Restoring an Original Kitchen Sink Base Cabinet

In this first of a series of Restovation posts I'll describe a small project to preserve an original kitchen sink base cabinet. In this instance the original supply lines have been replaced by Pex pipe and a hole cut into the floor for access. Also, multiple leaks from the sink and garbage disposal have completely destroyed the cabinet "floor" to the point of bowing the floor in the middle and delaminating the plywood layers all about. Besides being unsightly, it's unsanitary, allows bugs to congregate and provides moisture for all manner of undesirable substances. The easy solution is to replace the unit - the issue is that the cabinets made back in the 50's/60's (when this particular home was built) were commonly built in-place, often at the whim of the particular carpenter who built or installed the cabinet (if by chance it was made off-site). It's not like today where you can buy each cabinet as a separate component and level them up on site - modern cabinets have interchangeable parts, something your very rarely see in cabinets from this earlier era (with the exception of some of the custom European cabinet makers).

To make the task more complicated, cabinets from this era also rely heavily on mortise-and-tenon joinery for the face frames (as does this particular example). This makes it difficult to replace the "floor" of a cabinet with a single sheet of plywood, as there may be a separator in the middle of the face-frame (the doors rest upon this separator and there is often a latch involved in these old cabinets).

I'll describe briefly the term for those not familiar with that mode of construction - the mortise-and-tenon allows sticks of wood to be joined at right angles to one another - this is accomplished by cutting a groove or slot in the flat side of one board (the slot is called the mortise and the stick in this case is the rail or cross-piece) and having an extension in the perpendicular board by extending a "tongue" at the end of the other stick (the tongue is called a tenon and the stick in this case is called a rail). This joint is very strong and still used today, however in production shops it's nearly been replaced by the use of pocket screws (screws that are inserted from the back so they are hidden, angled down into the cross piece from the end of the "stick". This comes into play as the face of the cabinet (basically the surface that all the doors rest on) is made up of a frame or multiple frames of wood - thus the "face-frame"...

So the task is to first remove the mortise-and-tenoned face-frame separator, cut out the existing rotted floor and replace with a single piece of plywood. In this example I noted that much of the problem was caused or at least exacerbated by the discharge pipe leading from the bottom of the garbage disposal through the floor into a trap in the basement. Modern dual sinks share a common trap, so I thought I would reconfigure the drains and remove (and cap) the extra below-floor trap. This did require a bit of head scratching to get the pipes all aligned and working correctly - as an additional benefit, there's now more room under the sink.

In this next shot you'll see the separator removed - to do so I developed a technique of jacking up the front of the cabinets to extend one tenon from the mortise - in this next photo you can see that the floor ahs been removed and the tenon removed - note that the other end has been carefully cut apart from the stile above. In some instances both ends of the rail's tenons can be successfully removed - however in this case only one end would come apart (don't worry I have a plan for reattaching it).

Also note that I've begun reworking the plumbing and that I've added some two-by-four supports for the floor to help prevent any future sagging.

The next step is to carefully measure and install the new floor. The trick is to get as custom a fit as is possible - so the same dimensional thickness of plywood is used and very little gap is allowed between the old and new floor. The floor back is drilled with holes just slightly larger than the Pex pipe to allow access for the supply lines. The floor is then installed using brad nails to minimize exposure of the fasteners.

After attaching the new floor comes the final step, which is preparing the removed rail for reinstallation in the cabinet face frame. I earlier mentioned the use of a pocket hole - well here is a photo of a Kreg pocket hole jig clamped and ready for drilling. The Kreg kit uses a flat-faced vice-grip style clamp to ensure that the two parts of the face frame are exactly on the same plane. The jig provides a guide for the special Kreg bit to drill the exact angle and depth needed for the thickness of the face frame. Once the screws are tightened it creates a very strong joint and since they're on the back of the rail the replacement is invisible.

For this particular example the last thing to do after face-frame reassembly is to complete the changes tot he drain plumbing. You can see in this final image how much neater everything looks - also there's a bit more room under the drains for cleaning products, sponges and whatnot.

