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DIY: PCShutters Home Renovation Projects

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 20th, 2023 11:17 am
[OP]
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Sep 5, 2011
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Toronto

DIY: PCShutters Home Renovation Projects

This thread is a collection of my Home Renovation Project that my brother and I started since February 2017. The renovation have concluded in April 2021. It was easily the longest 4 years and 3 months of my life. This thread was meant for entertainment purposes only. I just wanted to share my experience renovation the entire house myself with a bit of help from my family. I am a DIYer, not a contractor of any sort. The renovation have concluded but I still have a lot of projects around the house to build.

A little background on the project: It is a small detached home in Toronto. About 1700sqft, built in 2002.

Custom Shed/Accessory Building In Progress (Post #1365)
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Shop Tour (Post #999-1000)
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Trestle Dining Table Build (Post #825)
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Bed Frame w/ Storage For Kids (Post #945)
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Guide to Build Your Own Barn Door Style California Shutters (Post #776)
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Painting my Trimwork (Post #794)
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Kitchen Build (Post #288)
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Curved Staircase Build Image Image
California/Plantation Shutters Build Image
Recessed Wall Display Cabinet (Post #1152 & 1154)
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Built-in Hall Tree (Post #501)
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Wainscotting (Post #689)
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Fireplace Makeover (Post #677)
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Classical Craftsman Style Trim from Scratch (Post #602)Image


Height Adjustable Live Edge Table (Post #573)
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Heavy Duty Bunk Bed Build (Post #243) Image


Budget Built-in Computer Table with Plywood (Post #221) Image
Bathroom Vanity Build (Post #201) Image


Wardrobe with Window Bench (Post #8) Image


Archway Moulding & Wall Paneling Image
Shower Build in one Long Weekend for less than $3K (Post #109)
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Bathroom Build (Post #151) Image


Custom Closet Build (Post #3) Image
Coffered Ceiling Image
Interior Door Build (Post #48) Image


Exterior Door Install (Post #85) Image


Hardwood Install Image
Setting Tiles (Post #177) Image


Pocket Door Build Image
Garage Workshop Build (Post #706) Image


Other projects:
Custom closet with iKea hardwares (Post #6)
Linden closet (Post #7)
Walnut Hanging vanity (Post #61)
Building Interior door with Cherry Wood & Privacy Glass (Post #82)
Pull-out Folding Hanger (Post #119)
Live edge window seat (Post #126)
Laundry Room Build (Post #186)
Brazilian Chestnut countertop (Post #199)
Bathroom mirror panels (Post #200)
Bunk bed stairs (Post #246)
Kitchen Pot and Pan Organizer on Pull-Out Rack (Post #406)
BenchCrafted swing away seats (Post #420)
Kitchen Build Summary (Post #427)
Utilizing Wasted Space in the Kitchen (Post #488)
Water Softener & Drinking water filter install (Post #494)
Kitchen Backsplash (Post #550)
Kitchen drawer organizer (Post #635)
Window Bench with Cushion & Storage (Post #640)
Wood storage (Post #639)
Workshop organization (Post #731)
Broom cupboard/Medicine Cabinet (Post #736)
Clamp Storage Ideas (Post #775)
Kitchen Pantry (Post #784)
Bend Lamination Hammock (Post #837)
Workshop Storage Ideas (Post #904)
Side Table from Scrap Wood (Post #918)

Upholstery Headboard (Post #934 &#941)
Printer Table/Side Table Extension (Post #1027)
Digging a Trench (Post #1104)
First project with the Shaper Origin (Post #1116)
Basic Ash Coffee Table w/ String Inlay (Post #1117)
Replicating a Bench (Post #1161)
Mini-Split Install (Post #1209)
DIY Screeding Tool w/ Depth Guide (Post #1217)
Concrete Slab for the Shed (Post #1222)
First attempt at interlocking pavers (Post #1246)
Pouring Concrete Stairs (Post #1256)
Concrete Slab Extension & Interlock Curb (Post #1267)
Installing Natural Stone on the Porch (Post #1275)
Laying the interlock for the rear and side of the house (Post #1283)
Front Walkway Interlock (Post #1319)
Concrete Steps for Patio Door (Post #1335)
Massive Pinic Table Build with dimensional lumber (Post #1360)
DIY Glass Railing (Post #1506)
Built in table for the Playhouse (Post #1555)
Sodding the lawn (Post #1564)
Picture Frame (Post #1579)
Dry Erase White Boards (Post #1582)
Shoe Bench for my front porch (Post #1583)
Window Seats (Post #1591)
Last edited by PCShutters on Aug 18th, 2023 11:37 am, edited 79 times in total.
1653 replies
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Oct 6, 2010
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I like these threads. It's fun to see how different people approach the same project from a different perspective/idea/tastes.

