DalyArcher's cabinet shop build

DalyArcher · Jun 1, 2016

In 2011 my wife and bought our first home. A 1970 split level on a city lot that had never seen a renovation. The original intent was to "flip" it and get a piece of acreage with a large shop. In 2012 our son was born and priorities changed. My wife loves the location, close to shopping, parks, schools, and work. We looked around for about a year, however in the time that we had bought, prices had risen exponentially. We would make a substantial profit off our home, but would be paying substantially more form something else. My wife sold me on the idea of staying put when she pointed out that going from our current mortgage to one for a > 400,000 dollar home would mean no fly-in hunting trips in my future. I don't really need acreage, but I do need a shop.

In addition to all this, our kitchen is in desperate need of a makeover. original plywood painted cabinets with rabbeted inset plywood doors. I have plans for a solid ash or cherry shaker style kitchen. I had planned to build the kitchen first in my small, cramped basement workshop, but it was my wife's idea to build the shop FIRST! Honestly, truthfully, HER idea!

And so, here we go!

DalyArcher · Jun 1, 2016

I went to the local Home Hardware and procured a garage package. The main reason for going the package route was to ease the permit process with the city. The shop will be a modest 20 by 24 with 10 foot ceilings. I exchanged the 8 foot 2x4's in the package for 10foot 2x6. I will eliminate the overhead door included in the package and instead will be installing two 36" standards steel doors for multiple reasons. The shop is not easily accessed by vehicles. I will never turn wrenches on greasy, oily nasty stuff in this pristine, cabinet shop.

The first order of business was to remove two large, knotty pine trees from the property.

We also removed the small green steel shed and were then left to deal with the rather large, offending stump from the larger of the two trees.

DalyArcher · Jun 1, 2016

The challenging part of this build is that the carport attached to my home restricts access to the rear of the property. There is a stairwell to the basement at the rear of the carport, so I cannot simply remove the back wall and drive through. The side of the carport leaves only a 7 foot corridor to the side between the building and the neighbouring fence. This greatly restricts my choices in equipment which can access the site.

Removal of the stump was facilitated by a friends oversized lawnmower with a blade and hoe attachment.

4 hours later:

We then set to excavating the site and a few hours later, we were done the earth moving :

you can see the stump next to the greenhouse.

My three year old LOVES the new dirt pile to play on:

DalyArcher · Jun 1, 2016

next we set to moving gravel:

Compacted between lifts of 2 -3 inches and then started setting forms:

I have to rebuild my existing deck so I elected to use 14 foot 2 by 10 for the form material, running the ends long so I did not have to cut them and wrapped them in poly rather then using a release agent. The thickened edge is 18" by 18". the bottom 9 inches of the form is filled in with 1 inch Styrofoam, backfilled and temporarily braced to the inside of the form.

drivesitfar · Jun 1, 2016

Daly: first of your wife sounds like a KEEPER so don't piss her off or lose her. YES DEAR is what has kept me married almost 30 years even if I don't always MEAN it. just saying.

also like the pictures of your helper and great that he filled up that entire wheelbarrow with his little shovel. wait until he starts learning how to run the Kubota.

one thing I heard is that you want standard doors on your shop instead of a large overhead garage type door and can I make one suggestion. you might already have this in your plan, but a double door would be AWESOME to bring in and out lumber, machines and finished cabinets even if the one side stays in place for 90% of the time.

good luck and i'll try to keep tabs on your build and your progress.

if you want to join our PNW thread in Free Parking to get to know a few of the local guys on our forum here's the link so you can introduce yourself or just add to the conversations about almost anything. last week we were talking about chicken coops.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314689

cheers

DalyArcher · Jun 1, 2016

Thanks for the advice. The shop will actually have 3 doors total. A 32" side entry door and a set of 2 36" doors in the front set in line with the table saw to facilitate ripping of extra long stock.

We are also adding a 7' by 20' lean-to off the back for storage of lawnmowers, bikes, etc so as to not clutter up the shop.

drivesitfar · Jun 1, 2016

Daly: speaking of storage. since you are making a cabinet shop you might come up with special wood or deals on materials well before you actually have a project or use for them so consider making a lien to for just supplies and materials that you might not need today, but will come in very handy when you are in the middle or want to do a project later.

good luck and looks like the weather is going to be great for your project.

cheers

JimL · Jun 5, 2016

Always liked watching cabinets be built...

