Friday, January 21, 2011

Keeps Gettin' Better

So, here is the pantry after I cleared all the junk out and had prepped the walls for painting. And yes, I know that many of you are sitting there thinking, 'she put plywood on the walls?' Well, in the pantry, yes. This was actually Allen's idea way back. I wasn't too sure of it at first but I guess it was a good idea. I mean, in a pantry you are going to be installing many shelves and attaching various things to the walls. Well, this way you don't have to worry about hitting a stud. The plywood is 1/2" I think, so it is very sturdy and it is easy to tell where the studs are also. Plus, most of the walls will be covered with supplies, boxes etc. on the shelves, so it's not like you are going to see much of the walls anyway. And, it's a pantry! who gives a crap; it looks smooth and it's easy to clean. One more note; that is plywood not OSB. Which is shit. Mashed, hammered shit that will begin to expand on you the first time it gets wet. I hate that stuff.

And here it is with the final coat of paint (I used a kitchen and bath semi-gloss) and the window trimmed out. The only thing I don't like is that, if you look real close, you can see a slight crack where the sheets of plywood butt each other. But! I have a trick for that I will show ya'll later. I did skim some areas of the walls with sheetrock mud. It adheres to plywood just fine and sands real smooth.
Now, I just have shelves to put up over the window and around the other wall and move the freezer etc. back in. Oh! I forgot, I am going to go ahead and install the flooring in here also.
I have picked out some really neat stuff I will show you later.

In other news, Jack installed a sink for me in the basement/ studio. Man, this helps me SO much with my pottery and just everything. A friend gave me the old cast iron sink, the faucet and the countertop, so that was great! We also had the lumber for the legs and framing so the only things we bought were a few fittings for the plumbing that I did not already have.

When Allen and I first did the plumbing in the basement he stubbed out for hot and cold water and the drain line by the washer and dryer 'cause he knew my studio was going to be here at some point. I was really glad he thought of that because it made hooking things up a snap. Just cut off the caps, sweat two fittings on the lines and install the valves. Jack says I did most of the work because I sweated the 2 fittings on, but he really did everything. And I think he did a real good job.
But seriously, if you are ever running any water lines and think there may be the slightest chance you may want to put some other fixture anywhere in the vicinity, go ahead and stub out at least some partial lines. It hardly costs anything for a few inches of pipe, a couple of T's and 2 caps and you will be SO happy if you ever do install the other stuff.
I thought about showing a step by step of how I connected to those water lines but wasn't sure if ya'll would be interested in that.

Now, from some time ago I know a few of ya'll had wondered about my support for the pantry shelves I have installed. Here is a photo of the steel braces that are in the center. I know some people seemed skeptical of my methods but you have to consider the materials. These shelves are a FULL 1" thick and they are old-growth pine. That makes a tremendous amount of difference as compared to the 3/4" sugar pine (new growth) they sell at Lowe's. That stuff will warp and sag all over the place! Plus, the shelves are doweled into the wall. These brackets are 1" wide x 12"x 8" and they are 44 3/4" from the wall supports. I could load these babies up like hell and they ain't goin' nowhere.

So, hopefully I will have more finished pantry photos soon. My Be Prepared Challenge is probably going to go slower than the other peoples, since I'm dealing with new construction not just organizing, but that's okay. I will finish the challenge and be stocked up. Plus, it also involves accruing a decent first-aid kit and similar things, not just food. This is something every home needs. If any of ya'll are participating int he challenge, even a little, please let me know how it's going for you.

15 comments:

newcracker52 said...

If you wouldn't had told us about the wall being plywood and onlt showed us the finished pic, who would have known. It looks great!!
Thanks for all the good advice you give us. It is a real help.

R.Powers said...

This post is full of good ideas!
The pantry came out great and is really functional.

Anonymous said...

I love it when someone with real skill shows me how to do it right. Dang girl, you're good!!
YeOldFurt

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

This pantry is looking good, Annie, so much nicer than the little under the stairs pantry area we inherited with this older home. Looking back, we should have had a larger one after we bought this house, but then our focus was the kitchen area and not enough funds for both. So we make do with our small pantry area. No basement here so one less area to deal with.