Which of these remaining tasks are you starting first?
DYI difficulty scale:
0-joke
10-no joke
[OP]
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Sep 5, 2011
1247 posts
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Toronto
The first project I will post on this thread is my Custom Built in Closet. I have a small house and space is at a premium so I have to come up with some space saving ideas for our closet and this is what I have come up with.

Here is the typical builder grade closet that came with the house:

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Ripped out the door and open up the drywall as much as I could and put in the base cabinet. These base cabinets are on plastic leveling feet. I tried to save some money and use the construction grade plywood that I have left over from the flooring project. Bad idea. These plywood are not meant to be used for this. SOOO much more work and they warp like a potato chip.

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Added the upper cabinets

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Trim out the cabinets

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Milled the wood for the drawers that I will be putting in the bottom. These are poplar and I got a good deal on these. They usually goes for about $2.50/bdft but I got mine for $1.25/bdft. The only downside is that I have to mill these from rough lumber. So much more work.

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Dry fit the drawers in the cabinets and they are all on soft close full extension slides

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Installed the ikea closet light

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Paint the cabinet white

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Reinstall the drawers. I finished the drawers with clear coat lacquer.

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Install the doors. These doors are solid 1" thick doors.

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[OP]
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2011
1247 posts
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koffey wrote: I like these threads. It's fun to see how different people approach the same project from a different perspective/idea/tastes.

Which of these remaining tasks are you starting first?
I am already finished with most of the project I listed above. I just need to find some time to post them. I will update this thread regularly with my progress
Sr. Member
Dec 9, 2013
804 posts
797 upvotes
Toronto
PCshutters threads aren't even fair and shouldnt be considered a do-it-yourselfer lol. More like a contractor, doing exceptional work for himself that 99.9% of diyers, hell even contractors cannot achieve.

And yes I'm jealous.
[OP]
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Sep 5, 2011
1247 posts
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Toronto
Second Closet build:

Similar to the first closet but I have decided to use some of iKea accessories. Bad idea--horrible quality and it wasn't cheap. iKea and the like are the reason why I want to build everything myself (if time permitted).

Not much to say here. The picture really says it all.

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[OP]
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2011
1247 posts
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The Fourth closet build are much bigger than the first 3. We gave up the walk-in closet in the master bedroom to build a laundry room on the second floor because we are one of those lazy people that don't want to carry our laundry down the the basement every few days.

Equipped with what I learnt from the past closet build, I went out and bought a truck load of real Russian Baltic Birch for this build and this is my wood haul. Each of these sheet weight about 70lbs (but I swear they weight a lot more than that when you have to carry about 30 of these sheets. LOL)

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Because these cabinets are a lot bigger and heavier, I have decided to build my own base and level them with wood instead of the cheap plastic feet.

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I have to redirect one of the heat register so I made my own out of 26 gauge steel and tape all of the seams with aluminum tape.

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Pre finished a 14.5ft long piece of wood for the kick plate and routed the grooves for the HVAC.

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Meanwhile, I glued on the strip of hardwood to cover the exposed plywood edges. This project will require about 12 sheets of plywood.
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Build the boxes and set them in place

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Making sure everything is level and plumb and secure them in place

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Mill more poplar for the drawers

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Glue them up because these are only 5-1/4" wide.

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Cut all of the pieces to size and cut the groves for the drawer bottom. I was going to do dovetails for these drawers but I ran out of time and used pocket holes instead.

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Put on two coat of clear polyurethane for the cabinet boxes, install the lights and trim out the future window seat.

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Install the under-mount slides for all of the drawers, finish trimming out the cabinet for that built in look.

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Next week, I will paint all of the front white and install the doors and this project is almost finished.

Still need to make the cushion for the window bench and put a live edge seat rest there...
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2012
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Wow!