Sheet 1/4" Luan plywood: $8

Scrap 2x4" material - Free

Misc PVC Drain bits: $16

Saving the original cabinets - priceless.

-- John

Restovation

I've been using a term lately that I picked up on one or more of the fora I frequent but I thought I would talk about it a bit - restovation. It's being used as a catch-all when a homeowner is doing some remodeling and he wants to be sensitive to the original architecture - a composit of Restoration and Renovation. Sort of the opposite of a remuddle (another meme indicating that a remodel done poorly, especially one that isn't sensitive to the building's intent or architecture) - I'll discuss both in regards to mid-century modern homes:

Restovation
My take on a restovation is to make architectural changes that are close to the same or at least sensitive to the original builder's intent - basically to make alterations that either can't be detected, or to remove a poorly applied remodel by replacing or "fixing" with something that could have been part of the original builder's construction. When at all possible I try to keep original features and refurbish when necessary (at minimum a good cleaning does wonders - sometimes I'll try to fix fixtures and such or replace with something that's close). Of course there's varying degrees of restovation - some things that are missing simply can't be replaced and compromises have to be made, especially when fixing a bad remuddle. The trick here is to find replacements that aren't complicated - usually the simpler the better. The other trick to being successful is to use patience - that missing something or other could be waiting on the curb in your neighbor's trash a year from now.

Remuddle
In general a remuddle is any remodel that isn't sensitive to the architecture - like replacing the front door with some obnoxious Home Depot purchased beveled glass monstrosity or putting a bay window on the front of a modern house. Neither of these would have been part of the original mid-century modern design and only "muddles" the clean lines or hides that the house is modern. You'll see variations of this - the addition of shutters, ornate exterior sconce lighting, an added Bay window, the list goes on.

A good restovation would incorporate good, clean design changes, keeping elements that are both appropriate and still useful for the time we currently live in. I'm not at all opposed to updates, especially to the kitchens and bathrooms of mid-century modern homes - often the tile is cracked or otherwise rundown and defective, or the original cabinetry is failing and it's simpler to replace rather than repair - plus you can't beat the new cabinet hardware and storage doo-dads that are available now. The trick is to remain sensitive to the original house design and intent (French Provincial cabinets simply look ridiculous in these houses). When possible I like to keep the original kitchen provided it's in good shape and restorable - I'll discuss this more in future posts by showing effective methods of doing so.

A bad remuddle would have one or more of the following :
(I lifted this from the Lotta Living forum post "100 Ways to Screw Up Your Mid-Century Modern Home" with a couple of edits)

