Fireplace Remodel Day Thirty Three

It's Wednesday and the floors are dry! I'm ready to be done with the living room and move on to the next part of the project....except one thing: Amy Sheep is doing the telimedicine thing in the office, and I can't make noise or potter about in the office or dining room without risking exposure to to the prying eye of her webcam.

So I just had to get on with finishing the cabinet doors quietly as quietly as possible.

After I was happy with the hinge adjustments, I took the doors back off, removed all the hardware and took them back to the workshop for wood filler and final sanding. Then it t'was time for us dinners.

Amy Sheep was still doing her being-professional-thing in the office après le déjeuner, so I went back down to the workshop to look for something to do. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, a friend gave me a display case - it was lying around in a house she was clearing out and would have been trashed if I did't take it. At the time I needed another project like a hole in the head, but the cabinet had potential....so I took it back to my garage where it hasn't moved since that day.....until now that is.

I could not wait to remove the hideous trim pieces, so I don't have a proper "before" photo. This picture was taken after the base had already been ripped off:

That's better - the base and top trim pieces where they belong - in the trash pile.

The trim had to go because (1) it's f&*%ing hideous (see above) and (2) I want to put the display case in the corner of my garage; the foundation sticks out in this area, so I have to accommodate that in the design of my replacement base.

To call it a "design" is probably a bit generous. It's a box made from a scrap of 2" x 6" lumber and a piece of birch plywood which was left over from the cabinet doors

Installed it doesn't look anything special, but it meets the design criteria of hoisting the cabinet above the foundation while allowing it to mount to the wall.

Slapped on a bit of plastic wood.™

I made a replacement top panel from another piece of scrap birch plywood. It wasn't quite large enough, so I glued on some edge pieces I cut from a piece of old bed frame. You have to recycle what you can in these extraordinary times...

I also took out the mirror and all the glass panels and removed all the hardware. When the wood filler is dry, I will sand the cabinet down and paint it....watch this space!

I went back upstairs to put t'ettle on, and found that the day's telimedicine had concluded. After a cup of rosie and one of Ruby Sheep's fluffy cookies, it was finally time to tear down the barrier between the office and the living room....this was a profound moment in the project.

After that it took the best part of two hours to move our office into the living room. The telimedicine terminal and associated AV technology was fully integrated into its new home, all ready for another busy day.

Tomorrow I will return to working on the hardwood floor at the dining room side of the fireplace. I last worked on this area on Day #10. Wish me luck!