IF... I were a carpenter....Land's End and the #HBS kit

The ad read as follows:

CARPENTER WANTED
 - NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!
"residential carpenter required immediately for
homeowner with little cash to spend but offering a chance of a lifetime to anyone interested in adding this opportunity to their resume.  Don't let this chance pass you by!
(Only serious wannabe's need apply." )
 
I couldn't believe my luck!!!
I fit all of the requirements to a "T"
so I answered the ad post haste, and as it turned out, I was the ONLY ONE who did.  So, I guess  you might say, that I got the job by default.
This however, was the opportunity I had been waiting for.
 I NEVER WAS A CARPENTER, not even now after having done the work; as my story will certainly prove.

The lady that placed the advertisement and whom I would be working for, had already collected most of the materials, including a craft knife, lots of glue, and a vague idea of what she thought she wanted me to build.
The job was to construct and install 2 windows, a counter for her kitchen, as well as do some plumbing work which I also knew very little about but no matter!  She was paying me next to nothing to learn on the job,  and she was willing to take whatever skills I could offer.

Below you can see what I had to work with; a whole lot of scraps. The TOP photo of the yellow kitchen is what she said she wanted.
"No Way!?; I CAN'T DO THAT!!!!"  and I told her as much, but would she listen???   
So where should I begin?
I know -
from the very beginning right, after I answered her advertisement...
***

When I arrived at her cottage, which she calls
LAND'S END,  the homeowner directed me towards a room currently  under construction.
"Do you see that wall directly in front of us?" she asked as she pointed her finger towards it,
" I would like you to make and install 2 windows in it so that I can look out towards the Atlantic ocean when I am in the kitchen.  I also would like a large stainless steel sink, stainless countertop, an overhead light and of course, a full length counter as well as some tile work to follow later on; do you think that you can manage all of that?"
She looked at me skeptically as I stared at the empty wall ahead
"Sure!" I said confidently, "no problem.  When would you like me to start?"
"How about right now" and she directed me to that load of junk piled high in yet another unfinished room and then left me to it.
GULP!
 Just what have I gotten myself into? I wondered as 
I began sifting through the rubble searching for a craft knife. 

Once I located it, the first thing that I did was to cut the openings for her 2 windows.  I must admit, it took me a couple of good tries before I finally got them cut straight enough to pass her inspection.  Oh! and did I forget to mention that she was constantly looking over my shoulder the entire time I was working on them?  ><
"why doesn't she bug off and leave me alone?"  I grumbled angrily to myself,
but since she wasn't going anywhere, I soon learned to ignore her as I got on with the job. 

After I'd cut out the window openings, I started right away on the counter unit, centering the large sink that she told me she wanted,  as well as where she said she wished it to be positioned.
Then all of a sudden, she up and changed her mind about the sink!
" I've changed my mind about the sink!" she said
"What?... Why don't you want this sink?" I asked
"Because I Don't!  I can plainly see that it's not going to be big enough to wash my stock pots, so I shall have to go and get a different sink for you instead.  You sir, can carry on with your building whilst I go find one in my stash."
"You have a stash of sinks?""Oh Yes!" she replied saucily, "Doesn't everybody?"
 (ha ha!)
"I'll go fetch one and I'll be right back!"
And off she went. 

I continued to work on the counter unit as she went in search of the sink replacement.  

I braced the interior of the unit with heavy cardstock to keep the counter stable and so it wouldn't wobble with constant use, however I only got so far before I had to stop working and wait.   She still hadn't returned with a replacement sink which I would require before I could complete the rest of the counter top.  When at long last. she finally showed up again, she was lugging a HUGE stainless steel laundry tub in her arms.
"I'm so sorry I took so long", she said as she struggled beneath its weight, " I needed to spray paint it, and it required 2 undercoats of mat black spray paint and then I had to give it a couple more coats of chrome spray paint as well.  Handle it very gently please, because the paint hasn't fully cured and I don't want it marred so, Do BE CARFUL WITH IT!"
 I did try to be careful, although apparently I wasn't careful enough because the paint somehow managed to get scarred inside that huge tub anyway and that really made her mad!   Which resulted in even MORE close surveillance as, I measured and cut the opening for the sink.  That lady was busy scowling furiously at me the entire time.  After I was done cutting the opening for the sink, she hoisted that big sink up into her arms, all by herself, and lugged it back out to her garage, muttering under her breath something about "incompetence" 
( which sounded like it might be directed at me).  
And so once again, I was left to myself.
 