1) Adding a steeper roof on top of your flat or shallow pitched roof.
2) Ornate front door. (Etched glass windows)
3) Adding a second story.
4) Putting in a country kitchen.
5) Installing a white metal colonial style garage door in place of the original redwood sided door
6) Adding vinyl double hung replacement windows
7) Heading to Home Depot/Lowe's with home equity loan money in hand
8) Adding inappropriate window treatments i.e.-paned windows, decorative shutters, fancy storybook scrollwork/moldings.
9) Replacing your tar & gravel roof with Spanish tile.
10) Covering your tongue & groove ceiling and wood beams with sheetrock
11) Roof over the atrium and add desirable square footage
12) Putting a white picket OR Wrought Iron fence in the front yard (or ANYWHERE for that matter)
13) One word: Stucco
14) Two words: crown molding!
15) Three words: 70s wall paneling (unless your home was built in the 70's and it was already there)
16) Carriage lights
17) Slathering one color of paint over everything - double points if it's Peach, Pink or Yellow.
18 ) Painting over stone or brick
19) Replacing single pane glass in the glass end gables with plywood
20) Vinyl siding
21) Installing gaudy brass light fixtures.
22) Covering up glass or painting over it.
23) Replacing in slab ductwork with overhead ductwork (exception for low-homes in the flood plains!)
24) Enclosing the carport / Converting the garage into living space
25) Granite!!!!!!!!
26) Install over-sized "professional grade" appliances (Viking, Subzero) in small galley kitchen.
27) Covering poured terrazzo with Home-Depot ceramic tile
28) ANYTHING made out of bright, shiny brass
29) Tear it down to build a McMansion
30) Tearing out the original flat panel, flush faced kitchen cabinets and replacing them with fancy, ornate routed ones
31) Replacing original wood framed windows with aluminum framed sliding glass doors
32) Basin sinks / oversize tubs / Anything described as turning your bathroom into a "personal spa" or "retreat"
33) Installing inappropriately decorative house numbers.
34) Selling off all the one of a kind, original architect designed furniture and light fixtures because it "doesn't fit in"
35) Putting in grid windows
36) Installing a ceiling fan in a vaulted, exposed beam/t&g ceiling
37) Using a pick axe or jackhammer to remove original 8x8 linoleum tiles so one can install Home Depot terracotta pavers
38) Installing hardwood floors over a radiant heated concrete slab
39) Dutting down the fascia, removing original down spouts to install gutters.
40) 2hitewash the interior with white paint to make it feel larger
41) Marble!!!
42) STUPID DOOR HANDLES (ornate lever style)
43) Visual overload (too many elements)
44) Big Greek / Italian /Mediterranean columns added to the front (or inside). Also, gaudy statues and fountains containing cherubs, angels, naked people, The Virgin Mary etc,
45) Painting over unpainted exterior wood (instead of stain)
46) Collecting and displaying too many knick knacks in a 1200 sq ft MCM house:
47) Removing all signs of nature outside by putting concrete everywhere, thereby defeating the harmony between house and nature attitude of many modernists.
48) Sticking a mantle on a stone fireplace that isn't supposed to have one.
49) Putting a white lattice archway in the front yard walkway with flowers and vines growing all over it.
50) Plain ole' neglect...having a cool MCM home, and letting it go...chipping paint, rotted fascias, overgrown foliage etc...
51) Paint a redwood or pine tongue and groove ceiling
52) Covering beautiful terrazzo floors with nylon fiber wall to wall carpet to "update the place"
53) Installing an aluminum, free-standing patio
54) Popcorn ceilings
55) Installing the cable box right outside the front door
56) Putting in one of those one-piece molded plastic mailboxes on a post.
57) Fake brick exterior siding (There's a bunch of these on the Neutra tract homes near the Burbank Airport).
58) Compromising your principles.
59) Misunderstanding/confusing "Ranch House" with "Ranch Style" house thus recreating the Little House on the Prairie
60) A sweet barn style shed.
61) Lace curtains
62) Placing ANYTHING in or around the house from Hobby Lobby, Kirkland's, or credited to either Thomas Kinkade or Mary Englebreit.
63) Smothering the interior with cheesy wallpaper.
64) Removing perfect mahogany paneling so that it can be replaced with drywall (this also includes just covering it with drywall).
65) Saltillo Tiles
66) Adding onto the back, after all, all that glass makes a great room divider!
67) Never throwing anything away.
68) Adding exposed conduit, wire mold, or worse, exposed wiring to beams and columns of you post and beam home.
69) Buying a mid-century modern home and then normalizing it to make it look like any other home.
70) Round top windows! (double points on this one)
71) Raising up your slab on grade MCM home and adding a basement under it.
72) Replacing your vintage globe lights with too much cheesy low-voltage lighting.
73) Adding a shingle roof in place of a tar and gravel roof on a pitch that is too low for shingles. IT WILL LEAK!
74) Three or four masonry materials where one or two will do.
75) Invite 100 scooterist over to your house, with a live punk band, and 5 kegs of PBR (no, I haven't done this... yet)
76) Adding an addition not in the style and design of the home
77) Allowing termites to gobble it all up
78) Anything faux
79) Hire an architect who doesn't understand Modernism
81) Stained glass or beveled glass windows
82) Tiling over original magnasite deck... extra points for bad colorful folk art tile
83) Placing a Pink Flamingo in your Garden/Yard
84) Describing MCM houses as "retro"
85) Placing an A/C unit on the top of your roof
86) Refacing an original fireplace, let alone with a thin flagstone laminate
87) Installing arches or rounded corners in a room opening or between rooms
88) Turning the master bedroom into a den
89) Replace your garage door with a brick fireplace
90) Inappropriate furnishings?? (aka flowery couch with detailed, routed wood)
91) Adding brick driveway columns topped by gold stone lions
92) Building a circular turret on the front of the house
93) Adding lattice to the front to "improve the look and privacy"
94) Covering the metal columns with wood to make them look like more like classical columns.
95) Hanging seasonal flags (i.e. santa, the easter bunny) outside your entryway
96) French doors to patio
97) Sawing off the overhanging roof and beams
98) Covering up exposed beams so the house look like other conventional framed homes
99) Adding turned pickets to all railing for that "country French" look!
100) Looking over an untouched, near-pristine P&K home and then declaring , "It has such potential!"
101. Painting over original polished aluminum Nutone range hood and splash shield.
102. Removing original skylark boomerang formica countertops
103. Tearing out original award winning landscaping to plant box woods.
104. Planting boxwoods
105. Planting bradford pears
106. Yard ornamentation
107. Turning your front yard into a playground with playset and/or trampolene
108. Inappropriate landscape lighting
109. Hanging towels up in place of curtains
110. Non thoughtful placement of new thermostat
111. Inappropriate storm doors
112. Bad porch lights
113. Horrible door knockers
114. Fake stained glass inserts
115. Painting your concrete porch green
116. Satellite dishes
117. Less than thoughtful placement of the ac unit
118. White plastic lattice screens!
119. Shutters!...
120. Screwing down additional insulation onto your t&g wood roof deck with screws that are too long and pierce through to the inside.
121. Painting over birch (or any other wood) closets/paneling.
122. Let the realtor do it, so you don't have to
123. Installing a classical European wallpaper mural
124. Letting a real estate agent list a house as "desirable lot" and not even showing pictures of the MCM house.
125. Hiring a realtor who just doesn't get it

