How to restore and improve a wardrobe with your own hands. Part 2

Recommendation points

• Place for pantograph and shoe nets
• Placement of linen nets and stationary clothing bars
• Layout of vertical racks of the wardrobe and corner end
• Drilling the wardrobe and corner end
• Assembling the wardrobe
• How much could you save

Before proceeding with the direct assembly of the wardrobe, you need to carefully prepare everything, trying not to miss a single trifle. Otherwise, you will have to face a number of problems, and in some cases – re-disassemble the cabinet and redo something. Therefore, before installing it directly, you need to be 100% sure that you did everything correctly and you can proceed to the next stage..

• How to restore and improve a wardrobe with your own hands. Part 1
• How to restore and improve a wardrobe with your own hands. Part 3
• How to restore and improve a wardrobe with your own hands. Part 4

Since at the very beginning, even before dismantling, you drew up a project plan for the future filling of the wardrobe case, you should mark and drill according to a new drawing. True, there are several unspoken rules that allow you to most rationally place all the shelves and other components. You should be familiar with them too.

Place for pantograph and shoe nets

The point of installing this mechanism is to save the owners of such furniture from the need to constantly get something from the topmost compartment of the cabinet, often using a stand or stool for this purpose. But even for everyday use, the pantograph is unlikely to be convenient. The ideal option is the ability to very conveniently sort the entire wardrobe according to the “winter-summer” principle. What is it and how to do it right?

The fact is that in many dressing rooms on one bar there are things intended to be worn at different times of the year, which already causes some inconvenience. In addition, all of them in most cases are located at a height of about 1500 mm, and at the very top there are impractical mezzanine shelves – all this can be changed by hanging clothes correctly. It is best to use a pantograph for items that you are not wearing at this time of year. This will save you from having to pull it by the handle several times a day, lowering it down to get any piece of wardrobe. In addition, from such constant use, the springs in it quickly wear out, therefore, the number of lowering and lifting, reduced to a reasonable minimum, will benefit both you and the pantograph mechanism..

It is most practical to install it in the upper part of the right extreme compartment of the wardrobe, placing pull-out nets for shoes below it, and between them fasten a stationary shelf made of chipboard with confirmations. When measuring points for drilling holes for confirms, it is necessary to take into account the maximum length of outerwear and add 100–150 mm to it. Usually, the opening with a height of 1450 mm between the middle shelf and the roof is quite enough so that even a long coat does not touch the middle partition with its floors. The pantograph itself is mounted in such a way that between its bar and the top of the wardrobe there was a gap of 50–70 mm. Shoe nets are placed in the immediate vicinity of the bottom, retreating 20-30 mm.

Placement of linen nets and stationary clothing bars

Now we will need to arrange oval pipes for everyday clothes inside the wardrobe so that we can take it out and put it back in place with maximum comfort. To do this, they must be at the level of our eyes, you can attach them and a little higher, if circumstances require it.

The bar for long items is located in the middle compartment, at a height of 1450–1500 mm from the bottom of the cabinet, and above it, stepping back 80 mm, we will install a stationary shelf by drilling holes for confirmations in the vertical partitions. It is logical to divide the upper compartment into three equal parts, while providing itself with the ability to change the location of the other two shelves. If the manufacturer has not made a number of slots for the shelf supports, you will have to perform this action. To do this, use a drill with a diameter of 4.8 mm, it should enter the body of the chipboard by 8-10 mm, but do not overdo it, otherwise it will go right through.

The tube for blouses, skirts, suits and shirts, as well as linen nets, will be installed in the leftmost compartment of the wardrobe. Retractable nets must be mounted in such a way that the uppermost things in them do not cling to the bottom of the parent container. Otherwise, you will not feel any special benefits from using them – T-shirts, sheets and towels will fall to the back wall all the time. You constantly have to extract them from there. Therefore, roughly calculate the height required for each mesh to run smoothly and, based on this, mark the level for each container. Since their dimensions differ from each other, and it is not known what kind of accessories you will buy, it is impossible to give any recommendations on the sizes in this case. Everything needs to be done according to the circumstances.

A stationary shelf is installed above the upper third mesh, usually it is located at a distance of 800 mm from the bottom. Then, stepping back 950-1000 mm from it, you need to outline the attachment points for the rod holders for the pipe on which short things will be hung. Above, holes are drilled for the second shelf, 80 mm from the rod. It will be appropriate to divide the remaining upper opening into two compartments with a horizontal partition, as in the middle compartment, by drilling a row of slots for removable shelf supports.

