The Kitchen Cabinet

I have pictures of the "mostly" completed kitchen cabinet to show you. Originally the post in this spot was going to be called "Around the Country in 80 Days" because that was how much time we had left... as of two days ago. But since I missed that deadline, thanks to feeling a need to write an addendum to my last post on my personal blog, due to unreasonable demands set upon me, I am now going to move on to trailer work again.

As you have seen before, if you have been following the last few posts on this blog, the face frame is always the first thing to be built on any cabinet. The face frame is what lays out everything else behind it. You have seen how I have been using pocket holes, screws and glue to bond it all together, so I won't repeat that. Instead, I am just going to show the face frame and what progresses on the back side of it.

The kitchen cabinet face frame on the saw table.

Above is the face frame, right side up, on the saw table. The openings are (from top left to bottom right):

-  - -top left, the drawer for the camp stove (fits end ways)...
- - - top middle, a dummy drawer front in front of the bar sink...top right, probably for office supplies, since the table/desk is closest to it (this drawer will also have a solid removable cover over it, to use as a counter extension)...
- - - left middle, towel drawer...
- - - right middle, wide drawer for utensils (and possibly other things with use of a divider)...
- - - bottom left, pots, pans and appliances, with a lift-out bottom, where the water pump and more storage will be located behind the toe kick...
- - - bottom row second space and far right space, two pull-out pantries...
- - - bottom third space, an open area with only a door on it, where an 8-gallon Reliance Hydroller for fresh water can be rolled in right under the sink. A ratchet strap will secure the tank and a dip tube for the water pump will be inserted into it.

After the face frame was finished, cleats were glued and stapled to the back of it everywhere that a divider wall needed to attach to it.

The kitchen cabinet face frame with the divider walls attached.

The divider walls were all made from 3/8-inch CD plywood (what I had on hand) and glued and stapled to the previously mounted cleats. The left side panel was held flush to the edge of the face frame, because that side will go against the wardrobe closet and never be seen. The right side panel was held in 1/8-inch from the edge of the face frame because it will have a finish sheet of blonde paneling on it. That side will be seen, even though it faces the front couch. It will eventually have a flip-up counter extension on it at 30-inches high, to serve as a work or eating table for the couch, as well as extra counter space.

In between these divider walls, 1 x 4 backing pieces were installed to serve as spacers between the sections and also to serve as the anchoring points to be drilled through to attach the cabinet to the trailer wall. These were installed at the top and bottom along the back side, as well as across the middle at a level even with the tops of the pantries. Additional vertical stiffeners were also added to the back edges of the divider walls to keep the plywood straight.

The kitchen cabinet and sidewalls standing upright.

Because we will be standing at this cabinet to work at the sink, it was necessary to provide a toe space at the bottom. This is a back-saving feature, to prevent having to lean forward too far while working at the sink.

Spacers were also added in this toe space between the dividers at the front, and then I used a solid piece of oak as the facing board to go across the first two compartments of the toe space, and another piece to cover the right hand side. 

Since we are using 100-pound-rated full-length ball bearing slides on all the drawers, backing pieces had to be installed to mount those to, which in turn, helped to strengthen and straighten each of the divider walls.

Cheap (and thin) plywood often has a tendency to bow. Thin plywood is also made up of fewer layers, usually only three. More expensive "furniture grade" plywood is often made up of seven or even nine layers, and generally remains straight and flat. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the better plywood, and it is expensive to buy.

A cabinet may start out rather flimsy looking, but each piece that is added (if done properly) helps to strengthen and straighten the entire frame. If all cuts are square and it is assembled properly, it should end up perfectly square on all sides, and should be able to be picked up at any point without deforming the shape.

The kitchen cabinet set in place in the trailer, not anchored yet.

I only had three sets of drawer slides in stock, so to avoid standing on my head to install the ones that will arrive later, I chose to use what I had at the lowest locations. Above, you can see the cabinet frame set in place in the trailer, but not yet anchored. I installed the drawer slides on the two pantries (on opposite corners for stability), and on the wide drawer below the sink. Once the others arrive, I can install them from the top, before I attach the countertop to the cabinet frame.

