New Pantry Replacement

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:40 AM

Here are the final photos of my pantry cabinet construction and installation project. Our original pantry was the wire basket type but it is too small to hold larger (6" dia.) typical cans etc.

The DW determined that it had to go and I was just the guy to replace it. I will save you all the construction of the "box" and shelves. I wanted to use ½" pre-finished maple-ply but it was expensive and I needed someone to cut it for me as my little table saw wasn't running well enough to make accurate cuts.

I found a plywood supplier close to my work and went there after work to buy the plywood and have it cut. He didn't have the maple-ply but he had birch plywood with one side white birch and the other "natural" which has reddish hues. I felt that with the right finish, I could make the white birch resemble my maple cabinetry so I bought a 4x8 sheet (and the full extension drawer slides), gave him my drawing and had him cut out all the parts...for only $10 more. Sweet!

Here is the cabinet ready for installation in the GS.

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:40 AM

Here are the final photos of my pantry cabinet construction and installation project. Our original pantry was the wire basket type but it is too small to hold larger (6" dia.) typical cans etc.

The DW determined that it had to go and I was just the guy to replace it. I will save you all the construction of the "box" and shelves. I wanted to use ½" pre-finished maple-ply but it was expensive and I needed someone to cut it for me as my little table saw wasn't running well enough to make accurate cuts.

I found a plywood supplier close to my work and went there after work to buy the plywood and have it cut. He didn't have the maple-ply but he had birch plywood with one side white birch and the other "natural" which has reddish hues. I felt that with the right finish, I could make the white birch resemble my maple cabinetry so I bought a 4x8 sheet (and the full extension drawer slides), gave him my drawing and had him cut out all the parts...for only $10 more. Sweet!

Here is the cabinet ready for installation in the GS.

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:40 AM

I had to remove the pantry door to get better access to the compartment.

Here are the 5 shelves I made so the DW would have plenty of options re: spacing of the shelves.

Here are two shots of the left pantry wall and face frame. I had to use the router to cut three notches so that the drawer slides wouldn't interfere with the cabinet installation (more on this later).

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:40 AM

Here is the cabinet installed on the drawer slides with the cabinet door clamped to it. I opted to attach the door to the cabinet and have the whole assembly pull out rather than have to open the cabinet door first and then slide out the pantry. This proved to be a mixed blessing but helps pull out the pantry as the slides are a bit stiff. I will add some dry lube and I expect them to loosen up a bit over time.

Here is the cabinet and door installed in the compartment.

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:41 AM

Here is a shot of the adjustable shelves and lower brace installed. The shelves sit on Knappe & Vogt "standard" clips. I had to shop around until I could find both the standards and the clips. The standards are shown in the first pic. They are the brass rails inside the cabinet.

Final shot all secure.

A side note. While we were deciding on what size of cabinet to build and the style, we measured everything...twice. The cabinet was 29-1/4" deep measured from inside the face frame and had a clear width (face frame) of 8-1/2". We wanted to be able to fit 6" dia. cans and stuff inside so I made the clear inside width 6-1/8". This gave a finished outside width of 7-5/8" (two pieces of ½" plywood). We then decided to make it as deep as possible so 29" was the winning dimension that would give a little clearance inside the compartment at the back.

Well, lets see. Everything was going well. I edge banded all pieces with white birch, sanded and then assembled the cabinet. I attempted to "test fit" the cabinet and that is when I found my mistake. The cabinet depth was o.k. at 29" BUT the clearance from the front of the face frame to the opposite side of the hallway wall was only 25".

DOH!!!

quikduk · 01-15-2008, 09:42 AM

No problem. I'll just come in from an angle and rotate the cabinet in the compartment...but...I needed to remove the privacy door stop molding first. O.K., done that...but...the extra 1/8" in cabinet width made the rotational movement all but impossible since the clearance along that arc was tighter by...you guessed it...almost 1/8".

PBTHTTTTTT!!!

I was able to muscle it in and back out again but I new this would be trouble.

After finishing the cabinet with the "matching" stain and polyurethane, I started to attempt the final installation. After the drawer slides were mounted, I fought with the cabinet for several minutes but got it in place. I also found out that the GS "wall" that the cabinet/compartment is in is not plumb along its vertical dimension so I will try to align the slides further to pull in the bottom a bit tighter but in lieu of that, I may make a maple "picture frame around the door to hide the gap at the bottom and lower portion of the vertical edge. I am a bit AR here but it IS bugging me a bit.

Bottom line is it works and the DW likes it...A LOT!

Hope you all like the pics and story.