Here, in principle, are all the recommendations for planning the interior space of a 3-door wardrobe. Since the corner end can be installed both from the right and from the left side, the compartments for the pantograph, shoe and linen pull-out baskets can be changed. It is not necessary to strictly adhere to this project 100% when performing work, because you may have any special individual requirements for this furniture. It’s just that this layout is the most ergonomic and rational for this type of cabinet..

Layout of vertical racks of the wardrobe and corner end

Correctly placed points, and then holes of different depths and diameters drilled through them, are, perhaps, one of the main components that guarantee the success of the entire event as a whole. Therefore, you need to take the matter very seriously, rush here is absolutely inappropriate if you do not want to redo something several times and decorate unnecessary holes drilled in the wrong place.

First of all, it should be noted that the body of the wardrobe has different designs. Factory models mainly have side racks and a bottom located between them. And the roof can be screwed overlap or similar to the bottom shelf. Therefore, you need to very carefully make the markings, taking into account all the necessary tolerances. In order not to get confused in so many dimensions, lines and points, make a diagram first. To do this, you need to have a separate leaf for each rack, and for internal vertical partitions, you will need two of them for each, since they will be marked and drilled on both sides.

Start from any edge you are comfortable with. First, take the side stand so that the side inside the cabinet is facing you. First you need to mark the height at which the mesh guides, shelves and rod holders will be located. Then draw lines with a marker, perpendicular to the front edge of the part, on which you will need to put points for future drilling. Their marking should be done only from the rear edge, if you change the base sides, you can get confused very quickly, so watch this carefully.

You can determine the places where the self-tapping screws holding the retractable nets will be screwed by attaching the guide to the side stand. A number of holes have been made in the slats along which the runners of the sliding mechanism move. Choose any three screws that are most convenient for screwing in and mark through them with a marker on the stand. Since the markings start from the extreme side rack, a vertical line should be drawn on it, 100 mm from the front edge – this is the indent for sliding doors. When placing baskets on a part, make sure that it does not protrude beyond the line. Having marked the first three points, all other markings can be carried out using a tape measure, taking the back side of the racks as a starting point.

In order to fasten the rod holders, step back from the same rear edge of the 250 mm barrel, draw a vertical line that will pass through this point, and at the point of its intersection with the horizontal line showing the height of the rod in the cabinet, make a tattoo with an awl – so you mark the location of the upper self-tapping screw. Then, using the tab, make small indentations through the other two holes. Standard model rod holder attaches to body at three locations.

To mark the corner end, you need to calculate what the distance will be between the shelves. The number of parts allows them to be located within 300–350 mm from each other. Since drilling into the end face of the part was ordered at a furniture company, it remains for us to make holes only in the side racks. Having drawn the lines where the centers of the shelves should be located, we, as in the case of the sides of the wardrobe, mark all the places of future drilling, taking the count from the back of the part.

In this case, we are dealing with blanks that are overlapped. We are talking about the side stand and the back wall of the corner end, therefore, when marking the barrel, add 16 mm each time to each value. For example, if this side adjacent to the rack is drilled at a distance of 60 and 550 mm from the corner of your rounded shelves, then the sidewall should be marked 76 and 566 mm, respectively. The back wall is drilled like the shelves.

The most correct sequence of actions can be considered when you first draw up the drawings, then mark all the details, check the correctness of the actions you performed, and only then proceed to the drilling itself. You should not rush at this stage, since rushing is fraught with mistakes, which can be very difficult to correct later. It is also recommended to put a letter near each marked point, indicating what this hole is intended for. For example, for confirmation we mark it as “K”, for shelf holders – “P”, and we mark the screws as “S”. Such a simple safety net will help us not to get confused and not make mistakes when drilling..

Drilling the wardrobe and corner end

In order to perform these actions, it is better to use well-sharpened drills for metal. It is even recommended to insert a drill bit for metal into a confirmation cutter. Such a tool change is due to the fact that a layer of laminate and a glue mass that binds sawdust much more quickly blunts inexpensive wood drills, and the process of sharpening them is more complicated and time-consuming. Buying a professional branded tool does not make any sense – it is very expensive and economically impractical.

There is one more small improvement to make before getting started. On a metal drill with a diameter of 4.8 mm, with which you will make nests for the shelf supports, you should wind a little masking tape or ordinary tape, leaving only 10 mm of the cutting part. This little trick will minimize the likelihood of going through the chipboard body, which sometimes happens to professionals, not to mention people who are far from furniture production. It is better to spend about 5 minutes and be sure that the parts will not be drilled through in places where it is not intended..

