Chop Chop – skirting around French kitchen restoration

If you have been paying attention, you will recall that in order to find the wooden staircase we cut a while back, we had to clean up and tidy the cave.

This was going to be the last job on the project because we wanted to get the main house done first, but in view of the needs of one visiting  family member  we may need to prioritise this room/rooms next.

Anyway, at least we can now “see the wood for the trees”!

Trev’s chop saw has been well used since we bought it in 2000; the French house being the third and largest (in the sense of work required, though not square footage) renovation project we have tackled as a couple. Makes cutting to length fast, easy and accurate of course.

The Bosch router is also an old and valued friend. We bought it to match up some existing wardrobe doors at the Mid-century modern house and it stayed in it’s box till we started creating the skirting boards for French kitchen/diner.

https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/routers-23415-c/

 

Trev used the Pin-maritime that we have for the floor in that room.

See Episode 138 (April 2016- right)

The tongue and groove edge makes for a neat and strong join. He took off the bottom “tongue”of course to  make  a flat edge.

Trev was keen to use something more intricate, such as an “ogee” cutting profile, but I felt that was too elaborate for our place.   I chose a simple”roundover”-below left

I am really happy with the result and Trev now much more confident with router and itching to try it on the cupboard doors we want to fit in here  next.

 

 

 

 

As frequently happens, I choose something and then my choice is reinforced by some new old treasure I find. In this case it was a rediscovery.

Clearing the cave and dumping some of the ripped out 1950’s fittings   that were stacked in the workshop has uncovered Monsieur Sire’s (previous owner) hard wood shelves which we removed carefully in 2006 to re- use where possible.These have two different edge trims, one of which, by happy chance exactly mirrors the “roundover”routed edge. I hope to utilise all these in the kitchen.

This house really is telling me what to do. OK, this is renovation and not restoration here in the kitchen; but as the two previous kitchens in this house comprised –

1. A simple open fire in the workshop (now the site of the electric meter board) and
2. A fifties formica monstrosity … I won’t be restoring