DalyArcher · Jun 10, 2016

Concrete is happening tomorrow! I inquired about a pump truck as the site is approximately 70 feet from my carport to my foundation site. No way to access the rear yard with a cement truck. The cheapest I could find was a four hour minimum charge at $250.00 an hour. Casually mentioned this to a few friends and a few church members who promptly replied "we have wheelbarrows!".

So 8 guys, 5 wheelbarrows and 17 yards of concrete. Wish me luck.

drivesitfar · Jun 10, 2016

DALY: great to have friends that will help. :thumbup:

are you doing the finishing? if so or whoever you have just know that that cement might firm up pretty quick even if the wheelbarrow brigade is getting loads back and forth pretty fast.

good luck and hope all goes well. other than a little rain temps seem to be about perfect for a cement pour.

LXCam · Jun 10, 2016

I highly suggest rethinking this. Depending upon several factors you could end up with a cold joint caused by a hot load or delivery delays of the second truck. I'd suggest you talk with the dispatch driver so the timing is taken into account as well as spend the money for a curing retard admixture. That's a lot of mud to move manually and ya, I've been there done that more then a few times. I'm surprised the pump is charging you by the hour. Most guys have a set show up fee then charge by the yard.

Also find out how much standby time is going to run you for the truck.

DalyArcher · Jun 10, 2016

as long as it is level, I am not too fussed about the finish.

LXCam · Jun 12, 2016

Well, how'd the pour go?

DalyArcher · Jun 13, 2016

Wow, that was easy!

Seriously, far, far, far better than expected! truck showed up with 8 1/2 yards at 8:30 in the morning. Myself, my pastor, a carpenter friend from church and the same friend that dug the foundation for me started the day.

I had constructed a wide ramp to allow for the two wheeled wheelbarrows to pour in the center of the slab:

After the first 5 or 6 wheelbarrows were placed, it wasn't looking all too good, we thought we would be there awhile. By 9:00 however, 4 more guys had shown up. 8 men with 5 or 6 wheelbarrows, we had the full 8 1/2 yards done in an hour!

That was half the order. Than someone made the observation that it didn't appear to fill half the hole. A bit of worry set in, but by then the second truck was in the driveway. Nothing to do now but keep wheeling and hope.

45 minutes later we were full up with concrete to spare:

Made the necessary impressions:

were eating pulled pork sandwiches and fresh, hot cinnamon buns with ice cold beer by noon.

R. Deschain · Jun 13, 2016

DalyArcher said:
were eating pulled pork sandwiches and fresh, hot cinnamon buns with ice cold beer by noon.

Congratulations! Will be watching the progress as we are at about the same point in our builds. Mine is half cabinet and half oily nasty stuff, though

.

I kind of want hot cinnamon buns now!!

drivesitfar · Jul 5, 2016

DA: any updates? sounds like the cement work with the guys from church worked out great.

good luck

DalyArcher · Jul 6, 2016

Lost a couple weeks of build time due to other commitments. Helped out a friend and built him a deck a couple weeks back, then had to head North to Dease Lake for a few days for work, which ate another weekend.

This past weekend I managed to get my walls framed and with the help of a neighbour had them raised. The rain was horrendous on Saturday and I was quickly reminded why I never became a framer. It's not that I dislike the rain; I will gladly spend hours sitting out in a nasty squall waiting for a moose to show up, but the thought off all my tools getting wet and rusty is just to much to bear!

I have another friend from church coming this week to help plumb, level and sheet the walls. Trusses are going to be delivered on the 12th. I am taking a few days off work next week to raise trusses and throw the roof on. Doors are on order. I went with double 36" doors on the front rather than the overhead garage door. I ordered 8' high double doors so there will be no awkward ducking when carrying in sheets of plywood.

Hopefully, it will not be too long before I have power to the shop and a few lights thrown in.

drivesitfar · Jul 7, 2016

DA: even if you are too busy to post maybe take a ton of pictures to download and post on those rainy days neither one of us like to take our tools out in.

looks great so far and i like the double door for access that you only need to open occasionally when bringing in big stuff. will a car fit in there or is that even something you care to have in your garage/shop?

good luck

DalyArcher · Jul 7, 2016

My dad is a mechanic. He suffered terribly from Crohn's disease as I was growing up and spent many months and even years unable to work a full time, regular job, but always felt the need to keep busy during the limited times he was physically able. I turned wrenches with him from the time I could walk until I was around 15. Around that time, I discovered carpentry, woodworking and bowhunting. I now live 1200 kilometers from my parents. My tool collection is almost exclusively devoted to cabinetry. Even if I wanted to work on my own vehicle, I don't have even a floor jack. My time is better spent building furniture, crafting arrows and taking my three year old out to the woods for some scouting and shooting.