I will custom build the pantries to the exact dimensions needed to fit these spaces and attach to the slides. The left pantry will be attached to a slide at the lower left and upper right, while the right pantry will attach at the upper left and lower right. The reason for this is because pantries loaded with heavy canned goods only at the bottom, have a tendency to "rock" at the top. In sudden starts or rear collisions the inertia can break the drawer slides if mounted only at the bottom. By mounting on opposite corners (or top and bottom, as many pantries are made) it will hold the pantry more securely. Exact positions depend a lot on the hardware being used.

I couldn't resist the urge to at least set the countertop on the cabinet, just to get an idea of how the finished product will look. Although the paneling in the photo below shows a "greenish" tint in the picture, it really doesn't look that way in person. In fact, it goes very well with the tans and browns in the countertop. Besides, most of that wall will have a black refrigerator setting in front of it anyway. 

Countertop temporarily setting on the kitchen cabinet.  

Probably after we get on the road, the backsplash area behind the refrigerator and below the microwave will get tiled with ceramic tile. We will have to select a color for that later. Any other gaps between the plywood on the outer walls will get drywall taped and finished smooth before the whole interior of the trailer (including cabinet faces) gets painted. If we can do it before we leave, we will, but I'm not concerned about little stuff. We can always do little stuff after we get out of here. As long as it's functional enough to live in, we can get by.

One thing I have to do on the countertop yet is to remove most of the rear overhang on the backsplash. These overhangs are designed onto the countertops to provide an area where the backsplash can be scribed and belt-sanded to fit walls that are seldom straight. In this case, our countertop fits tight all across the length of it.

The problem lies in the front. The left corner hits the closet door when it's opened, and prevents it from swinging back as far as it could. By eliminating that 1/2-inch of overhang on the backsplash, we can push the countertop back farther, which will allow a few more degrees of opening on the closet door. It still won't be as much as we would like, and will still have to install some doorstops at the top and bottom of the closet door, to prevent the countertop from puncturing a hole in the door, but every little bit helps. That is also the door on which we want to mount a tall narrow dressing mirror, so we need to make sure it is protected.

There are several other things to be done (besides the drawer slides) before I can mount the countertop permanently. First, I have to install some triangular corner gussets in each compartment of the cabinet flush with the top. These will be used to screw through, to anchor yet another piece of 3/4-inch plywood to the top of the cabinet (after I install the last three sets of drawer slides), as extra strength and height under the finished countertop. 

The first 21 inches on the left side has to support the weight of a loaded refrigerator bouncing down the road, so I am using 3/4-inch plywood under that part, right up to the sink. (Not that the refrigerator will actually "bounce", as it will be anchored tightly to the countertop, but the inertia is still there.)

The cabinet has already been built so that the top of the finished counter will be at exactly 36-inches, which is the industry standard for kitchen countertop height. Where the refrigerator sets, the countertop will be 1-1/2-inches thick. The rest of the "sub-counter" will be simply 3/4-inch stock around the perimeter of the cabinet, more for a spacer than anything else.

I also have to align and anchor the right side of the wardrobe closet door jamb, and then screw that into the side of the kitchen cabinet face frame. But even before that can be done, I have some preliminary plumbing to do behind the kitchen cabinet. 

Although you can't see it in the pictures, the bottom spacer behind the left pantry was purposely held away from the back wall by 1-1/2-inches. This will be the space where both the fresh water "city supply" will come into the trailer, and also where the drain will exit. Both will be 3/4-inch (probably PVC) and 90 toward the outside just under the trailer frame, where they will be strapped to the bottom of the frame.

The fresh water will terminate in a female hose fitting, while the drain water will terminate in a male hose fitting. The fresh water side can be reduced to 1/2 or 3/8-inch after it enters the trailer. Those two "stubs" have to be drilled through the floor and installed before I permanently anchor the cabinet in front of them. I can always finish the rest of the plumbing later.

I also have to cut and install the finish paneling for the right hand side of the kitchen cabinet yet, but this is where the project remains today. We have already had two days of mostly rain, with maybe a break on Mother's Day, and then more rain predicted on Monday. We don't have a lot of grass in the back yard, so it turns into a muddy mess whenever it gets wet. 

Even if I were to work inside the trailer or on our covered rear deck (where my saw table is set up), I still have to tromp in and out of the trailer to get measurements, cut and test fit everything. That would just drag a lot of mud into the trailer, so I prefer to wait until Tuesday to work on it again, and hope the ground dries up by then.

