I will be posting a handy man section anywhere between once a week to once a month depending on if there's anything to do around my home. There will definitely be a few over the next few weeks since it is summer time and I will be setting up my garage with a server and other goodies but today I'm doing some work in the bathroom.
So this is the before Picture. I removed the old medicine cabinet before I took a picture so there's just a blank wall.
If you look closed enough, you can see the outline of where the original medicine cabinet was attached to the wall. Also note the two holes to the upper left hand corner. I had a shelf system there and it was not screwed into a wall stud and as a result the screws started pulling out of the wall (A classic example of why you should ALWAYS find the stud when attaching a weight bearing device or shelving system to a wall or ceiling.
Even with checking and double checking measurements before cutting, I still started a cut and realized that I did not triple check the measurements and as a result there is a random cut that is not visible once the medicine cabinet is installed but it is there (A classic case of if a tree falls in the Forrest did it make a noise.) I started with a hole large enough for a base ball (You should check for studs before start cutting using a stud finder. It pays to have a good one, in other words, if you can afford one get one with all the bells and whistles.) I slowly cut the hole larger and larger until I located the studs accurately and was able to use it as a reference for how to place the cabinet. I then marked the area that needed to be cut out and slowly cut the required space. I cannot emphasize triple checking every step of the way as it is very easy to forget a measurement/calculation and screw yourself into either having to call a professional to correct your error or add a few hours and a trip to your local hardware store to your job. As far as preparing the damaged section of the wall, you should use a metal scraper and scrape away any excess paint and loose drywall/wall. Clean out the hole as much as possible so that when you use the wall filler it stays in the hole. After the required drying time for the filler I used a sander to smooth out the surface of the wall.
I was as patient as my personality allowed when waiting for the wall filler to dry but alas, I did not wait long enough and there is a small indent where the filler was not completely dry and I did not apply sufficient filler to have a smooth finish (I need to work on my patience.) You do see that I successfully installed the Medicine cabinet after we completely repainted the Bathroom. I anchored the cabinet to the studs that I used as reference (Another reason to know where the studs are at the end of the job.
This is where it is crucial to have a really good stud finder. My home is at least 40 years old so the walls are very inconsistent and as a result, even my middle of the range stud finder had a difficult time finding stud #2 even though I knew that they are typically approximately 18 inches apart. I took me 15 to 20 minutes just to be sure enough that this was where the second stud was located. Once I verified this with the stud finder in multiple locations all over the wall I used my leveler to ensure that the shelving system was level when i attached it to the wall. Needless to say that it is solidly anchored to the wall now and will not be a victim to a drunken night gone bad :-)
Voilà, installed medicine cabinet, painted bathroom and repaired shelving system instillation. Instillation time for the cabinet depending on your level of experience is two to five hours. The hole repair and shelving system re-installation took two to four
hours. We started at 9:30 this morning but we did extensive cleaning of the bathroom before painting so the entire job took us approximately ten hours. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. If I know the answer or can find an answer for you I will. I hope this helps someone to get the job done.
Tools used:
1. Dremel rotary tool
2. Variable speed power drill
3. Electric sander
4. Mini cut saw
5. Stud finder
6. Vacuum cleaner
7. Leveling tool
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