Long story short- at the very most I may service my lawnmower or chainsaw in the shop, but that is it, and I am more likely to do even that in my driveway. I am done with the greasy wrench turning stuff. Strictly a cabinet shop, and hopefully the occasional moose or deer to process.

fergus · Jul 7, 2016

Looking good. You're pretty brave to wheelbarrow that much concrete...I'd never even considered it...just called a concrete pumper. But, many hands make light work - you're lucky to have that many friends to help. Cool man!

LXCam · Jul 7, 2016

Hey congrats on the successful concrete pour. Having been there and done that and dealing with the aftermath of trying to get a decent finish on a hot load I was worried for ya

Glad to see everything turned out great and good luck on getting her all framed up and finished.

DalyArcher · Jul 18, 2016

Slowly but surely we are moving along with progress. My darling, sweet little boy decided to share a throat infection with me last week which put me out of action for a few days. I did however manage to get the trusses up with a little help from a good friend.

Outfitted my little helper with a tool belt all his own as he requested:

Saturday morning another buddy showed up and we got the gable ends sheeted. fascia installed and plywood on the roof.

It was a ripping hot day on Saturday! I am pretty intolerable of the heat as it is. If it never went above 20 (Celsius) I'd be happy. We were pretty wiped by 2:00 that afternoon, but pressed on and had the last sheet nailed off just as thunder clouds rolled in and lightning started striking in the distance.

I am going to finish sheeting the walls tonight and call for a framing inspection later this week.

DalyArcher · Aug 22, 2016

Well, it has been awhile I suppose.

Weather was quite nice the last few weeks and we tried to get some family time in at the lake, camping and the pool. In between it all, I did manage to get most of the structure wrapped with tyvek and dug the trench for my electrical service.

My little buddy was of course right in the thick of it:

We had to build bridges and get the dinosaurs and trucks in there. We went for ice cream afterwards, he earned it.

Electrician starts today. I had to open the ceiling in my basement to allow him access to run the wire for the sub panel. I did a layout visualization with my little buddy and some sidewalk chalk. After I laid it all out and after the electrician was over and we identified where the 220 plugs are going, I realized I forgot to identify an area for sheet good storage. Had to move the workbench. I am going to install all the boxes tonight and he will rough wire tomorrow.

Still need to pick up my doors, siding, and then insulate and drywall. Hoping to be done by November, but work, family and hunting season may delay things a bit.

drivesitfar · Aug 22, 2016

DA: nice to see your progress and that you are almost weathered in before our rainy season starts. also really nice to see you letting your 4 year old enjoy the dirt and help (if you can call it that).

cheers and keep taking lots of pictures for the thread and you later.

good luck

jeremy_cherokee · Aug 22, 2016

It's neat to see the little man helping. My wife and I have twin almost-three-year-olds and they both love to help. Kids are crazy, but when you get to see them out there helping like that, you can't help but be happy!

DalyArcher · Aug 24, 2016

I probably could have dug the trench in two hours, it was closer to three with the little man helping. No bother though, I can't help but smile and beam with pride when he asks to go outside to build. The only time I said no to him was when I was on the roof and he wanted to join me. We had a bit of a heated discussion about that one.

Electrician is finishing up the rough in today. Was able to power up a couple lights for me and an exterior plug on the shop for now. Threw in a few ceiling plugs for air cleaners, and left plenty of wire for the jointer plug which will mount in the outfeed table for the table saw. Even wired me up a dedicated circuit for the beer fridge.

I have the trench to back fill, the big pile of dirt and the large stump still to get rid of and a few new arrows to build in anticipation of fall. Hopefully get the doors in next week and insulate soon after that, once the bank account catches up to the project.

captain14 · Aug 24, 2016

Nice looking shop you built. I hope you get the exterior finished before the weather Ganges in you

Can yiu post some of your cabinet building projects? We like to see those too.

DalyArcher · Aug 24, 2016

don't have many project pics on Photobucket, post what I do have though:

Growler tote. Pine with black walnut dovetail pins

Water table for the little man:

Bent Baltic birch rocking horse for his first Christmas:

Ash and birch workbench with draw bore mortise and tennon joints. Black walnut pins:

drivesitfar · Sep 1, 2016

DA: looks like fall and the rain is here so hope you are all buttoned up or will be soon. also that might be the nicest kid's workbench i've seen. WELL DONE!!