One more day on this part of the project, and the kitchen cabinet should be complete, except for the sink. I still have to order the high-rise faucet for it yet, and also buy the water pump. When I get the major components, I will be ready to start the plumbing.

In the wardrobe closet I also have to build the divider walls around the porta-potty and batteries, and whatever lids will go over them. 

With the kitchen cabinet in place, I also will have my reference point for the upper cabinets on that side...for the microwave and the computer printer, as well as the regulated power filter for the computers. Then I just have the couch to build and the upper cabinets on the door side of the trailer.

The electrical stuff and plumbing, since it will all be surface mounted, will be done after I get all the cabinets done. By that time, we will likely have started filling up the cabinets and figuring out where all the "miscellaneous" stuff is going to go.

As added incentive to get out of here, my wife just received an invitation to her class reunion yesterday, and it's scheduled for August 15th. So even if we don't get out of here in time to make her family reunion on the 1st of August, we now have a secondary deadline.

We are finally getting some of the big items sold in our household inventory. The PVC tubing style patio set with umbrella that we bought back in 1985 in Mishawaka finally sold this week. Next up is a Lane cedar chest, and then an 1800s-era antique sideboard buffet. After that will likely be the 1982 model Lowery MX-1 console organ that some of you saw her playing in the "Ed and the Aberts" video on YouTube. That's also in a post about three behind this one, if you want to watch it there.

We may not do any garage sales this year, as it's too much hassle for the number of people that we have been getting. Our efforts now are going to be to dispose of the larger items that aren't essential to our living here, while still selling stuff that can be shipped on eBay, and then have one big "moving sale" around the first week of July. Whatever doesn't sell by then will likely go to a second hand dealer, whom we will instruct to literally empty the house out. That way we can get it all cleaned up and ready to hand the keys over to a realtor by the time we have to go.

In the meantime, we anticipate being "mostly" moved into the trailer by the first week of July, so we can get a feel for it before we leave, and make sure we aren't forgetting anything before we hit the road. Anything that doesn't fit, and isn't essential to immediate travel will go to temporary storage until we can come around this way sometime next year. By then, we can only "hope" that we have room to absorb the rest of it!

Sounds like a plan to me. How about you?

Latest Updates to Trailer and Blog...

I have some new plans to show you, but before I lead you to those, I want to mention one quick thing. The troll that showed up a couple weeks ago finally revealed himself (at least I'm pretty sure they are one and the same) by directly emailing his verbal hate messages to me. As a result, I set up filters in my email account to not only block any further such nonsense, but to delete them automatically, so I never have to be aggravated by even seeing them.

What I can't figure out is why people can't just live their lives on their own terms, the same way that I try to live mine. If they have so much hate in their hearts for this lifestyle, for me, or for whatever has tripped their trigger, then why would they want to dwell on it by continually aggravating the situation? Why even read my blogs if it triggers such feelings of hate? Go live your life and I'll live mine, and maybe we'll both be happy.

"Nuff said".

The other thing I wanted to announce is that I have updated the plans, which can still be found HERE (look about a third of the way down the page for the bold blue links) to include the latest revisions, which includes having to move the bulkhead wall 4-inches farther forward than originally planned, adding a toe-kick space under the kitchen cabinet, and extending the overhead cabinets all the way to the front wall to make space for our computer printer and the Perma-Power Automatic Voltage Regulator which protects our computer equipment.

I also did a little adjusting on measurements for the kitchen base cabinet, but keep in mind, my cells on the grid were established to be one-inch. Obviously, lumber is typically 3/4-inch or 1-1/2-inches, Paneling and plywood can be many different thicknesses, so the plans are only approximate. It is up to the builder (in this case, me) to fine-tune the exact dimensions to how the components go together, as it is being built. That's what a builder does. The plans are only a guide to visualize how the whole thing comes together in relationship to the available space.

The other thing I did was to create pdf files for three of the views. I know many people don't know how to use spreadsheets or how to work with them, so if all you want to do is "see" the plans, it is very easy for anyone to be able to view them, and zoom in to see detail. After all, nearly all new computers come with Adobe Reader already installed, so that pdf's can be viewed, so there's less excuses now in why you haven't looked at them.

One of the pdf's is an overhead view, showing as near as possible how it is being built. The second pdf shows a side view from the right side. Dotted lines indicate structure behind the foreground items, so you will be looking "through" the piano that has it's back facing the right side, but you will still be able to see the detail of the kitchen cabinet that sits on the left side of the trailer.

