Need General Construction Help

[sandman]

Hey Folks,

I am making some progress on my build but I have a few questions about basic construction since I am working from no plans. Here's the following stuff I need help on:

1. When install upper or lower bulkhead, do you have to drive in the screws from the outside wall into the bulkhead framing or can you screw from the inside? Is it nescessary to glue bulkhead to walls and floor or will screws be enough?

2. When installing inside cabinets, should you use glue and should you screw in the cabinets from the outside or can you drive in screws from the inside?

3. When installing the inside cabinet, do you commonly install to the bottom of the roof spar????

4. For the galley shelf, do I need to add framing to the 3/4" thick plywood or can I screw into the end grain to install??????

Any help with general construction techniques is much appreciated.

[Roly Nelson]

Hi Sandman, good to see you are back into the building mode. I will jump in here and tell you how I handled the questions you are asking.

I didn't want screws showing on the outside of my woody, so I built my interior cabinet, along with the bulkhead, 48" wide, exactly the width of the interior. I then cut a wooden spreader to spread the galley area a bit wider than the cabinet. I applied panel adhesive to all areas where the cabinet made contact with the walls and slid it into place, supported by temporary struts to hold it at the proper height.

Since I have a horizontal wooden trim member on the outside, I was able to install one hidden screw from the outside, which was later covered by the trim. I rely on the adhesive to really hold things together. In the event of changes, I have had to chisel wood apart using Liquid Nails or Panel Adhesive.

After removing the spreader, I made up a make-shift clamp (out of 2x4s) to help press the sides together against the cabinet sides. You can see this clamp if you look at my const. pics in my gallery.

As far as screwing into the end grain of 3/4" plywood, I rarely do it, and don't think it works very well unless attaching a piano hinge which has dozens of screws. My gallery shelf is only 3/16 plywood and has 3/4 x 3/4 cleats all around and is glued in the same fashion as the cabinets.

I hope this helps, and stand back, I feel there will be more (and probably better) advice in the following posts. Good luck on your resumed build, and ask questions anytime. Oh yes, post those progress pics, please.

Roly.....just finished reading my "how to install teardrop cabinets" workbook, 101

[doug hodder]

This is just what I do, and I'm sure that others might disagree....

For framing of interior cabinets, shelves, bulkheads...I don't shoot any screws from the outside...I install cleats on the interior, using epoxy as the glue and just using an air brad to hold them in place till it cures. Once cured, those cleats can be 3/4" sq. on like the countertop, but I've used smaller on the cabinet frames, I can attach whatever I want to them with no problem using screws and glue. The bottoms of my interior cabinets are only 1/4" as are a lot of the other interior panels. Dividers in the interior cabinets are only 1/8". It does keep the weight down. I use epoxy to attach cabinet face frames etc. onto the cleats, with clamps only, no screws and those frames are 3/4" material. And I don't worry about attaching to anything real structural for the cabinet frames. The epoxy allows me to stick it anywhere on the interior walls and ceiling. Only on the galley do I attach a bulkhead to the spar that holds the hinge, but again...it's only 1/4" material. I use thicker material on the lower half, where my feet will hit the wall under the countertop...3/8"

I got onto this technique as the first 2 I did were mahogany woodies and didn't want any fastener through the exterior wood. This is just my opinion, but the epoxy works fine and I don't have to worry about enough material for a screw to shoot into. If you choose to use a screw...it can be done from the interior, just make sure it's not too long so that it doesn't blow through the exterior wall. Depending on how you plan on finishing off the exterior, a screw from the exterior won't be an issue. I really think that a good glue is your best friend in this area...Works for me, others may differ...Doug

[GPW]

For attaching a bulkhead to a side ,screws from the outside would go into the ply end grain on the bulkhead , not much grip there... might be better to route a slot for the bulkhead, glue and fasten from the inside, at an angle ... careful you don't punch out through the exterior...a trick we learned from "Norm" (New Yankee Workshop @pbs)

[madjack]

Sm, that same trick with the AL angle, for cleats can be used for attaching bulkheads, galley shelves and cabinets(we did)...we tied teh upper galley bulkhead/wall into the hinge spar and the interior cabinet face into a spar...just how we did it......
madjack

[Ira]

I screwed the bulkhead framing from the outside...because I later covered the wall with a thin wood skin and it would be totally hidden anyway.

[Mary K]

I used a pocket screw jig and installed my cabinets to the sidewalls/



If I had known I was going skin the out side I would have screwed through the sidewalls.

I glued the cabinets to the side wall also.

Have you studied the generic benroy plans? They have the cabinets wall going up to the spars, but leave room for your interior skin to slide in.

Mk

[Mark72]

I used the pocket screws on the back sides of the cabinet frames to make my cabinets into a unibody design really saves on the weight!

Mark

[toolferone]

I used the pocket screws on the back sides of the cabinet frames to make my cabinets into a unibody design really saves on the weight!

Mark

I third the notion of using pocket screws. Less material, lighter, no screws from the outside, and stronger too.