Cleaning

I've been on a cleaning jag for a while.

I finally got the closet in the boys room cleaned out.

(big job!) I had cleaned the rest of the room once by shoving everything into the closet and behind a huge wood panel I had handy.

Three days later the panel fell over and the closet was effectively sealed closed from the inside.

I managed to force my way inside.

I spent most of the day throwing out broken toys and other assorted garbage...I built a kinda toybox to put the rest in (plus the stuff that had been out in the room) and took the closet door off the hinges so it can't get sealed again.

Except for our bedroom the only cleaning left is mainly maintaining clean.

A few days before the kids closet I went and got some wood and built some new shelves for my books.

I had built two shelves previously and liked the results.

I had one shelf that I had built years ago that was a doublewide shelf so that I could put books on both sides of. At the time I built it I didn't realize the structural benefits of screws and I used nails to build it.

I later used some metal braces to "shore it up" but it was gradually sagging (especially in the middle as it had a LONG span and it was only particle board) I had shored up the middle of the span by adding dowels to the center of each level of the shelf.

Recently it had taken to rocking a bit away from the wall so I knew it was time for it to go.

The new shelves would take up the slack.

I built four more. These shelves are almost 8 ft tall, with a shelf about every foot, each shelf is only 2 ft in span so I shouldn't have to worry about sagging.

I was worried that since these are so tall that one could topple if pulled on by a small child (of which I have two running around so the chances are high that the pulling would happen) so I bought some L brackets and a cheap stud finder. After I had the shelves in place I connected the top of each shelf to the nearest stud with the L bracket.

I then moved all the books to the new shelves and then took all the metal support brackets off the old one (hey, I'm frugal...I could use those braces other places (and did with the new shelves, to work out a bracing system for the one new shelf that I couldn't get up against the wall or railing))

When I was done I started pulling the old shelf out to the back porch (about 3 feet away from where it was sitting) and by the time I got it out the door it had collapsed by basically folding up. I left it there for later, and finished cleaning the room up.

When I went back later to take it to the dumpster I lifted one end up and shelves started pulling themselves off of nails. It fell apart so quick it was scary. Am I glad I finally got that thing out of here.

Opened up the room now as well... the big shelf had been placed such that it basically extended the hallway leading to the kitchen/dining room area and divided the two.

The new shelves are all around the walls of the dining room area, and they are not that wide....just about the width of the front cover of a hardback (maybe a tad wider) so they don't have as much wasted space as the old shelf did.

If you have read this far in my ramblings congratulations! You must have been so bored beginning this that you thought "I can't be any more bored." See there is always room for more boredom. 8->

Cleaning

I've been on a cleaning jag for a while.

I finally got the closet in the boys room cleaned out.

(big job!) I had cleaned the rest of the room once by shoving everything into the closet and behind a huge wood panel I had handy.

Three days later the panel fell over and the closet was effectively sealed closed from the inside.

I managed to force my way inside.

I spent most of the day throwing out broken toys and other assorted garbage...I built a kinda toybox to put the rest in (plus the stuff that had been out in the room) and took the closet door off the hinges so it can't get sealed again.

Except for our bedroom the only cleaning left is mainly maintaining clean.

A few days before the kids closet I went and got some wood and built some new shelves for my books.

I had built two shelves previously and liked the results.

I had one shelf that I had built years ago that was a doublewide shelf so that I could put books on both sides of. At the time I built it I didn't realize the structural benefits of screws and I used nails to build it.

I later used some metal braces to "shore it up" but it was gradually sagging (especially in the middle as it had a LONG span and it was only particle board) I had shored up the middle of the span by adding dowels to the center of each level of the shelf.

Recently it had taken to rocking a bit away from the wall so I knew it was time for it to go.

The new shelves would take up the slack.

I built four more. These shelves are almost 8 ft tall, with a shelf about every foot, each shelf is only 2 ft in span so I shouldn't have to worry about sagging.

I was worried that since these are so tall that one could topple if pulled on by a small child (of which I have two running around so the chances are high that the pulling would happen) so I bought some L brackets and a cheap stud finder. After I had the shelves in place I connected the top of each shelf to the nearest stud with the L bracket.

I then moved all the books to the new shelves and then took all the metal support brackets off the old one (hey, I'm frugal...I could use those braces other places (and did with the new shelves, to work out a bracing system for the one new shelf that I couldn't get up against the wall or railing))

When I was done I started pulling the old shelf out to the back porch (about 3 feet away from where it was sitting) and by the time I got it out the door it had collapsed by basically folding up. I left it there for later, and finished cleaning the room up.

When I went back later to take it to the dumpster I lifted one end up and shelves started pulling themselves off of nails. It fell apart so quick it was scary. Am I glad I finally got that thing out of here.

Opened up the room now as well... the big shelf had been placed such that it basically extended the hallway leading to the kitchen/dining room area and divided the two.

The new shelves are all around the walls of the dining room area, and they are not that wide....just about the width of the front cover of a hardback (maybe a tad wider) so they don't have as much wasted space as the old shelf did.

If you have read this far in my ramblings congratulations! You must have been so bored beginning this that you thought "I can't be any more bored." See there is always room for more boredom. 8->