JoJo said...

Nice job. I think that wood wall was a great idea. Lots more storage.

MamaHen said...

Hey New! thanks! yeah, after it's painted most people would really never notice it's plywood. If you get up real close you can see the grain in the wood but I don't mind it.

Hey FC! thanks!! I hope the info is of some help.

Hey Furt! awww, *blush* thanks! I appreciate that.

Hey Beatrice! Yeah, it's hard to find room for a good size pantry in a lot of the older homes. It's not something a lot of people think of but I think all new construction should include a decent size pantry.

Hey Jojo! thanks! yes, the wood walls do help a lot.

Ed said...

Two winters ago, I sheathed my whole garage in OSB for the very reasons you mentioned so I can understand why you put plywood in the pantry. I saved a few bucks using OSB but it took a lot more paint to cover it so I wish I had gone the plywood route.

By the way, I didn't see any potted meat in your pantry. I thought that was a southern staple. I remember going into a grocery store up here that was going out of business and was a week into a 75% off sale. I happened to go down the can goods aisle and saw only a half dozen cans remaining all of which were potted meat. Before that, I would have sworn that I had never seen any of that stuff north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Jenn said...

I think plywood makes PERFECT sense in there.

MamaHen said...

Hey Ed! yeah, everybody goes with the OSB to save money but in the end, it almost always ends up costing more for some reason or other.
Ha! yeah, and you won't ever see any potted meat in my pantry either! what's that they say..? nothin' but lips and buttholes? lol!!! but you're right, lots of southerners go for it, and I have eaten it in the past but I'm trying to amend my ways!

Hey Jenn! thanks!!

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

Everything look really good. I have lots of troulbe doing plumbing that needs to be soldered.
Joints invariably leak.

My old house is planked , walls and ceilings with 1 inch rough cut lumber. The previous owner covered it in drywall.

You should have seen the look on one of my foster children in a rage when he tried to punch a hole in the drywall. with his fist. Served him right. Made me smile.

MamaHen said...

Hey Philip! Ha! I guess so! didn't it break his hand?

Anonymous said...

I am ready to shelve my pantry now! I have no access to any used wood, and am going to have to buy. The cheapest thing I can think of is 3/4 plywood. Do you have any idea if that will hold up if cut into 16" x 5' pieces? Pantry is 5 x 5 and drywalled. Stud marks are still visible on the concrete (no flooring yet) Wood 1x2's screwed into the back for support and 2 brackets for support?

Kathy

MamaHen said...

Hey Kathy! plywood will be fine. If you can afford it, get the B/C though; it looks a lot nicer than CDX. In fact, you won't have to worry about it cupping like solid wood will do sometimes. Your support system sounds just fine. they even make a thin, 3/4" slightly rounded trim piece that you can attach to the front edge of the plywood to make it look just a little nicer. I have some and will try to show a pic soon.
I would consider making the shelves only 12" deep tough because sometimes with a deeper shelf things get "lost" in the back. But that's just my opinion. :D

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I didn't know about the rounded trim for plywood!

The 16" deep shelves are for the bottom to be able to slide 5 gallon buckets under. They hold my beans, rice, lentils, oatmeal - bulk dry stuff. On top of those shelves I want to put rotating can organizers (Plans here)
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/02/16/build-your-own-can-rotating-rack/
All of my other shelves would be narrower, maybe another 16" one at the top for toilet paper and lighter weight items.

Prices have gone up considerably since the last time I looked. Do you think I could get away with 1/2" plywood? There is 18.00 difference between 1/2 and 3/4 per sheet :(

Kathy

MamaHen said...

Hey Kathy! Okay, I see. Well, honestly, I would really try to stick with some type of 3/4" or thicker material. 1/2" plywood is bad to bow up or sag. I looked on Lowe's website and they had a 1" x 12" x8' 'utility shelving', which is just solid boards that have been glued and bisquited together to make a wide board. They were only $8.62 or something. I would check out something like that before I went to 1/2" ply. They do make utility shelves in wider widths. I would definitely NOT use any particle board. Go with 1/2 before you use that crap.
Hope this helps.