The third pdf shows a possible future change if and when we ever get rid of the piano. In this drawing, the piano would be replaced with a washer/dryer combo unit, and an apartment sized (18-inches wide) dishwasher, plus an extra pantry. A third option that I did not draw out, would be to simply add a two-person dinette along that wall where the piano was.

Any of that could happen or none of it could happen. Only time will tell. If the piano stays in tune after all the bouncing around on the road, we might keep it longer than we think. If we have trouble with it in the first few months, it may go out the door quicker. No one knows until we try it.

One thing is definite...if the piano does go at some point, we have to have something on that side to balance out the weight. Right now. the trailer is purposely designed to be relatively balanced, with the major weight just in front of the axle, and approximately the same amount of weight side to side.

A dinette going in where the piano would come out may not be enough to balance the weight...unless I do some rearranging...like moving the heavy batteries over to underneath a dinette seat. I hate to think of that, because it will require a major rewiring job, or at least heavy cables being run under the trailer, back to the side where all the fuses and cords are. Not fun.

Anyway, we'll worry about it when the time comes...if ever.

Today was one of the first truly beautiful days of the spring, warm ,sunny, and with low humidity. I wanted desperately to get outside and work on the trailer, but as usual "life" got in the way again.

My (new) lawn guy called early this morning to show up for the first (way overdue) cutting of the year. The grass was already 30-inches high in places. In the last half hour, he must have gotten caught up in the temporary internet line that has been stretched across the front porch since the septic system was installed in January of 2014.

All of a sudden my internet went out....red DSL light on the router. We have no home phone, or it would have gone out, too. I tried to call CenturyLink with my cell, and both times when the line started to ring through to a CS rep, the line went dead! I think they purposely hang up if they have too many calls in queue! It's not only rude but very aggravating!

And don't you just love it when the recorded message says you can also go online to their web site and deal with them there? DUH!!!! If I had internet I wouldn't need to even contact them, would I?

So after the lawn guy finished, I had to run five miles down the road to McDonald's and use their internet to get in touch with CenturyLink's repair department on chat. The first place I tried couldn't help me, and couldn't even relay the repair order! The second time I tried, I must have gotten the right department, and they asked if Monday was soon enough! I said that I was hoping for something sooner, as I work online and every hour that I am down, I'm losing money! So they expedited the work order to Saturday morning (tomorrow). I went ahead and had lunch there, and within an hour after I got home, the local repair guy called me and said he would be here in a few minutes!

Hurray! We found the cut in the old temporary line, and rather than repair it, he ran a new one, and then put in another work order for next week, for someone to come out and bury a permanent line. Of course, by clock time, all this had taken a good four hours out of my day again!

The only problem now is that the entire front yard is taken up with (new) buried septic system and new water line. So they are going to have to go completely around the house on the east side, through the back yard, around the cargo trailer, around the propane tank, and come in from the west!

But so be it. At least other people won't be digging back there...or at least none of us will be! We'll be out of here by the end of the summer (or sooner) and then it will be someone else's problem!

And now I still have other tasks to be done, and the four hours that I could have spent on the trailer is long gone again...never to be seen again.

And between the trolls, the abusive emails, and the tasks needed to be done yet, the stress goes up!

July 28th can't come soon enough to get out of here, but in reality, we'll probably need every one of these remaining 87 days to get everything done! I'd better get to it!

    

Building the Wardrobe Closet and more...

In the previous post I had just gotten started on the framing for the walls of the wardrobe closet, so now we will continue with that and move on to the smaller short closet across from it. That cabinet is being built specifically to store Sharon's accordion in the bottom, and provide a place for file folders in the upper part.

We also have other musical items to figure out where to store, the largest being my guitar and our Yamaha PSR 500 keyboard. We also have a Suzuki Q-Chord, which is a sort of electronic guitar, but it is in a hard case and is less than 3 inches thick, so it can store almost anywhere. We're not sure how all these will be used yet, other than for our own enjoyment. We just know that we don't want to dispose of them. But we'll worry about those details later.

The wardrobe closet...

The last you saw of the closet was one wall laying in pieces on the saw table. The next step was using the Kreg pocket hole jig (example shown below)...

Kreg Pocket Hole Jig like mine...courtesy Home Depot.

And these are pocket holes...courtesy woodgears.ca.