After a brief bit, I actually began to get my stride.  I framed out the sink opening, added the wood trim and installed the drawers. 

I must say, that I was doing a better job than I had thought I was capable of, having not much real experience in building stuff, as you already know.   

When the lady finally returned to the kitchen, she looked carefully at the cabinet and said that she was "satisfied" with my progress.  Not jumping up and down with happiness, mind you, but "satisfied" and after patting me on the back, she dismissed me and allowed me go home and told me to come back tomorrow.
***
The following day I returned bright and early and was given my new assignment.
"Today I need you to make the work surface for the kitchen unit if you don't mind.  And I have purchased the materials for you to do so."
She presented me with a large sheet of metallic card which she told me she had recently picked up from Michael's craft store for a reasonable price. 

It was actually really pretty and I told her so too!
She smiled as if to say "of course it is 'Pretty', what else could it be?" but to her credit, she kept her thoughts to herself and continued along another line of inquiry.
"So how are you going to apply this material to the counter top, hmmm?"
This, I thought, was a Very Good Question.
I would have to think about it for a minute and I did.
At last I had a solution.
" I propose that I make a separate counter top that I can fit over the existing one that I made yesterday.  When the sink is ready to be installed, we can then sandwich it in between the 2 pieces."

"BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT I ASKED YOU!
I want to know how you plan on applying the metallic card to the counter surface; Capish?"

"oh yeah,... ( hee hee), well I think that I shall cut out the pattern from the the shape of the counter larger than the actual surface then I can fold over the edges and adhere everything with Quick Grip glue to make it look clean and even.  How about that?" I ended with a flourish.
"Sound's like a plan," she said.  "So you'd better get busy!"
"Right!" I said, so here is what I did.
I used the counter top as a template and drew the shape on the backside of the metallic sheet.
I left a margin of approximately 1/4 inch and drew score lines so that I would be able to make a clean fold over the edge of the counter.
Below you can see the process a bit clearer.

I lightly scored the lines using the craft knife that she provided for the job.

I used a ruler as a guide to make a straight fold

It looked like this when I was done with the first part of the job.

I glued the counter top onto the metallic sheet using the Quick Grip and then used the glue on the flaps as well and pressed it all down until it was set.

It came out pretty clean and I was Impressed with myself when all was said and done.
The lady had me try out the metal drain board which she had never even mentioned until now.
"Yes, I think that will do quite well" she nodded.  And for the first time since I started this job, I actually began to feel some approval from her.
I think that perhaps, I am learning to be A CARPENTER after all!

"Well, lady" I said I guess I'm just about done, I reckon."
"What are you talking about?" she snapped back.
"Aren't you forgetting that the ad specified that you are to do some plumbing as well?"
 ( "Oh yah, ... the plumbing" )
So here is what she gave me.  She told me that she had salvaged these taps from a unit that she found at the thrift store that she frequents.  They were missing a handle and they were the wrong color for this kitchen reno.
I needed to repair and refinish and install them as she directed.

To repair them I began by scavenging around again, in her junk pile and eventually I found 2 old bathroom taps that appeared to be the correct shape for the handles she wanted.  I snipped off the handle from its base, and turned the base portion upside down to enable it to fit properly into the faucet unit.  I filed the rough edges with a metal file until they were smooth.
To refinish them I painted the entire fixture with a product she said would work but I had never used before.  It was something called Revlon Matte Top Coat.  When it was dry, she gave me another nail varnish that she said she had used on some lights for her living room.  When I was finished with the faucet it looked like bronze metal.  I rather liked the look of it. 