DalyArcher · Sep 1, 2016

Almost buttoned up. Wife is out of town until Friday. She has to pick a siding colour. no leaks in the roof. should be weather proof by mid September.

That work bench is nicer than mine, haha. It was a lot of fun building it. Had never done drawbore mortise and tennon joints before.

sean Buick 76 · Sep 2, 2016

Nice work and I love that you are getting the kids involved!

drivesitfar · Dec 8, 2016

DA: just hoping you are all weathered in as snow might be happening today or maybe already has showed up in your part of the PNW.

any pictures and updates to share?

also since you are a Woodworker you might like the new Woodworking 101 thread we started and there is a link in my sig line for you to click on so you can post and share some of your wisdom. there are a lot of woodworkers on GJ so you might learn something too.

cheers

DalyArcher · Dec 8, 2016

shop is all wrapped with tyvek and windows and doors are in. I was hoping for siding but plans got diverted, things put on hold and a few things may have changed.

Originally I was going to go with vinyl siding for the shop, recently however, I got a really good price on a lift of Hardi-Plank. Enough to re-side my house which is currently faced with aluminum siding. The wife now wants the shop to match the house, so it looks like Hardi on the shop and house.

Drywall prices have gone crazy up here, something about a tariff? Anyway, not quite to that point yet. I have some basement reno's to finish off before the new baby arrives in March, but should be ready to drywall and complete electrical shortly after the new year.

Thanks for the Woodworking link. I will certainly check it out. One thing I had always planned for during this build was to upgrade my contractor saw to a full size 3 hp cabinet saw. Any suggestions? I have looked at Delta (hard to source in Canada and expensive), Powermatic (same issues), Laguna, CWI Stallion, General is tough to find. The used market up here is pretty anemic.

drivesitfar · Dec 8, 2016

DA: sorry i can't tell you which table saw to buy. i have a big old Walker turner sitting in storage that i might want to restore and a few little craftsmans, but i have no space for a table saw in my garage. i have a Shopsmith my dad isn't using any longer he said i could have 10 years ago that i might find a spot for that has a little table saw on it, but it has a lathe which i'm looking forward to using.

in any case i like the idea of the hardy siding cause i'm residing my home with the stuff and your garage will look great once it's finished.

best of luck with the new baby and i just had dinner at a function with my step son's 6 and 2 year old running around and I'm telling you my 40 year old step son was sweating. you are in for a great ride, but it's like a roller coaster with a lot of bumps and turns so HANG ON TIGHT and enjoy it. i've got 2 step sons and 3 of my own and the youngest are 26 (yep twins on the end that weren't planned).

turbowoodworker · Dec 8, 2016

"One thing I had always planned for during this build was to upgrade my contractor saw to a full size 3 hp cabinet saw."

Archer,

I just got the Delta 5HP 230v from ACME Tools.
Look or wait for a sale then you also get free shipping. I got mine for about $2700 IIRC (last summer). The 5 HP is only $100 more than the 3HP so it is a no brainer especially if you are going 230v.

I can't tell you how happy I am withthe saw. I too had a contractor saw (Delta) and the new 5HP is safer and easier to use, more accurate too.

DalyArcher · Mar 21, 2017

Been a while and not much to update, but may as well offer what I can.

We had a crappy Christmas! Our 4 year old crawled into our bed at 2 am Christmas morning and snuggle up, something we rarely allow. At 4 he complained of being hot, we stripped his jammies off and gave him some advil and water, at 5 he woke up to go pee. At 7:30 I heard him gurgling and throwing up, I rolled out of bed and let my wife know what happened as I went to get a towel to clean it up. My wife told me to run a bath for him and as I was letting the water run she carried him into the bathroom to finish throwing up. She stood him at the toilet and he rag dolled, completely limp and totally non-responsive. I yelled his name and he didn't so much as blink.

My wife called the ambulance as I got dressed. Calling the ambulance is unbelievably frustrating when you are in the thick of what you determine to be an absolute crisis. My wife just kept repeating our address and that our boy was unresponsive, the dispatched asked for her name and other info. When my wife exclaimed that he wasn't breathing, I decided f**k it, I'm taking him. **** naked into his carseat and drove toward the hospital far faster than I should have. We met the ambulance part way to the hospital. My wife had no shoes and no clothes other than her house coat.