...to drill the angled screw holes to secure all the parts together. Once that was done, I cut blocks of rigid foam insulation to fill the voids. This was just a strengthening measure because the outer side of the walls was going to be covered in 1/8th-inch paneling. There's not much strength to that, and without some kind of backing, would be like the skin of a bass drum. Not that we plan on fastening anything to it, but it just makes it seem more solid. I chose not to add horizontal cross supports, because the walls will be screwed into cabinets on each side at the mid-point.

The two closet walls with rigid foam board installed.

Once the foam was installed, the outer side of each wall was covered with the 1/8th-inch paneling. However, since my stock of such paneling was limited, and no one will see the bottom of the walls after they are in place, I used some other paneling on the bottom half. On the left side, the bulkhead wall and narrow closet will come up to 40 inches high, so my good paneling started at a height of 39 inches, just to allow for an inch of overlap. On the right side, which will have the kitchen cabinet against it, the standard height for a kitchen countertop is 36 inches, so I made sure the good paneling extended from 35 inches on up. Anything below these two heights will never be seen again, so I just used some scrap paneling...more as a spacer than anything else. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see the slight color difference between the blonde paneling at the top, to the scrap honey oak paneling on the bottom.

The outer side of the wardrobe closet walls.

On the inside, I used some cheap 3/8ths-inch CD plywood, as it is going to be painted over. I just gave it a light sanding, and it will be OK, for what it is being used for.

The left side wall of the wardrobe closet set in place.

Before the walls were covered with the heavier plywood, I made several trips back and forth to the trailer to adjust the cut of the top of the walls, and then when it fit like it needed to, I scribed the contour onto the 3//8ths plywood before attaching it. In the photo above, you can see the left wall in place against the short and narrow cabinet that was built previously.

The next step was to add the right side wall of the wardrobe closet.

In the photo below, you can see the right side wall. The contour at the top, against the ceiling, may not be perfect, but as one of my former contractor employers once told me..."it's good enough for who it's for." I'll eventually trim everything out (that's paneled) with some thin and narrow cove molding and flat trim, and any painted surfaces will be caulked with painter's caulk, so it will be fine for our purposes.

The right side wall of the wardrobe closet in place.

Note the angled opening at the top of the wall. This will be used as a "chase" or "tunnel" for the wiring for the trailer, and be covered with an angled plywood panel. I chose to do it this way, because of the walls of the trailer being only 1-1/4 inches thick, and the need to use rigid foam board for insulation. It would be far too shallow for electrical boxes, and too difficult to deal with wires, especially the heavier romex cable wires for electrical outlets. Rather than put them "in" the walls, all electrical outlets will be mounted in or on the cabinets. In some cases they may be in the bottom of overhead cabinets, and in other cases, they may be mounted in or on the sidewalls of the base cabinets.

There will also be an angled corner chase down the back right side of the wardrobe closet, to get wires from above down to the battery compartment, which will be in the bottom right side of the wardrobe closet. From there, will also be a pipe running along the floor behind the battery compartment to the rear storage closet, where the incoming shore power will be mounted and distributed from the left wall of that compartment. More on that later.

The other reason for not putting the wiring in the walls, is that if we ever decide to trade this trailer for a new model, and one size larger (7 x 14), it will make it easier to remove everything and add it back into the new trailer. I don't want to have to start another one from scratch again!

Due to the way the door jamb had to be built, it would have been very difficult to attach it to the walls before installation of the closet, and be able to stand them up inside the trailer. The jamb was in three pieces, each designed to interlock with each other for strength. Each side has to be installed on the corresponding wall first, and then the header section installed last.

I forgot to take a picture of the detail of the door jamb, but basically, it is composed of three parts, (1) the outer casing, which is just 3/4 x 1-1/2-inch stock, same as the cabinet facings, (2) the jamb, which in this case is twice as deep as the door, since the bi-fold closet doors will fold back on each other and require 3-1/8 inches (more detail of that later), and (3) another piece of 3/4 x 1-1/2-inch stock for the door stop on the inside. All of these parts were glued and stapled with 1-1/2-inch pneumatic staples.

The wardrobe closet with the door jamb in position.

Keep in mind, the door jamb is not yet fastened to the walls, nor are the walls secured to anything. Only the slight tension against the ceiling is holding them in place at this point. Before they can be secured, the kitchen cabinet must be built and butted against the right side wall, and secured to it. Only then can the correct door width be established.

