In addition to being the editor of Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement, I also build studio furniture and do custom work for clients.

Be prepared

I always try to be as prepared as possible for an install. I like to take care of everything I can beforehand in my shop, so I have fewer tasks at the jobsite. That way, I’ll make less sawdust and noise, and be able to wrap up the visit as quickly as possible. The main problem I run into is that installations take at least twice as long as I anticipate, and that’s even when everything goes smoothly. When even a few small things go less than perfectly, finishing the installation can take a painful amount of time.

One of the things I’ve started to do is to bring my little hand-held cordless vacuum from home so I can quickly take care of all the sawdust just seconds after it’s made. If I suck it up right away it’s not going to spread around the room where I’m working, or get on the bottom of my feet and get worked into gaps between hard flooring, carpet or other areas. I’m not sure why it took me so long to figure out this little vacuum is my magic weapon against sawdust while I’m on an install. I also bring a few paper towels so I can wipe up any finer sawdust and leave a perfect surface for the clients to touch when they enter the room for the first time.

In addition to my cleaning weapons, I always bring my screw box with me. It’s loaded with all my hardware essentials, like a wide variety of screws, some drywall anchors, shelf pins, nails, spacers, washers, and other miscellaneous bits and pieces. If I were to just bring the 2-1/2″ long screws to attach the cabinet to the wall, I would surely need either the 2″ or 3″ instead. Bringing it all is the only way I can be sure to have everything.

I also usually bring some finish, as it’s not uncommon for a scratch to appear on the work I’m installing. A bit of finish will allow me to touch up the area before the client’s eye is drawn to it. Once the scratch has been camouflaged, it doesn’t draw attention. It also doesn’t draw further scrutiny once you’ve touched it up, as it’s often impossible to perfect the touch-up.

The most difficult installation I’ve even done was when I spent about three weeks in Manhattan, NY, installing a kitchen, vanity, a large panelled fireplace surround, a bookcase, a wall unit, lots of crown moulding and a bunch of other smaller built-ins and pieces of furniture. The planning that went into it was insane and it seemed to drag on forever. It was mostly either black cherry or African mahogany, both with a very deep, rich reddish-brown finish on it. In fact, some of it, like the crown moulding, had a finish applied to it after it was installed. Not fun. There was just no other way to match the finish properly and carefully take care of all the corners. This project ended up being featured in Architectural Digest magazine.

I remember another time I had to cut a large wardrobe cabinet in half down the middle, because it wouldn’t fit up the stairs of a century-old home in downtown Toronto. Thankfully, there was a vertical divider in the cabinet, which I removed before splitting the cabinet in two, then was able to fit back over the cut perfectly, so the cut was never seen. A bit of touch-up on the front edges of the top and bottom was all that was needed.

Looking back on all the installations I’ve done, they have all turned out really well. But I still hated each and every one of them. A good installation is critical to having the project look good and function properly, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun. It’s just part of the job. That’s one of the reasons I much prefer free-standing furniture; bring it in, plunk it down, chat with the client about how much they like it and walk away with the money.