Where Are We Today
The Ridge
Our kitchen cupboard where we keep
our dishes, can and dry goods, has two adjustable shelves in it. The adjuster
strips are made of plastic and held on with 5/8 staples. I suppose for normal
use, these plastic strips are great, but for full timers, like us, and the
traveling we do, they are not the best.
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| Plastic adjuster strips removed |
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| 5/8 inch staple that held the strips on |
With the weight of the goods on them
when traveling, the shelves tend to bounce and the plastic tabs bend and
sometimes break, causing the shelves to either droop or drop down. We decided on
our way home, that since we never adjust these two shelves that I would make
them permanent. To do this, I used four boards 3/4 X 1 3/4 x 22 inches, to
replace the plastic strips, and permanently fastened them to the sides of the
cupboard.
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| Pat always seems to a pic of me working |
Patsy emptied the cupboard shelves in
preparation for the refit. I drilled
four holes in each board, counter sunk each hole and used 1 1/2 inch screws
with plastic anchors to mount them to the inside wall of the cupboard. There is
a space of about 3/4 of an inch between the inside and outside walls of the
cupboard, so I had to trim the plastic plugs a little so they would fit in
between the two walls.
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| First shelf done |
I had pre-measured where each shelf was, so
marking the sides for each shelf, I held up the boards and marked where the
holes in the wall needed to be drilled. Put in the anchors and fastened the
boards. Replaced the shelves, cleaned up my mess and put the tools away. Patsy
then restocked the shelves.
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| Second shelf done |
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| Shelves back in |
That's about it for this post, today
is another cold windy day here at "The Ridge" and it looks like we
are in for a few more before the warm temperatures return. Until the next time,
take care, stay safe and let common sense prevail.
Good job Bill. I wonder why the manufacturers of these nice RVs don't make the shelfs more sturdy right from the start. Now you don't have to worry of upper contents crashing onto the next level.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marlene, yes it would be nice if they were made sturdier. No fear of the shelves falling down now.
DeleteVery cool idea. I have those shelves in Arizona. Maybe I’ll do the same. Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome Nancy.
DeleteRV manufactures are only interested in their bottom line and keeping the weight down in the unit. Good job fitting the shelves to your needs but you might consider adding an edge stiffener on the upper shelf to stop the shelf from drooping along the front. It's amazing how heavy food stocks can add up.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Thanks Rick. There is actually a stiffener in the middle of each shelf. The top shelf is missing a board across the front that came off over the winter. We put it away to fix when we got home and now can't find it. Hopefully it will turn up and I'll get it back on.
DeleteTom often remarks, as he is fixing a cupboard or drawer, you would think they could at least make cupboards in RV's with less plastic. Maybe closer to like the ones that are in stationary houses.You know the ones that do not go bumping down the road. That sounded so much nicer then what I hear while he is fixing them...LOL
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, I know exactly how he feels. Everything is put together with staples, build it quickly and get it out the door. We have a number of pieces of trim that have come lose, all held with staples.
DeleteGreat job on the cupboards! Yep those staples are pretty useless. Even the cupboard door in the bathroom of the Mansion is already flapping...geeezzz...
ReplyDeleteThanks guys, I know the staples are of the mass and fast production way of the industry, but it also makes for difficult repairs, especially when you are on the road. You now have to pull them out and find finishing nails to get in and repair, not always in the easiest spots.
DeleteWe had to do this same thing Bill while we were on the road this year. Shortly after we purchased our rig, Dean added an additional shelf. When we purchased the combo w/d, we had to remove the extra shelf, so we went back to using the shelves as they were originally placed. We never moved them from that point on, so it made sense to make them permanent and get rid of the plastic and staples.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to permanently fasten them into one position when you no longer need them to be adjustable.
Delete