Laundry Tub Cabinet

[babzog]

Not garage related but it needs to be built anyway. We want to enclose it in a cabinet since it's by the new front entrance and we want it to look nice, etc. Couple of contractors were humming and hawing over how to build it (and we could see they really didn't want to tackle it). So fine, I'll do it myself.

Here's the opening for it. The space to the right of the half wall now houses the washer and drier.

I bought the melamine and a countertop and spent some time drawing up the plans. The countertop will be sawn up and used to assemble the top which is really just for looks. The tub will be supported from underneath by a shelf, thus eliminating the legs. The cabinet will just be a basic carcass with a bottom shelf and a mid shelf (to support the tub). We're also placing it at a height comfortble for us so we'll have about 19" of vertical space between the shelves.

I needed a way to cut up the melamine sheets and knew that finding help would be a challenge. So a bit of net scouring led me to construct a supportive "sled" for the sheet. I had some extra 8' or so 2x4's and a couple of 5 footers. Cut some notches in the shorter pieces, placed them on my sawhorses and laid the long 2x4s into the notches.

With the 4x8 sheet on top:

Getting ready to make the first cut on my saw board (just unclamped it today):

Rought edge of melamine (on left side of pic) is now trimmed away and the cut to set the height of the sides is now cast in stone (or melamine):

I was getting ready to cut the sides out but it started to rain. Again. Put it all away and will pick it up again in the next few days (weekends are in such short supply with the wife planning activities, etc). The sled is working really well! Sheet is supported nicely, making cutting this stuff a one man job. When done, it just pops apart and the boards store away neatly.

Will post more pics as construction progresses.

 

[pipehack]

Why don't you buy a drop in style slop sink???

 

[babzog]

Why don't you buy a drop in style slop sink???

Oh, this isn't a garage slop sink.. this is the new entrance to the house. We have the laundry machines off to the side, behind the door when opened, and the tub sits beside them on the other side of a half wall (which contains the plumbing for the washer and the tub). This has to be made to look nice for SWMBO (and I'd prefer something a bit more finished as well). We had one contractor tell us "Just hang a curtain to hide the underside." Sure fella, I'd do that in a flash... if this were a hunt camp or a garage. This was the same contractor who prefers caulking to wood when finishing window jambs and trim. So we let him go and hired someone to do the job properly. PITA but the results (all finish work had to be ripped out and redone) were worth it.

This shows a bit better what I'm finishing.



We made a big reno last fall, turning an old dog-kennel addition to the home into a new office (was using a spare bedroom as an office, which we had to reclaim for our daughter). Raised the floor, doubled the wall insulation, added new low-voltage wiring, new pot lights, closed up two doors in the kennel, enlarged two windows and added two more (where the kennel doors were).

What is now the entrance to the house used to simply be an access way from the house to the kennel. The coat closet used to be a double laundry sink with a small chemical storage cabinet to the left. Where the laundry machines are (in particular, where the drier is, which is beside the outside wall), used to be a corner half-shower for washing dogs. The main entrance door used to be a window. All that ripped out to the vapour barrier and rebuilt. New wiring (converted a 30A stove circuit in the former kennel to a sub panel for all office electrics), re-routed a 20A wire for a heavy duty air blow drier (used to dry freshly washed dogs) to provide power for the washing machines, two new exterior plugs (there's never enough plugs outside) and security lights.

When the initial gutting of the kennel was complete, wife and I got our thinking caps on as some new ideas began to float into our noggins. We were going to just rip out the dog shower and refinish the floor and stop there, but it quickly became apparent that our initial idea of retaining an outside door into the office would be a silly waste of space. The project was expanded slightly but she is now very happy to have a proper front entrance to the house (used to just walk in via the garage - what's wrong with that?) as the real front entrance is around the side (all due to the orientation of the driveway and garage which doesn't intuitively lead you around to what would be the front.. blah blah blah).

 

[pipehack]

I do understand what you are doing... "they" (E.L. Mustee) make a very nice "drop in " style utility tub A.K.A. slop sink that is for counter top installations. The box stores do not carry them. A plumbing supply house will. I've done it and seen some very nice ones (plumber by trade) There are even stainless one out there.

 

[babzog]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Hmm, that would have been interesting. I'd looked at the selection at HD and was not impressed. Got the tub there, but they only had one cab (small and not what we wanted). Since the contractors were shying away from the project and none had mentioned anything else (one guy mentioned a stainless sink but the ones I priced at HD were over $300 - forget that!), I decided to tackle it myself. I'm committed now (and for not a lot of money.. I'll tally it up when I'm done but probably around $150 by the time the water's running).

Not a lot of progress this week (working outside, not a lot of light left by the time I get home from work), but the sides, back and tub shelf are cut out now:

If the rain holds off, I'll have the other sheet of melamine hacked up tomorrow for the bottom shelf and one door (the other door is yet to be cut from first sheet leftovers). I cut the sides 1/8" deeper since I want to try slicing that last 1/8" off with a router (to try and get a clean edge). The skilsaw gave me one clean edge, which I could use to my advantage (the other three sides are hidden by walls so I could face the chipped edge out and noone would be the wiser) but I'm also learning techniques from this project so don't mind taking a few extra steps for the heck of it.

I decided on the 3/4" ply shelf since it won't sag like 5/8" particle board, esp given the weight of a tub of water (not that it's filled all the time, but the potential is there). I'll put edge banding on the front and paint it white. It doesn't go all the way to the back to allow access for the plumbing (and I'll probably snip a bit more out in the middle to let my mitts have full access to the fixture). It'll be dadoed into the sides and held with screws.

 

[babzog]

It's been busy around here so I've been poking along with this project, working on it a bit here, a bit there. I was cottaging a couple of weeks ago, then we had a full weekend of visiting and entertaining and this past week I've been building a deck, now that the mason has finished his parging repair work.

The pieces are all cut out, ready to be cleaned up:

Cleanup - bringing the material from a 1/8" overcut down to size, eliminating the chipped edge from the saw cut) is best done with a router, though this router table (which came with a Craftsman router for $30 at an auction) is too small to really be of use - it was easier to set up a straight-edge and zip the edges down to size. I tried - and cursed, then relented. I ended up using my newer Craftsman router since the collet for the one that came with the fence is rusted to hell.

A homemade fence. I set the bit out 1/16" from the existing fence then routed along the edge, approx halfway along. Then I roughed out a notch to allow for the bit. Finally, clamped in place and the bit set flush with the thick part of the fence (the white part), the material is fed into the bit which takes off the 1/16" and the stock is supported on the outfeed side.

Hard to see, but the edge is now nice and crisp, ready for edging:

I've since made more progress, almost ready for assembly (pics of current status not yet available). The dadoes are routed in, appropriate OOPSes were made (nothing which will be visible) but she's nearly ready to screw together. More soon.

PS. I gotta build (or find at an auction) a router table. I see they're very very useful, now that this little thing has given me the tease.