Mum's Kitchen Unit

This weekend I finally got around to installing that kitchen unit in my parent’s kitchen. To start I removed the baseboards in the corner…which of course took longer than expected. Turns out they were installed before the subfloor, so I had to cut them out.

Next I put down the 2x4 base and levelled it with plastic shims. The shims I screwed to the wood to keep in place and then the whole piece was screwed to the wall into studs.

After trimming down the edge of the top to get a flush fit to the wall, I glued/dowels/pocket hole screwed it to the cabinets. I used dowels for the middle gables, the screws along the back where they aren't visible and glue everywhere. I actually did this part twice as I forgot to put in the corner shelf in prior to the top going on. It is too large to fit through the opening with the top on. Fun times taking it apart and lining it all up a second time.

Once the top was secure, the unit was lifted onto the base, screwed to the wall into the studs and screwed into the base as well. This unit is not going anywhere.

The bench frame went in next, I screwed it to the wall and the unit and it is also supported by 2 legs.

Sunday I came back and installed some cross bracing and the seat portion of the bench. 

Finally I gave it a light sand by hand with a fine grit paper; the whole thing was already sanded a few months ago. I vacuumed the piece and wiped it down with a tack cloth before putting on 3 coats of Verathane. 

Still I am not done. I think it needs another coat of Verathane, it really soaks into the pine. The shelves still need clear coating on one side, the baseboards need to be re-installed under the bench and boards need to be added along the kick plate to hide the 2x4’s. It sounds like a lot, but at least the unit is out of my basement and useable in the meantime.

And now we know: when designing a corner cabinet think about how to get the shelf in or at the least clear coat it before it is in place. It was extremely hard to coat this with the combination of such a small opening and being very deep.