Meanwhile, whilst I was busy with the faucet, the lady was actually doing some refinishing on her own.  She was reworking a light fixture that she had chosen for the kitchen once the windows  were completely framed in.

She gave it a try out with the taps to see if she was happy with it.   Just before I left for home, I asked her about the origins of the metal drain board, and if she had found that at the thrift store too?
" No, I found that in the garbage", she proclaimed.
"It just so happens that I was getting ready to enjoy a can of kippered herring," she explained,  "and as I was rinsing out the can, getting ready to throw it away, I happened to look again at the ribbing on the inside of it and Voila!  There was my drain board!
"Huh?" I said, as I scratched my head 
"Here, let me show you!" and she showed me another empty can, in order to demonstrate what she meant.

"Empty herring tin"

"Heavy duty metal cutters"

"Equals a Drain board, get it?"
"Whoooooa!! I exclaimed in awe and I must admit that I was pretty impressed!  "That must have saved you quite a bit of money!"
"Yes it did" she said proudly
"Now off you go and I'll see you tomorrow, okay? she actually smiled at me as she showed me the door to bid me goodbye.
***
The Next day I was in for a surprise.
" I stayed up all night" she told me, " and I was able to get the cabinet unit completely painted so that you can move onto the installation of the drawer pulls.  I have decided that I would like these on the drawer fronts!" and she pulled out a big box of ...
UTILITY STAPLES!

Alright, I'll admit that I wasn't very confident about this part.  It sounds easy when you are talking about doing it but to actually do the work, is a scary bit of business ESPECIALLY if you aren't very skilled in measuring which as she already knew, I wasn't.  I would be drilling into a finished piece of work and if the pulls were even a wee bit out of alignment it would stick out like a sore thumb.  I hesitated about beginning but she would have none of it.
"Better get started" she ordered, and then stood there watching.
Well I did it! and yes there were some mistakes in the process too, but she didn't freak out on me like I thought she might, since I found a method which allowed me to make lining up the holes in a more efficient way.
So at last that was completed and together we brought out that huge sink from her garage and I installed it; sandwiched between the 2 layers as I told you about earlier.

Then she insisted on trying out the light fixture again.
And she was pleased!
"If you are able to get the faucet installed today then I can let you go home early" she told me so I agreed to give it a go! 

Using a push pin I marked the spots to begin drilling.

Recalling a demonstration that I had seen some time ago on Ms. Mini lover's youtube channel, I used a cup hook to drill a larger  hole in which to accept the sink faucet. 

It's a whole lot easier to drill using this method but the hole still wasn't quite wide enough.

As a result I still had to use a small screw driver to make the hole bigger. 

It didn't take very long to do at all and so here are the final results! 

I see that there is a bit of a gap between the counter and the cabinetry that will soon need to be filled, but the lady told me that I could take care of that later.  
However, she quickly added that she was "Very Happy" with my work considering that I had no previous experience.

" Why Thank You Very Much!" I said to her.  "I'm much obliged, mam!" this said with a big grin on my face.  
" I sure hope you're not too upset about me using up the last of your Quick Grip?" 

"Oh don't worry about that!" she replied. "I just bought 2 more tubes for the next time you come back!  There is still another project I want you to do for me next week."

"Oh yah? ... and what might that be?" I asked
"Why making me a stove and an oven, of course!" she said looking at me from out of the corners of her eyes.
"Whaaaat?!!!" 
"Now Don't look so worried" she said reassuringly as she was walking me out of the house,  
"No Experience Necessary remember?, so I'll see you again next week!" 
"Good bye! Good bye!" she said with a wave and a smile.  
Then she turned away and closed the door behind me.

                                                                                     ***

to be continued...

elizabeth