Our 2 man finishing shop was called last week by an interior designer we've done a few projects for in the past. He needed our help on a residential project ....a 15' X 10' contemporary built-in fireplace surround containing an audio/visual cabinet and a banquette bench that needed to be finished ASAP as the painting and flooring contractors were scheduled to start sometime the following week. We were right in the middle of a kitchen finishing job and are booked for the next 2 months. We decided to squeeze in 3 days to help him out.
The built-in was made of 3/4" oak-veneered mdf panels that are flush to the fireplace and create a flat wall surface across the whole wall. There is a 1/8" reveal between all the panels. The A/V equipment is hidden behind two 75" high by 29" wide pocket doors. When we first arrived at the house on Thursday, I noticed the doors were not flush at the bottom which ruined the paneled wall effect. I said the cabinet shop will need to install a set of magnetic latches at the bottom of these doors also.
We proceeded to mask and remove the drawers and doors. The doors were heavy and flexed a bit when we leaned them against the wall. There was an 1/8" kerf across the center of the doors to match the other reveals.
We put one door on a work table to prep it. The oak veneer edge tape was covering the ends of the kerf and had a slight crack in it from the door flexing. My partner thought "They forgot to cut the tape at the kerf" and proceeded to trim the tape from the kerfs. We then realized the kerfs were really deep. There was only 1/4" thickness of material holding both halves together and the edgebanding was the only thing keeping the parts from breaking in two. On the back, the cabinet shop figured it needed reinforcing and rabbeted the area 2 1/2" by 1/4" deep on both halves and glued in a 5" wide 1/4" ash veneer plywood reinforcement strip.
There was no way we were going to be able to flip these doors over or even move them in this state. Friday, we brought some 4" X 48" 3/4" appleply and some clamps and made splints so we could turn the doors over. Worked out great. We should have the job completed on Monday, an ebonized stained finish.
Here's a couple pictures taken with my phone. Sorry about the quality. You can see the kerf and the edgebanding cut through at the kerf. Amazing, anyone could think this design would work.
The built-in was made of 3/4" oak-veneered mdf panels that are flush to the fireplace and create a flat wall surface across the whole wall. There is a 1/8" reveal between all the panels. The A/V equipment is hidden behind two 75" high by 29" wide pocket doors. When we first arrived at the house on Thursday, I noticed the doors were not flush at the bottom which ruined the paneled wall effect. I said the cabinet shop will need to install a set of magnetic latches at the bottom of these doors also.
We proceeded to mask and remove the drawers and doors. The doors were heavy and flexed a bit when we leaned them against the wall. There was an 1/8" kerf across the center of the doors to match the other reveals.
We put one door on a work table to prep it. The oak veneer edge tape was covering the ends of the kerf and had a slight crack in it from the door flexing. My partner thought "They forgot to cut the tape at the kerf" and proceeded to trim the tape from the kerfs. We then realized the kerfs were really deep. There was only 1/4" thickness of material holding both halves together and the edgebanding was the only thing keeping the parts from breaking in two. On the back, the cabinet shop figured it needed reinforcing and rabbeted the area 2 1/2" by 1/4" deep on both halves and glued in a 5" wide 1/4" ash veneer plywood reinforcement strip.
There was no way we were going to be able to flip these doors over or even move them in this state. Friday, we brought some 4" X 48" 3/4" appleply and some clamps and made splints so we could turn the doors over. Worked out great. We should have the job completed on Monday, an ebonized stained finish.
Here's a couple pictures taken with my phone. Sorry about the quality. You can see the kerf and the edgebanding cut through at the kerf. Amazing, anyone could think this design would work.
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