Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Cabinet/pantry repair

Opened up the pantry cabinet to find a bit of a mess. 


The side of the cabinet let go, causing the shelf pins to bend, break and pull out of the side of the cabinet. 

Oh, for disclosure, this is the 2nd time it's done that, I just drilled the holes a little more and put in different pins and in 2, long dowels.  Maybe it's time to fix it. But how, when there's only access to 2 sides. 

It's 30" wide and 23" deep, about 4 feet high (the bottom section was affected, not the top) and holds a lot of stuff. Too much stuff, actually. 


Here's what I did: remove everything from the cabinet, sorted for gluten free or not. Tossed a cardboard can of bread crumbs from 2013. Pulled out the shelves, sat and stared for a while. 

Pull out the fridge and spend some quality time cleaning both the fridge, walls and the floor...It's not been out since 2005. Found some cat toys.

Devise a plan: replace the pins on the left with cleats, and add cleats to the back, and that way, screws can be driven thru the left wall into those cleats to hold the wall tight. It's fine in the front, as the oak face frame has held together. 

Just do a little measure, a little math, some cutting, drilling and screwing. Took a long time to do, partly because to get to the basement when the fridge is out of it's hole, you, well, I, have to go out the front door, around to the back door and down the stairs. I only forgot a few things, a few duplicitous trips. 
 Use a stick as a spreader bar clamp to wedge the side back into place.



The pins and holes on the right side are ok, so I didn't fix it. 
I imagine that the hard part will be getting Dawn to not put everything on one shelf, packed just as tightly together as possible. 

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