Here's a good article about 4 renovation trends that
should go away.

-- John

Bubbling Crude

Yesterday (10.10.09) Cindi called to tell me there was a large puddle in the middle of the yard. I came home to find water bubbling from the ground - since it was about 15 feet behind the meter I figured it was a leak in the galvanized water line - something we've been wanting to fix but there have always been other things more pressing. After a phone call with our friend Bruce Wilson (Master Plumber), he volunteered to come by today (Sunday) and help hook up a new line. I woke up early this morning and spent time moving things around in my shop where the water line ties in in the basement. I then ate a quick breakfast and went outside to start digging while Bruce purchased the fittings he'd need to complete the job. We decided to use Pex pipe - if you don't know about this stuff Google it - the stuff is amazing.

View from the Meter back to the front spigot


View from the spigot out to the street


I managed to get about 20 feet (total run about 70 feet) dug when Bruce got to the house - Cindi started digging from behind the meter so by the time Bruce had the meter dug up, all but about 15 feet remained to be dug in the middle. I think I started digging about 11, Bruce got here about 12 and we were done with all the hook ups by 4. After Bruce left I finished waterproofing the hole in the basement block and filled in next to the foundation. While the front was open I added a line for an external circuit so I can add an outlet to the front (not tied in yet). I also spread out any remaining dirt and raked up to get everything looking back to normal. It's been quite a day.

Starting my dig


About 25 feet out from the house - that's Bruce working on the meter in the background


-- John

The Modern Doll House

As some of my acquantences and friends know, one of my other passions is woodworking and restoring Old Woodworking Machinery. So I hope it explains why I have possession of a set of 4 volumes of The Deltagram - books that detail shop projects for the owners of Delta Power Tools. This publication began in 1932 and continued to be published until 1949 - earlier issues seem to have been more prolific but they averaged about 6 issues per year. In 1949 the publication became "Wood Chips" or may have merged into another Delta publication (I'm unclear as to the series of events), which continued to be published into the 70's.

Besides being of interest as an idea storehouse for woodworking, this publication as is true of so many others, also details the styles and likes of homeowners and the US pre-war through post-war. Of particular interest are the modern furniture and furnishing designs featured all through these magazines and aggregated in these 4 volumes. The earlier issues have some wonderful ideas for Deco and Machine Age items, while the later feature "modern" design. Today I'm featuring the latter - and in this instance it also features one of my other passions - vintage toys.

