Home Improvement Today?

Yes, copper gutters and ornate downspouts.

 

the shop time thread started talking about formica counters, and i remembered this project from a few years ago...

my kitchen was custom-built when the house was sold new in 1972. every bank of cabinets are a different dimension to fit the space they went into, with some of the doors being different physical dimensions. it's high quality, and well-maintained, and part of the reason i got the house over 'updated' kitchens that have 'upgraded' to bottom-spec cabinets. it doesn't fit any modern aesthetic, which seriously kills it's resale value, but i value condition over resale, so it still works for me.



anyways, lack of a dishwasher, and non-standard cabinets left me in a bad situation having to hand-wash all my dishes. and my water heater is on the opposite side of the house. so just getting hot water to the sink is a 2-3 minute ordeal.

i got a free 18" dishwasher off a jobsite, which was good, because an 18" will fit far easier than a 24".

so i got to modifying. the door/drawer to the left of the sink was wider than the right side of the sink, but still not 18", but either bank of cabinets beyond the corners were between 20-23", which meant it couldn't go there without filler pieces(and also prevented use of a 24" dishwasher, without cutting into the next door).

so the lazy susan got modified to work.






the hardest part was cutting the door cleanly, and then rounding it so it could still rotate.




not at all ideal, but the dishwasher is more important to me than full access to the lazy susan.

i also thought this was interesting-- the sink 'cabinet' is really just a decorative face between the two cabinets. i re-used the side wall for the cabinet i removed to re-enclose the space.



and the requisite side quest. while adding the plumbing, i realized that my sink drain was being held together by corrosion and miracles. so all of the sink drain got updated.



and that's where the project ended.



i got some stain from my sisters paint store that should match, and i need to add some wood to patch in the area i cut out, but 'works' is more important than aesthetics...

maybe one day. but i'd really rather gut and renovate the kitchen one day...

 

Nice job, lots of work.
As I'm 1) not much of a woodworker 2) lazy I would have just stuck a small electric water heater under the sink.


I like that kitchen just as it is.
On HGTV and the like people always say "these are so dated" and rip out high quality older cabinets to replace them with modern -- stuff.

 

instead of a spot spot water heater, i'm eventually planning on a hot water circulation pump on a smart outlet so i can set a schedule or trigger from my phone

$38 JASSFERRY Hot Water Recirculation Pump 115V 3/4" NPT Recirculating System Circulation Replacement Pumps for Solar Water Heater Circulating Boiler Circulator

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PMXP7M6?

i already got the pump, it's just a matter of buying the copper and finding the motivation.

now that it's summer, i can find more interesting things to do outside than drain down a water heater to cut in tee's.

 

Heh, someone did the same thing to my house several years ago. I still have the drawer and cabinet door they saved.

 

Hah, I looked out the window there and remembered that antenna. Winter storm knocked the bracket off and went all crooked.



That was not a fun day removing it.