We already know that the door must maintain a 30-inch width from top to bottom, but the very best way to get a good fit is to mount the doors in the jamb first, to make sure we have not only equal spacing all the way across the top of the doors and down the sides, but to align the bottoms of the doors with the face of each other so they are flush in the front.

To secure this in place before that is done could cause severe mis-alignment problems and make the whole project seem crooked. But we CAN do the final assembly of the door jamb, which needs to be clamped, glued and secured with staples at the top, and then tipped back into place and joined to the walls on each side. But before we can shim the top above the header and screw the header to the ceiling, we must make sure everything is lined up where it belongs.

The trailer itself is not parked dead level due a slight slope in the ground, so using a carpenter's level is useless. The best thing to do in cases like this is to use a 4-foot drywall T-square off the floor to get a "close" idea, and then attach the components (which also must be built perfectly square) to each other, and let them "find their own center". This will also help reduce stress incurred once the trailer is being towed down the road.

The right side wall of the wardrobe closet at the bottom.

The single most critical issue with alignment is the bottom of the right side of the wardrobe closet, shown above. Since these walls are so thin, and pre-assembled, there is no way to anchor the bottom to the floor without something showing. This is why the kitchen cabinet must be installed first, as it will be screwed to the outer trailer wall and to the closet wall, and THAT is what will hold the wall in place and retain proper spacing and alignment for the closet doors.

Later on in this project, we will add the short dividers in the bottom of the closet, to separate the porta-potty from the battery compartment, and also create a storage compartment behind the porta-potty. On the floor, we will also use a piece of 3/4-inch plywood with two cutouts the exact size of the batteries. This, along with a couple of small ratchet straps anchored to screw eyes in the floor will secure the batteries in place. We certainly don't want two 77-pound projectiles going anywhere while on the road! These dividers will also help to strengthen and secure the walls of the closet.

The wardrobe closet from the back of the trailer.

In the photo above, you can see what will be exposed of the wardrobe closet at the back, at least for now. The rear bunk will be on top of the bulkhead wall, with a piano hinge mounted directly on top of the wall. This will allow the front part of the bunk and mattress to be  lifted to gain access to the narrow storage cabinet. The mattress will be 4-inch multi-density foam, specially made for this purpose, so it will cover the first 4-inches of the closet wall that you see.

Keep in mind that once the rear bunk is completed, this view will not be seen from the rear of the trailer. There will be a vertical wall just inside the rear ramp door to close off the back of the rear sleeping compartment, and it will be insulated. My original design calls for a couple of small Plexi-glass windows that can be opened on hinges from the inside, with screens on the back side, just to allow a little ventilation during times when we can have the ramp door open. Otherwise, the storage compartment will be totally sealed off from the living quarters. So the only one who will see the left closet wall will be whomever sleeps in the rear bunk.

The "accordion closet"...

So this brings us to the next stage of the project...the "accordion closet". This short closet will be on the opposite side of the wardrobe closet, just behind the piano and against the bulkhead wall.

For those just finding this page on the web, yes we are taking a piano with us! You'll have to go back to the "New Beginnings" post to catch up with that explanation!

In the photo below, you can see the basic framework for the cabinet, but it has a ways to go yet.

The basic framework for the "accordion closet".

This cabinet will only be exposed on two sides, plus the top. We are again choosing the blonde paneling for the side facing the piano, as at least part of that wall will be visible to the front. And again, it is only 1/8th-inch paneling, so we added rigid foam to the left side as a backer for the thin paneling.

The "accordion cabinet" with rigid foam installed on the left side.

The right hand side will be against the already finished wall of the rear bulkhead, so to conserve weight, I decided to leave that wall  open. After adding support pieces for the bottom and the shelf for holding file folders (or eventually other things, once we can go mostly "paperless"), the left side wall was covered inside and out with paneling. Then I carried the assembled cabinet out to the trailer.

The "accordion cabinet" left side.

Sharon's accordion is one of the heaviest I have ever seen, at roughly 46 pounds, maybe due to the fact that it has electronics for plugging into an amplifier if necessary. I used to play one many years ago, and owned two of them, and mine were nowhere near this heavy! Of course, hers is not a cheap one like mine were, either.