I was going to ask what grade of plywood you were using, as it looked pretty rough to be painting white. Then I saw the transition to Baltic birch which I assume has a birch veneer.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2012
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One more question - from a complete noob. Any reason you're not using something like a Blum kitchen drawer slide that mounts on the bottom of the drawer box, so it's not visible from the sides?
[OP]
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Sep 5, 2011
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torontotim wrote: One more question - from a complete noob. Any reason you're not using something like a Blum kitchen drawer slide that mounts on the bottom of the drawer box, so it's not visible from the sides?
I have over 200 full extension soft closing slides I have to use up before I can get to the undermount slides. I am saving those for my kitchen cabinet build.

However, I did use those undermount from Grass & Salice (similar to Blum) for my bigger closet build as seen on my last post.
Sr. Member
Feb 26, 2019
626 posts
732 upvotes
Ottawa
On the Baltic birch cabinets: how have you joined your fixed shelves? Screws? Finish nailer? I’m looking to build similar units for my mud room out Baltic birch. I was originally planning to cut dados into the vertical panels and brad naile them from the sides. Wondering if that’s overkill and could just use a few good cabinets screws from the side. Nice craftsmanship, btw.
Member
Jan 29, 2004
253 posts
204 upvotes
Would it be possible to also include information on where you source raw materials? Great work btw!
[OP]
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2011
1247 posts
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Toronto
dottawat wrote: On the Baltic birch cabinets: how have you joined your fixed shelves? Screws? Finish nailer? I’m looking to build similar units for my mud room out Baltic birch. I was originally planning to cut dados into the vertical panels and brad naile them from the sides. Wondering if that’s overkill and could just use a few good cabinets screws from the side. Nice craftsmanship, btw.
For these cabinet, I kept all of the joinery very simple. Used pocket holes.

The upper shelf is on adjustable shelf pins.

The fixed shelf is secured with pocket holes. Nobody can see the screws after I put in the drawers.
[OP]
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ReAder wrote: Would it be possible to also include information on where you source raw materials? Great work btw!
I can certainly do that but my list of suppliers are so long it might be easier to ask me for a specific product that you are interested in.

For example, I get most of my lumber off kijiji and more exotic woods from my local lumber yards.

I get most of my hardware from JC Furniture Hardware but they only sell to contractors

All of my finishes come from Sherwin Williams--they do sell to the public too but it is better if you sign up for an account for more discount.
Deal Fanatic
Aug 25, 2005
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get most of my lumber off kijiji
more details please! looking to build a computer desk/bookshelf
Deal Expert
May 30, 2005
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PCShutters wrote: I can certainly do that but my list of suppliers are so long it might be easier to ask me for a specific product that you are interested in.

For example, I get most of my lumber off kijiji and more exotic woods from my local lumber yards.

I get most of my hardware from JC Furniture Hardware but they only sell to contractors

All of my finishes come from Sherwin Williams--they do sell to the public too but it is better if you sign up for an account for more discount.
What kind of places are you sourcing your lumber from on Kijiji, if not ads from local lumber yards?
Tons of things for sale!
Silver Coins and Numismatics | Heatware
[OP]
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Jon Lai wrote: What kind of places are you sourcing your lumber from on Kijiji, if not ads from local lumber yards?
BenK wrote: more details please! looking to build a computer desk/bookshelf
I got my Baltic Birch plywood from Rafael. He is at 80 Galaxy Boulevard in Etobicoke
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-renovation-othe ... 1481046665

For other plywood, try Robert Bury in Brampton.

As for hard wood, I try to look for local sawyer like
The Lumber Guys in Toronto
Sawmill Sid in Mississauga
Exotic Wood in Burlington
Century Mill in Stouffville
Fairbank Lumber in Toronto

and bunch of smaller guys like this:
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-business- ... 1423060826
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-hobbies-craft/n ... 1033314780
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-other/ ... 1480828257
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-furniture ... 1469307181
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May 30, 2005
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PCShutters wrote: I got my Baltic Birch plywood from Rafael. He is at 80 Galaxy Boulevard in Etobicoke
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-renovation-othe ... 1481046665

For other plywood, try Robert Bury in Brampton.

As for hard wood, I try to look for local sawyer like
The Lumber Guys in Toronto
Sawmill Sid in Mississauga
Exotic Wood in Burlington
Century Mill in Stouffville
Fairbank Lumber in Toronto

and bunch of smaller guys like this:
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-business- ... 1423060826
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-hobbies-craft/n ... 1033314780
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-other/ ... 1480828257
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-furniture ... 1469307181
Thanks for the referrals. That is an awesome price for Baltic Birch plywood! Too bad they don't cut... I don't have a pick up :(
Tons of things for sale!
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