We wound up in emergency and under the care of a pediatrician after the first doctor diagnosed that our son was just sleeping and not quite awake yet

Anyway, chest x-ray and a spinal tap later wee were admitted to hospital and Des put on a round of anti-viral intravenous meds while they conducted more tests and deliberated flying him to Children's Hospital in Vancouver. A week later we were allowed to go home after they finally had the results for the spinal tap (another drama unto itself and part of living in Northern BC). Seems he caught some form of a menegitis which caused a high fever and the seizure. I honestly thought he was dying, most terrifying thing I have ever experienced in life. Worst part was when we got home and Des concluded that Christmas passed him by and Santa was mad at him.

Wow, sorry about that, slightly off topic. Anyway, back to the purpose of this forum; garages:

Alright, so, wife is due any day now with baby number 2! She had a short list of tasks to be complete in the house before progressing any further on the shop. top of the list was to finish the basement play room renovation. A little before and after for you:

The wife wanted all white, and an Ikea look. 5/8" melamine, poplar face frames, stick and cope doors and 1 1/4" shelf nosing. Painted with a high quality cabinet paint with a little flotrol added to even out the brush marks.

DalyArcher · Mar 21, 2017

As for the actual shop; siding is sitting in the carport. I have to wait on my wife and I to agree on a trim style. I am not a huge fan of the typical 4" box frame style seen on most hardi-plank homes around here. From what I have read though in this zone it is not recommended to set the trim overtop of the siding. Though I would like a bit of an overhang and bevel on the header piece. Installed my soffit and aluminum fascia.

I never did get the shop insulated over the winter and in hindsight it was actually a good thing. I had been on the hunt for a new cabinet saw. I priced all the top brands and looked at a number of off-shore contenders but was not 100 percent sold on any of them. I was not opposed to going used, but boy is it tough finding much in the northern area of the province. Then one day while browsing Kijiji I happened across an ad for the saw I had been searching for, an original, Canadian made General 350 with a 50 inch Biesenmeyer style rip fence!

The saw was located a good distance away, but as luck would have it, only 10 minutes from my brother-in-law, who happens to be a bit of a woodworker himself. He was able to go over and check it out and gave me the thumbs up. I wired half of the $1000.00 asking price, my wife arranged shipping and when I confirmed it was on the truck, I wired the rest. less than a week later it landed in my carport. Two strong buddies and a quick furniture dolly built with some 1" plywood and 4" casters and it was relocated to my shop.

Now for the part about not insulating my shop too quickly. I had planned to buy a 13ish amp, 3 horse power table saw. What I acquired was in fact a 5 hp 19 amp saw!

look at the size of that Baldor motor!

so Sparky has to come back and run a slightly heavier wire to the planned plug.

I got, what I feel was a smoking deal! true, no riving knife, but I will take the $3000 saving and buy a set of Jess Em hold downs and a micro-jig splitter set.

captain14 · Mar 21, 2017

Sorry to hear about your son but he's better now.

Very good job in the basement fireplace and shelves.

Did you get the saw in time for the basement work?

tab2 · Mar 21, 2017

Wow scary stuff with your son, I am glad everything is okay.

I've been on the hunt for a big table saw (my wife will kill me) and have been writing off the generals. I think I might reconsider that after doing a little more research.

DalyArcher · Apr 20, 2018

Wow! Did I ever let this drop off :headscrat

Well, time for an update I suppose.

Last year did not see a whole ton of progress on the shop. I am still months away from fully using it. It's been a busy year nonetheless. March 29 of last year my darling little princess - Amelie Marion Daly was born, full of fire and personality to spare! Kids aren't terribly expensive right off the bat, but the added expenditure for diapers, formula and the loss of income while my wife was on maternity leave left little disposable income to throw at the shop. On top of that, for whatever foolish reason, I applied for a job in a different town and progressed through various interview stages, which left us in limbo for a bit. Wound up not moving and so I plucked away at it, managed to save a grand to buy insulation, chipped away at the siding until snow fell and had the vapour barrier inspection last month.

My wife went back to work a few weeks ago and hopefully we can actually finish the shop by the summer!

I managed to hang all the drywall for the ceiling last week and will mud and tape this weekend. Will drywall the walls in a week or two and then try to save a few thousand to get the electrician back and finally fire up my new to me cabinet saw! (I can't even explain the heartache at walking past that saw for the last year and not turning it on).

I am so close now, the excitement is growing, haha.

DalyArcher's cabinet shop build

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