For the floor of this cabinet, as well as the upper shelf, I used 3/8th-inch CD plywood, and it is reinforced on all four sides with framing under it. The framing is glued and stapled to the outer frame.

The right side of the "accordion cabinet".

On the inside, I also used the same blonde paneling as the rear bulkhead wall, so if one looks inside the cabinet, both sides will be the same. Eventually, doors will be made for all these cabinets. The top part of this cabinet will get a "dummy" drawer front, as there is no need to get into it from the front. The rear bunk will cover it most of the time, and if we need to get into it, we will simply lift the front part of the bunk and reach in from the top.

The "accordion closet" set into place in the trailer.

After moving some of my stored items in the trailer, I was able to set the cabinet into place. Again, I am not securing it at this point. I still have to anchor the rear bulkhead wall on each end, and then, due to a slight difference in how square the floor is in regard to the sidewalls, some shims will have to be used before any screws can be installed to permanently anchor the cabinets. It appears the center of the floor is sightly lower (about a 1/4-inch) than the bottoms of the side walls. The same situation applies to the opposite wall. Some shims will have to be used under the cabinets and closet walls to push the tops against the outside walls of the trailer.

Due to the fact that the rear bulkhead wall is built straight, and remains level in the center, the shims cannot be used against the outer walls, as that would make the cabinets out of square with the bulkhead wall as well as anything else in the trailer. The shims MUST be placed under the front edge of the cabinets. Once the kitchen cabinet is in place all of these other lower cabinets can be properly aligned and secured...not before.

For those paying attention, you might realize that this cabinet now protrudes farther forward in the trailer than it's narrow mate on the other side. Originally, they were supposed to be the same width, but due to having to add 4 inches to the storage compartment, they are now slightly "offset". This is not a big issue, although it may appear odd. It will force us to cut the front part of the mattress and platform to allow for this offset. The foot end of the bunk will be above this cabinet, so it will make the foot of the bed wider than the head end...but that isn't a big deal. When we lift the front part of the bed to get into the cabinets underneath, we will likely have a barrel bolt on the mattress platform to hold it up. 

Going forward...

Next up will be the modification of the closet doors, only because I have temporarily run out of "one by" stock to build the rest of the cabinets. That material will be purchased later this week. So in the meantime, I have to find alternative things to do. 

After the closet doors, we'll get back to the kitchen cabinet, and later on, the front couch. For those just joining us, the air conditioner is also being installed in the front couch, so it will require more than a simple framework. Vents must be cut down through the floor, screening and filters installed, and baffles installed to keep the incoming and outgoing exhaust air separated. 

Also this week, arrangements have been made to finally acquire the two 100-watt solar panels, tilt rods, wiring, controllers and even the roof rack. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, that should happen on Monday. And before any of that can be installed, I still have to order the special rust-eating paint for the roof, and then apply two coats of Kool Seal roof coating to it. So there's lots more of this boring fun coming. (:>)

I am currently working on a solar water heater design, and researching components, weights, and other such things necessary to make it safe for roof-top mounting. This will be a much more efficient design than simply attaching a black pipe to the roof rack, and will keep the water hot for a much longer time...good news for those wanting to shower after the sun goes down! So keep watching for that in the not too distant future. It will solve many of the problems with boondocking without power or the need to use space and propane for a typical RV water heater. And forget gravity fill and feed. This system will be pressurized from the water pump!

We're down to about 106 days before we leave at this point, so the time will go quickly. Whatever we don't get done here can be done on the road, and that includes final trim and painting. Right now, we are more concerned with getting the cabinetry and systems installed so we can at least "function" on the road. I'll have a lot more time for the little miscellaneous things after we leave here. 

By the way, if you are on a mobile device, and my countdown timer is not showing, I apologize. It seems to work fine when viewed on a laptop, but I noticed on my iPad, it disappeared again. I had this problem once before, and had to reload it from the third-party web program, It worked for awhile, but has now messed up again. Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to fix it when I get time.

We still have a lot of household items to dispose of yet, set up a local temporary storage for the rest, arrange for mail forwarding, and a ton of other things to do. This is also why I haven't been working on updates to my ebook, for those of you who have downloaded the free copy. Get it while you can, because I hope to have the paid version (as in "not free") going to Kindle by this next winter. There's a lot of good information there for any size or type of RV you are using. Everyone will get something from it.

But this post is long enough already, so let's take a break here. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any questions, please ask.