Project Information
This was my first project, converting a den and dining room into a library and office. Luckily I had some help.
The shelf unit is fifteen feet long and ten feet high. The client insisted it be made from MDF. Lesson: don't use caulk to fill joints.
The library entrance off the foyer used to be just an arched opening. No standard door size would fit the opening, so we built a transom and sidelites. Lesson: I cut cardboard templates for the glass, fitting them exactly to the opening, and told the glass company to cut the glass 1/4" smaller. They cut it to match the pattern exactly, so it had to be recut. The other door went in like a dream.
I cut a trench through the slab and installed a floor outlet. Lesson: Seal off the room before making dust so you don't have to clean the whole house. Other lesson: Don't do electrical work.
I laid the slate floor, using slate the customer bought at Home Depot for 99 cents a foot. Lesson: Don't let the client buy the slate. They got barely-gauged slate that was covered with mud coming out of the box. I had to clean and seal all of it before I laid it. Some pieces were shaped like a saddle-high on two opposite corners and low on the other two.
The shelf unit is fifteen feet long and ten feet high. The client insisted it be made from MDF. Lesson: don't use caulk to fill joints.
The library entrance off the foyer used to be just an arched opening. No standard door size would fit the opening, so we built a transom and sidelites. Lesson: I cut cardboard templates for the glass, fitting them exactly to the opening, and told the glass company to cut the glass 1/4" smaller. They cut it to match the pattern exactly, so it had to be recut. The other door went in like a dream.
I cut a trench through the slab and installed a floor outlet. Lesson: Seal off the room before making dust so you don't have to clean the whole house. Other lesson: Don't do electrical work.
I laid the slate floor, using slate the customer bought at Home Depot for 99 cents a foot. Lesson: Don't let the client buy the slate. They got barely-gauged slate that was covered with mud coming out of the box. I had to clean and seal all of it before I laid it. Some pieces were shaped like a saddle-high on two opposite corners and low on the other two.