need two coats to paint.
15:37Each coat takes about 8 hours to dry.
15:40Do the first coat today.
15:42I will do the second coat tomorrow and the next day they can be installed.
15:50We're back working on the built-in bookcases in the dining room, starting with boxing in the new duck work.
15:56All right.
15:56So now we want to measure for the side or the length of the box.
16:00Take my square.
16:02I'll put it against the back of the cabinet.
16:04Just take a scrap piece of wood and measure from out here to here.
16:11It's seven and an eighth to the short of the miter.
16:14Now we need to get the length of this side to the short of the miter.
16:18So we can use the cabinet top as a reference.
16:22So I'll measure to the face of our cleat.
16:25That's 13 and a sixteenth.
16:28I come over here.
16:31And I mark 13 and a sixteenth.
16:34Put a mark.
16:36And I measure from the back of the cabinet out.
16:38And that's seven and a strong three quarters of an inch to the backside of the 45 degree angle
16:46because we're going to miter that corner.
16:47Okay.
16:48All right.
16:48So we have both measurements.
17:12We're going to assemble it in place because we can't put it together and then try to get it in.
17:19So we'll put some glue on the miter.
17:23Look at you.
17:24Nice job there, sonny.
17:30And then we'll just tack it in place with the gun.
17:42All right, so we're going to close in the soffit at the top there so the cabinets go all the
17:48way to the ceiling.
17:49Charlie put on the fillers to accept this.
17:51So put that against it.
17:52That's going to be the piece that closes it in, brings it up to the ceiling.
17:56The scribe looks good.
17:57All right, so I also put a mark on that.
18:00How does that miter look?
18:01I'm actually a little blocked out.
18:04So let me get you a measurement.
18:05Take a measurement.
18:06I've got 11 and 9 sixteenths on the backside of the miter.
18:10That's what I got.
18:11All right, I'll cut it.
18:13I'll leave the line on and then we can check it.
18:18All right, so I left the line on just a little bit.
18:21We can check this miter.
18:22That miter looks pretty good.
18:23But now we can put it up there, check it and see if we have to fine tune it just
18:27a little bit.
18:45Okay, so now we're going to glue up our corner first.
18:48So we'll lay that on now.
18:54Yep.
18:56Good.
18:58Oop.
19:00Okay, good.
19:02You just leave the glue on that joint and sand it.
19:06And the sawdust from the sanding of the wood will stick to the wet glue.
19:11And close that joint right up.
19:14Now we'll just put it up against the nailers.
19:18Drop it in.
19:25Okay, that's one.
19:27All right, let's check this down there and see how it fits against the wall.
19:31Off to the side, wall's good.
19:33Okay, now I'm going to mark the length so I'll just scribe right across the back.
19:38That'll be the shot to my miter on this corner.
19:45All right, so now we're going to cut the long piece that goes on the front,
19:48which means I have to change the angle of my saw.
19:51And I have to put this filler back on because this represents my wall.
19:55So I'll put that back on the saw.
19:57I take my mark right there.
19:59That's the short on the front.
20:03I'm going to change the direction of the miter.
20:0745 the other way.
20:23Now we get a molding all-built corner is mitered and nailed and glued.
20:28Nail it up to the ceiling.
20:31Into the cap.
20:35All right, so if you see up here, remember there was a damaged part of the cabinet,
20:38so I put some two-part wood filler in there, mix it up,
20:42and that's going to dry in about 20 minutes.
20:44It's almost dry now.
20:45But to fill this transition, to make it nice and smooth,
20:49we're going to use this piece of quarter round.
20:51It's going to fit right in there, miter around the corner,
20:54and that will make a nice transition.
20:56Finish it right off.
20:57Okay.
20:58And what's your plan for the shelves?
21:00Well, the shelves are going to get changed.
21:02We're going to use the existing shelves, but we're going to modify them slightly.
21:05We'll eliminate some of this detail, this nosing right here,
21:08and flatten them out.
21:09And here, you can see Charlie, he's already cut them off.
21:12So you have a nice, plain, simple look, and that's what the homeowner wants.
21:15And you just, what, rip that on the table saw?
21:17Yeah, we use an older blade because we're going to hit a few nails,
21:19but it's worth it. We're saving the boards.
21:21Okay, so quarter round and shelves.
21:24Yeah, we're going to notch these shelves right here around the pipe on this side and that side.
21:40It's great, keep going.
21:40You're watching thegiggles.
21:41It's beautiful.
21:41I'm just gonna get it.
21:42You're gonna get it.
21:43See you later.
22:00You're going to get it.
22:01You're going to get it.
22:01Yeah.
22:20All right, Tommy, so a nice fix and reuse of those bookshelves.
22:23Not too much work, and you get a completely new look.
22:26All right, and we're starting to wrap up here, Charlie, getting close.
22:28Only a few weeks to go.
22:29All right, well, until next time, I'm Kevin O'Connor.
22:32And I'm Charlie Silva.
22:33And I'm Tom Silva for This Old House here in Needham.
22:41Next time on This Old House...
22:43We found a new home for this 130-year-old china cabinet.
22:47So we decided to make a wood box to accept the new shelves, put some cleats in, and install it.
22:53Perfect.
22:53That is nice, Charlie.
22:55And we'll get this old door ready for some new hardware.
23:08That's next time.
23:40You
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