Momplex

How to Build a Refrigerator Cabinet Surround

Fridge cabinets can make a kitchen look custom and finished.  They are also great options for ending cabinetry and creating a balanced kitchen cabinetry layout.  

The good news is you can build your own fridge cabinet without spending a ton of time or money.  We do it all the time. 

Here's one of the cabinets we've made:

Let's demystify this -

It's two pieces of cabinet-grade plywood, held together on the b

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DIY Dishwasher End Panel

So what the heck do you do when you build a kitchen, and there just isn't enough space to add another cabinet on the other side of the dishwasher? How do you support the countertop over the dishwasher without a cabinet on either side of the dishwasher?

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Kitchen Base Cabinets 101

There's been quite a few awkward moments of me peeking inside kitchen cabinets to get to this point. And I'm not interested in what type of peanut butter my friends like, or how they store their canned goods.  I've been on a quest to find a way to build strong, high quality kitchen cabinets for less than flat pack - that mind you, you still have to "build" anyways - with simple tools and standard off the shelf materials and basic techniques.  Techniques that I can do, that most anyone

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Staining and Finishing Concrete Floors

One of my favorite projects on the Momplex interior has been this basement floor we coated:

For this floor, we used RustOleum's EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating.  It's a paint, and you throw the speckles down to add variation.  We are extremely pleased with the durability of the floor - not a scratch in it after about six months of use!

We like floor paint/coatings for basements for a number of reasons:

- It seals your c

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Building Base Cabinets

Seven sheets of PureBond plywood and $200 in popular boards.

Yep, that's what it took to take this blank space ....

And turn it into this:

Well, at least to build all those cabinets!

I'd love to know how to make a dishwasher out of plywood, but I'm going to stick to cabinets for now.

The Ram and I spent about a week building the cabinets, and honestly, the building was the easy part.  Once we got all th

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Easiest Pantry or Closet Shelving

Inside this closet, it's just 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep.  Nothing fancy.

I decided the most practical use of materials and space would be to add shelving 16" deep.  I don't like too deep shelving, but you really need the 16" to store large boxes (up here in Alaska, bulk shopping is a must, so lots of big boxes will get stored inside this pantry).

This would leave a little bit of space to the front for a vac

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Framing Gable Roofs

I have to say, we are so glad we built the Momplex with ICFs. It's very comforting to know that we could put the doors in and insulate the upstairs ceiling and be able to turn heat on.  Not to mention the walls are 2 to 3 times more insulated than most stick frame walls.

But as happy as we are with our decision to use ARXX blocks for the exterior of the Momplex, I do miss stick framing.  I do miss building with wood.

So this project, framing these little roofs abo

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The First Wall Pour

Everything is going smooth.  Very smooth.  Too smooth really. And then we hear an odd sound. Not a loud one. More like a stretching sound. Like the kids are playing tug-o-war and suddenly they both yell, "I win!" at the same time.Like a sound you aren't supposed to hear. But you heard it. And you know something is very wrong.I run around the outside of the Momplex, and I see, the ICF blocks have just barely started to separate on the side, and concrete is just start

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Dryer Vent

Do you ever wonder what happens between your dryer and the vent outside? We are in the utility installing phase of the Momplex. We are starting with who has the biggest pipes and working our way down to the smallest. First up, we installed 6" diameter piping for the ventilation system. To get the ceiling insulated to hold heat, we've already installed bathroom and kitchen vents as well. Next up is the dryer vent. And of course, since this is the Momplex, we gotta do everything twic

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