Finally, the sight of an unfinished project would be gone. With the cabinet doors completely assembled, I was ready to install them. With the doors and sink panel in hand, I gathered my Milwaukee® impact driver and the remaining screws to finish the project and headed upstairs. I placed the items carefully on the floor by the vanity. I already cleaned up the vanity and applied a coat of polyurethane. I was ready to go.
I decided to install the sink panel first. I grabbed the panel and discovered I forgot the two pieces of wood slats that held the panel in place. Down two flights of stairs I went to retrieve them and up two flights of stairs to start again. I pre-drilled the slats before I placed the panel on the vanity. I turned the slats so I could put the panel on the vanity. With one hand on the panel, I reached behind and turned the slats 90 degrees to lock the panel in place. The panel was not completely tight. I needed to tighten the screws on the slats to lock down the panel. Let the fun begin…
After multiple times reaching behind the panel with my Milwaukee® impact driver in one hand and using my other hand to line up the bit with the screw, I decided this method was futile. So, I decided to remove the bit from my Milwaukee® impact driver and insert it into the screw first. Now I needed to insert the bit into my Milwaukee® impact driver. I started the process again by reaching behind the panel with my Milwaukee® impact driver in one hand and using my other hand to now line up my Milwaukee® impact driver with the bit inserted in the screw. No, that did not work either. The bit would just fall out of the screw. My frustration level was high, and I could not believe this part of the installation was going to take this long.
I needed to change tactics. I went on my back and to the best of my old, inflexible body, I put my head in the vanity as far as I could go. Since I was working with limited space, I needed to extend my legs up against the bathroom door. I looked like the letter L. Now that I was in position, I could at least see the screw with the help of the light on my Milwaukee® impact driver. Screw 1, done. Screw 2, done. The only problem now was to get my body turned around. I now looked like a turtle stuck on its back. With much grunting and squirming, I was back on my hands and knees. I was exhausted and I still was not done.
Using the screw holes for the hinges, I installed the first door. I gave it a test swing. Nice. I put the second door up against the vanity frame. The door would not fit into the opening. Well, that is not right. Apparently, the idea to use the old doors as templates to locate hinge screws did not work as planned. I took the first door off. When I installed the hinges on the doors originally, I noticed that the hinges were not tight up against the 3/8” rabbet. As a just-okay DIYer, I shrugged it off. Now I was paying for that nonchalant attitude.
Working off the top of the dresser in my bedroom, I removed all the hinges and re-screwed them tight against the rabbet. I completed that task, and I was ready to reinstall the doors.
This time I placed both doors up against the vanity opening. They both fit. So, I installed the first door and gave it a test swing. Nice! I started to install the second door using the screw holes on the vanity frame. Now I had a ¼” gap between the doors. Well, that is not right. I removed the door. Since that side was closest to the wall and you could barely see the hinges, I lined up the door to make sure it was even with the other one and moved it slightly to create about 1/32” gap. I re-screwed the hinges to a new location. Most of the old screw holes were hidden behind the hinges. I gave the door a test swing and the door hit the other door. My gap was gone. I opened the door and I gave it a whack with the palm of my hand on the outer edge. I tried the door. It was better, but still hitting. I whacked it again. I bent the hinges just enough. The door worked fine.
I stood back to look at my almost-finished project. I still was not happy with the mismatch of stain of the door frames and door panels. The grain on the frames were obvious but muted on the panels. I needed to rethink the finishing on my next set of doors. Nonetheless, the doors looked pretty good. But I was not done yet. I still needed to install the handles on the door…