Travels With Miranda

The cloth dresser has been working out pretty well, but I very quickly learned that there would be an obstacle to overcome before I could even think about secure it.

The frame is composed of metal rods that fit into plastic corners. Even though they go in tightly, a slight bump is enough to separate them. It was obvious that I would need to to glue the frame together before I could even consider securing the whole thing to a wall.

I did some research on alternatives to epoxy for bonding metal and plastic. I didn’t want to go the epoxy route because it’s finicky. The best second choice seemed to be Gorilla Glue.

I thought this product would be hard to find, so I was delighted to stumble on it at Walmart in the caulking section.

Application was super easy and clean. I need to allow for 24 hours cure time before I can see if it worked or not.

Today, I had to get up at oh-not-so-dark-thirty (8:00) to go to Home Depot for lumber and hardware in preparation for the carpenter’s arrival at 10(ish). She would then have three and a half hours to give Miranda her most needed makeover.

I have complained many times about the evil sliding wardrobe doors. Enough was enough! 😀

They are no more!!!

Soon as the carpenter got to work, I knew I’d made the right choice in hiring someone to do this job for me. It was as fussy a job as I’d expected it would be and she saw things I would have missed.

I got most of the materials at Home Depot this morning but wound up needing just one more piece for the doorjamb. I found something of suitable dimensions, but quite ugly, in Croft’s scrap bin. The carpenter set to work on it with a sander and the results were astonishing! Having the right tools is definitely the first step to a successful renovation project.

Total cost for the wardrobe doors was $186, not counting the handles, which I had on hand from a previous project that didn’t come to fruition. I’ve been hanging on to them for a long time and am glad to finally put them to use! I have lots more of the same style and will be using them for another project. They compliment the pulls on the cabinet doors, too.

I decided to put three sets of hinges on each door panel to reduce the chance of them warping and to make it possible to hang things from the inside without worrying too much about weight. While I could have bought brass hinges that would have exactly matched the cabinet hinges, I went for a rubbed bronze finish. I really hate the brassy colour of the hinges and was going to be spray painting them when I paint the cabinets, so I decided to just go with the darker coloured hinges for the wardrobe to save myself that work later on.

I’m going to live without the mirrors for a bit before deciding whether or not to install some on the front of the new doors.

There are a few minor adjustments to make because we were down to the wire; the right-side door sticks a bit because the ceiling sags and does not latch tightly. I suspect that both problems are due to the rig not being exactly level, so I’ll wait before doing the necessary sanding. Otherwise, the doors are perfect and I am beyond ecstatic! Once I get all the cabinetry painted, they’ll blend right in.

Oh, and the new doors weigh approximately a tenth of the old doors. I’ve gained yet more carrying capacity! It’s all been on the same side, so I’m hoping that I might be able to add to my battery bank. I’ll know that once I’ve reweighed Miranda.

Croft emailed me tonight to ask if everything is okay since I haven’t blogged in a bit. I looked at the date of my last post and was surprised to see that it was five days ago! The days are starting to blur together and I am oh-so-tired, but I’m making headway in my projects!

The wood flooring is up in all but the stairwell and I’ll be continuing, and finishing, the Allure this coming weekend (Thursday through Sunday).

I decided to concede defeat in regards to one project and called in a ‘pro.’ Her fee would have bought a lot of trim, but I decided that it would be worth it for a good job that was causing me a lot of headaches. Stay tuned tomorrow for the results of that. It’s a matter that has been awaiting resolution since I moved into Miranda!

The convenience store job is slowly wearing my down. My feet are soooo sore. I’ve definitely done in the shoes I’ve been wearing there, but am loathe to get a new pair for this job, so I’m going to try to tough it out. I’m glad I decided to just stay on there, even if the job sucks and I only get along with one of my colleagues. The manager and I have a rapport and the schedule he’s got me on is beyond perfect.

I’m also working on my other contracts, so there really hasn’t been a moment to breathe since the beginning of February. In fact, I can’t figure out where the month went!

So, all is well in my ‘Verse. Come back tomorrow to check out the pics for the latest project!