built-in question

[Tom Jones III]

I don't usually do built-ins, but I want to help out a friend who is remodelling before his impending doom ... I mean marriage.

He has a wall with a 4' wide, 18" deep, 7' tall indention in the wall. Currently the wall is only studs. He would like for me to build a set of shelves into the wall so that he can use it for an entertainment center for his flat panel TV. I can handle everything except where the sides meet flush with the wall at the front of the indention.

Think of it this way, build a standard book shelf. Now slip it into the wall so that the very front of the bookshelf is flush with the wall. If I shim the book shelf so that the left side is flush with the wall, then the right side will be crooked to the wall and vice versa. If I screw the back to the studs then both the left and right sides will be crooked to the wall. The sides will be veneered plywood with a face frame that covers the plywood and the gap between the book shelf and the drywall.

My best idea so far is to mount the back to the wall, then mount both sides, scribe a line on the sides following the drywall then use a circular saw to follow the line. Will this be good enough to apply the face frame? Is there a better way? Is this why God gave us putty?

[Cecil Arnold]

Tom,

What is out of square?:confused: Is it the back wall, or the side walls? If you can fix that problem, whatever it is, then it becomes a matter of building and sliding in the unit, or building in place. Since it is a built-in shelving unit you could consider using some nice moldings instead of a face frame to cover the (hopefully) small gap between the unit and the dry wall. A small bead of caulk where the molding meets the dry wall is much easier to deal with than putty.:D

[Quinn McCarthy]

Hey Tom

Take this for what it is worth.

What I do is make the cabinet 1/2" bigger than the opening. I use a 2 1/4" style on the right and on the left. When I make the face frame I leave one side loose and don't nail it on when I build the cabninet. I sand and finish it with the loose style. Then when I install it I slide the cabinet into the hole and level it. Then I scribe the fixed style and take 1/4" off of it so it fits the wall on that site. Then mount the cabinet in the opening and hold the loose style plumb on the other side and scribe it to fit the other wall. It will drop down into the gap between the face frame and the wall whan it fits. Last glue and nail the style to the cabinet and putty the holes. This makes for a perfect fit every time. It looks better than moulding along each side it accounts for the opening not being plumb. I am trying to end up with 2" styles on each side but you can use whatever dimension you like.

Quinn

[Tom Jones III]

Quinn, what tool do you use to cut along the slightly irregular scribe mark?

The whole in the wall is irregular in every direction. On the right side it is 17.5" deep at the bottom and 17.75" deep at the top. On the left side it is 18" deep at the bottom and 18.25" deep at the top. At the bottom it is 47" wide and at the top it is 47.5" wide.

It is the depth differences that are giving me the problem. If I cut the sides 18" deep then the sides will protrude from the wall in some places but will be inset into the wall in other places. I want the sides to be flush with the wall so that my face frame/molding covers the left-right gap between the side and the wall.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

What I do is make the cabinet 1/2" bigger than the opening.

Dis you mean smaller instead of "bigger"??

[Steve Clardy]

I usually build the cabinet as a unit. Slide it in flush with front of wall, then trim out the sides, top.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Tom

I usually use a belt sander with an 80 grit belt. I hold it vertical to the surface so that the direction of the belt is moving toward the cabinet. That way you wll not chip the finish on the cabinet. I also back bevel it about 10 degrees or so that when you screw the cabinet in you don't have any gap between the cabinet and the wall. You can cut right up to the scribe line with no problem. If I have much more than 1/4" to cut off I use a circle saw with a 40 tooth blade to hog off the majority but then I tweak it with the belt sander. For the depth problem just make the cabinet the depth of the smallest distance. That way nothing will hit on the high spots. It doesn't make any difference how far off the opening is at the wall if you build in enough scribe to begin with.

[Julio Navarro]

If the wall is studs right now then you have the opportunity to build a straight level and plumb opening. Re-dress some 2x6s and build a square frame.

[John Hulett]

The whole in the wall is irregular in every direction. On the right side it is 17.5" deep at the bottom and 17.75" deep at the top. On the left side it is 18" deep at the bottom and 18.25" deep at the top. At the bottom it is 47" wide and at the top it is 47.5" wide.


Sheesh! Sounds like something I would have built! :eek: :rolleyes:

[Ben Grunow]

Belt sander or power planer to cut to scribed line- this can be done very effectively even on finish paint or stain. All drywall is somewhat irregular and all wall studs are warped to some degree. Leave one side loose or make a flush filler like a kitchen cabinet company would do. They make finished fillers that get scribed and screwed in place between the cab side and wall.