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Miscellaneous House Projects |
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Landscaping |
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Here are some photos of our landscaping which is nearly complete except the
patio which will have black aluminum railing on the perimeter.
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| Garage - Cabinets with Sink |
Garage - Mass Storage Cabinets |
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These cabinets were complicated to build because of the various contours
of the garage's back wall and the built-in vacuum and vacuum pipes.
I used white melamine for the interior cabinet structures and black
melamine for most of the side walls and trim pieces. The door
fronts are maple melamine. All edges were edge banded. All
shelves are reinforced with 1/2" Baltic birch plywood and are fully
adjustable. The hinges are euro-style adjustable hinges.
I bought the oversized stainless steel sink from a salvage company. The taps include a sprayer. These cabinets include a built-in Sony stereo receiver/amplifier, an old amp that I bought off eBay and repaired. I ran 2 CAT5 wires while the house was under construction to provide telephone, ADSL and line level audio. The line level audio signal feeds the amplifier so that I can listen to digital satellite audio, computer based MP3 audio or the its own AM/FM radio.
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I built these cabinets using 20 sheets of 5/8" melamine particle board. The cabinets measure 8.5' high by 13.5' wide, by 18.5" deep. The roof is 24 inches deep. There are 26 adjustable shelves, each with Baltic birch edge trim for added strength. Each cabinet side panel is double thick for added strength. All hinges are fully adjustable European style hinges, recessed into each door panel. All door panels are edged with Baltic birch to help keep them straight. These cabinets are very strong and huge.
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Wine Cellar |
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Our wine caller measures about 9.5' X 7.5' with a 9 ft.
ceiling. It is insulated and has vapor barrier to isolate
it from the house. The wine
racks are made of mahogany while the cabinetry and bins
are maple, birch and alder. Stone tiles fill the back
wall and under the overhead cabinet. The floor is
black slate tile. For the upper and lower
cabinets, I was able to use extra (slightly damaged)
kitchen cabinet pieces left over from the kitchen
company that installed our cabinets. This wine
room can hold 600 bottles.
The wine cellar was originally passive however the first summer revealed that the temperature can rise to as high as 68.5 degrees Fahrenheit. An insulated door as demonstrated by an experiment would drop the temperature to about 67 degrees but still, this is too warm. As such, I installed a remotely located cooling unit. A formal wine room refrigeration unit for this room would cost from US$700 to US$1100 plus installation however I was able to use a conventional air conditioner designed for window installation for only CDN$165. I installed the unit in our service room, mounted from 2 ceiling trusses. I built a manifold to converge the cooled air into a 4 inch insulated and flexible duct that I ran hidden 25 feet to the wine room. I also remotely located the air conditioners' thermistor in the wine room, near the ceiling. The air conditioner has a digital display and controller which will only allow you to set the temperature to 62 degrees Fahrenheit minimum. This AC unit does not allow a setting below 70 degree F. To reduce the temperature range, I shunted the thermistor at the controller with a 100K potentiometer (trim pot). This allowed me to trick the unit into thinking the room is hotter than it is. Ultimately I adjusted it for a 6.5 degree offset so that when the the unit is set for 66 degrees, it cools the room to 59.5 degrees which is an optimal temperature for a wine room. The total cost was CDN$200 and it works perfectly and quiet with a temperature variation of only 1/2 degree. I will have to add a sub controller for the AC unit to regulate the wine room temperature in winter when it may get too cold. I'll build a simple controller that turns on the units' fan to pump in warm air from the service room. The same thermistor will serve as the temperature detector for heating. So far, humidity levels are staying well above 50% however winter months may require me to add some type of humidification system. The next improvement will be a new maple or birch door with a double pane, clear glass window and a wooden door jam and molding. There is too much heat infiltration from the standard interior grade door with its single pane glass. As well, we want to be able to see into the wine room. |
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After installing the crown molding and adding 150 bottles of wine..
After installing the cooling system..
I just replaced the door with a commercial grade maple and birch door with double pane glass. The jam is birch and the molding is maple. The door is very heavy, about 90 lbs and required large (4.5 inch) ball bearing hinges. I finished the door, jam and molding with Aztec Red stain and 2 coats of 35 degree lacquer. Below the door is an aluminum and rubber seal.
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Elliptical Table and Pool Rack |
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This is a pillar and elliptical table I built. I saw something similar in a Birkholze showhome. I couldn't find anyone to build it for me so I had to build it myself. I added a pool rack and a receptacle to the design. About 5 hours were spent making a jig to router perfect ellipses.
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Office Bookshelves |
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I built these bookshelves from birch and maple plywood. The edges of the shelves are maple and each shelf is fully adjustable. The finish is Aztec Red stain and 2 coats of 35 degree lacquer.
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