By the way, in order to facilitate the installation of the wardrobe, it is recommended, using a metal drill with a diameter of 2.5 mm, to make recesses in those places where the screws will be screwed in. This will make your work much easier. In only about 5-10 minutes, you will save much more time when you screw on rod holders, baskets and pantograph. Often, self-tapping screws very poorly enter the body of chipboard, even if tattoos are everywhere with an awl. By sinking the drill 3-4 mm deep into the part, you can easily screw everything, avoiding distortions. In this case, the scotch tape limiter can be omitted, since drilling will be carried out at a very shallow depth – it is impossible to overdo it in this situation.

It is better to drill for confirmations of side racks, back wall and internal vertical partitions from the side from which they will be connected to the shelf, that is, from the inside. This is because when you drill by hand with a drill or screwdriver, the drill very rarely goes through the part at right angles. As a result, there is a mismatch between the holes in the rack and the shelf, which then complicates the installation of the cabinet. And if you start drilling at the exit point of the confirmation, not the entry point, you guarantee greater accuracy. Thus, having drowned the confirmatory cutter into the body of the part to its widest cutting part, you need to turn the rack over and repeat the steps, only on the other hand you will need to make small indentations (sweats) for the confirmation hats.

Assembling the wardrobe

Before assembly, you need to make the last preparatory measure – screw on the adjustable feet Integrato. It is recommended to install them, since the usual plastic adjustable leg is screwed directly to the bottom, which is unacceptable for almost all models of factory sliding-door wardrobes. That is why the bottom of most cases of such furniture is located between the side racks and is connected to them with confirmations, when with the help of these legs you try to slightly raise the cabinet, then pieces of chipboard at the joints will simply break off, and this will end the whole business. Therefore, the adjustable legs must raise the support side posts, then the cabinet can be level without any problems.

The Integrato adjustable feet have a special mounting strip, through which the legs are attached to the side of the wardrobe. They are turned inside the furniture body and are adjusted from the inside of the cabinet with a hex key. Therefore, 6 additional holes must be drilled in the bottom to twist the legs. After the wardrobe in the assembled state has been leveled, these holes are decorated with special stickers. Adjustable feet are installed in 2 pieces on each side post and on the intermediate plinth, and it is enough to provide the back wall of the corner end with one support.

When assembling a wardrobe, do not forget to insert a match into the end holes of the old shelves. A lot of factories use inexpensive chipboard with a loose structure for the production of their products, so the confirmations may not properly pull the shelves to the side racks, and a match will slightly reduce such a hole, ensuring greater reliability of the connection. Just do not need to “be sure” to pour glue there, because by such actions you will 99% deprive yourself of the opportunity to disassemble the case, if it is ever needed. It is not necessary to “overclock” the screwdriver much by screwing in the confirmations; it is better to tighten it manually with a hex key a few turns. Ignoring this advice, you can add work to yourself, as you will need to make new holes. After all, if the confirmation is scrolled at high speed in the body of the shelf, there will be no use from it.

Upon completion of all the above-described stages of restoration and improvement, it remains only to pull the corner end and the wardrobe to each other with furniture ties. Carefully move this structure to the wall and adjust the legs to level the furniture. After that, you can start installing and adjusting sliding doors, which, in comparison with the work performed, will seem like pleasant entertainment to you.

How much could you save

We started this part of the description of work related to the improvement of your furniture, with a mention of the opportunity to save a decent amount of money, and now that you have read everything in more detail, it makes sense to give more specific numbers. We will start with the cost of chipboard, so we should immediately clarify that the model of the wardrobe described in the article consumes on average 3 sheets of chipboard and one fiberboard is the material that you do not have to buy, so the bulk of the savings is exactly their cost … So we save:

• for laminated chipboard and fiberboard about 6,000 rubles;
• on the master’s fee from 30 to 70% of the total cost of purchased materials, which in our case is at least 3000-6000 rubles;
• when buying laminated chipboard for making a corner end, paying for the company’s services and purchasing all the fittings, you can get a 3-5% discount, thanks to which in this case you will still have about 600 rubles in the budget.

Putting it all together, it becomes clear that the game is worth the candle. For the saved 9000-12600 rubles, you can buy excellent sliding doors for the wardrobe.