Efiwym, my wife, was out doing something she loves to do, bargain shopping. I decided this would be a perfect time to get the shelf in the laundry room cabinet. This should be an easy and fast DIY project. Install some shelf pins, cut a shelf and install. But first I needed to clear out everything in the cabinet. There were pods, large bottles of liquid detergent, fabric softener, stain removers, empty buckets, empty spray bottles, and stuff like old labels and a toothbrush.
I retrieved my Black and Decker® stud-finder/laser level. I had this tool for about twenty years. Not the greatest stud finder, but I liked the laser level. I mainly used it to hang pictures and occasionally used it to find a stud. I still have the carrying case and all the accessories, except for one broken pin to hang the laser level on a wall.
I measured the one large laundry bottle to make sure it would fit under the shelf. I marked that height on the back wall of the cabinet. At that point I hung the laser level. The laser level light wrapped around the corners of the cabinet. However, the laser was very light on the cabinet walls, but good enough for me to mark the location of the shelf pins.
I first needed to find some shelf pins. I knew we had a few in a zip-lock bag in our junk drawer. We should have some plastic ones and metal ones. I dug around the drawer searching for the bag of pins. I started pulling things out of the drawer. I was getting frustrated trying to find these pins. Eventually, I found the bag. They always say, “the thing you need to find is always the last place you look.” Of course, why would you continue to look if you found it. (Old joke, but I always use it when I go looking for something.) There were only 5 metal pins in the bag. I liked the plastic ones instead, but these pins would work.
I eyeballed the pin to the drill bit I needed for the hole in the cabinet wall. I used my Milwaukee Tool® drill to put holes in the four marks. I drilled through the wall, but I did not care. It was the inside of a cabinet. I put the pins in the holes. Great fit. Now I needed to get a shelf.
I measured the cabinet and went to the basement to see if I had a shelf I could use. My son, Mit, gave me some used cabinets. I would eventually hang them in my so-called workshop. Right now, the cabinets sit on the floor next to other items in the basement. I thought there were some shelves I could use for the laundry room. Unfortunately, there were not any loose shelves I could use. So, I would need to use some 3/4” plywood left over from some other projects.
The piece of plywood was definitely large enough, I just needed to cut it down. I would cut the shelf on the table saw. A couple of cuts on the table saw and I was done. I went back upstairs to put in the shelf.
Once I was in the laundry room, I tried to lay the shelf on the pins. Nope, the shelf would not go down. The cut on one side of the shelf was crooked. The shelf must have moved on the miter gauge when I plowed it through the saw blade. Back downstairs to re-cut the shelf. Fortunately, I could reuse the shelf. Holding the shelf tight against the miter gauge, I trim the crooked side of the shelf. Back upstairs to install the shelf again. This time the shelf dropped down on the pins. Nice fit.
Now it was time to put everything back into the cabinet. The most used items went on the bottom shelf and the rest on the top shelf. I stepped back to admire my work and have my Zen Moment. That lasted about one minute. I noticed the shelf was warped.
When Efiwym got home I did not say anything about the shelf. I would surprise her. I was not sure why she needed to open the cabinet, but it was a couple hours later. Her first comment was, “When did you do this?” Her second one was, “Now I have things in the cabinet that I cannot reach. The shelf is too high.” I will leave it at that.