There have been a number of threads over the past several years that regarded Modern Dollhouses offered to young girls during the post-war period. What interested me in this 2-page spread, found in Volume 4 of The Deltagram (originally published in Vol. 16 No. 2 in 1946) and revealed as page 28 and 29 in the hardcover editions, was the floor-plan, the shed roof, corner window and port-a-chere. I don't believe I've ever seen all three elements in a doll-house before. Even the plastic modern doll-houses seem to be based more on the modular Eames house design that this one. Apparently this doll house followed the styles of "Architectural Forum" and used plywood for construction - also a modern building material.



For a higher-resolution image of the above scan
click here.

-- John

Urgent Need for Support of Riverview HS

I was forwarded this email today and I urge everyone reading to respond:

Hi All:

Sorry for the "crisis mode", but SAF needs
e-mails of your support for the Riverview HS
reuse by this Friday, June 13th when SAF
will submit its proposal. The Board will make
its final decision on Tuesday, June 17th.

If you can spare just a moment, please
address statements of support to:

School Board of Sarasota County, Sarasota, FL. 34231
and send your e-mail to: RVGarvin@comcast.net

Many thanks,
Bill

Bill Liskamm, FAIA

Link to the blog: http://saveriverview.blogspot.com/
Let's save this wonderful building!

-- John

A Visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Auldbrass

I was invited by Nelson Brackin (President of the Friend's of Kebyar: http://www.kebyar.com/) to attend the Biannual public tour of Auldbrass in Yemassee, South Carolina. Auldbrass is the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed southern plantation nestled on property along the River. From the Beaufort Open Land Trust site (http://www.openlandtrust.com/auldbrass.html):

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939, the Auldbrass Plantation buildings, consisting of the main house, kennels, stables, barn and various outbuildings, were constructed during the forties by the late C. Leigh Stevens who called on Wright to design a self-sufficient modern plantation for farming, hunting, and entertaining.

In keeping with his theories of organic architecture, Wright designed Auldbrass to be in harmony with the landscape of which it is a part. Constructed of native cypress boards laid diagonally at 80 degree angles and held by brass screws, the exterior is intended to conform to the lean of indigenous live oak trees, while the abstract forms of ornamental rainspouts suggest hanging clumps of Spanish moss.

In 1987, the plantation was purchased by Joel Silver, a successful film producer and ardent admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright. Mr. Silver has meticulously completed the majority of Wright’s original plan, thus fulfilling Wright’s and Stevens’ dream of making Auldbrass a great 20th century architectural treasure. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We drove down Friday so we could get an early start for the tour - actually arriving about 30 minutes before the tour started at 10:00 AM - which was beneficial as they allowed those already there to enter early - the initial group was about 25 people (there were 2000 tickets sold for the 2 day tour). The docents for the tour were standing at the gate for the estate, which is surrounded by a wooden fence (angled at 80 degrees to emulate the other use of 80 degrees in the wall angles - this is repeated continuously in Wright style). The walk to the main buildings allowed for little preview of the actual structures, until almost upon them so the "reveal" was heightened. It was a beautiful day, slightly chilly but warming up nicely as the day progressed. The place is truly spectacular.

Rather than talk about the obvious, here's an album of images I took:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14338634@N02/sets/72157603003163021/

Lunch was held at the Old Sheldon Church right around the corner. Seems the ruins were from the first attempt at a Greek style temple in the Americas. Images and info here: http://www.charmingtowns.com/dir/society/historic_sites/sheldon_church.html

In all it was an exciting and delightful trip, which I hope to do again. It's also exciting to see such a well done restoration (kudos Joel Silver!). From the book (which I purchased on Amazon) it appears Mr Silver plans to build the additional structures planned but not completed (with the help of Eric Lloyd Wright).

-- John

DOCOMOMO Home Tour Reception at context

I found a few shots that I took at the DOCOMOMO Home Tour reception (this was the night prior to the actual tour on Saturday) at * context * gallery. Images are of the volunteers, guest speakers and some very interesting furniture on display (all for sale - see http://www.contextgallery.com/ for more details).

-- John