Built In Book Cases

[David Dolloff]

I'm not quite getting what you're describing but maybe you could do a sort of step thing with the side cases slightly shallower than the middle two?

So if you look in the very first picture, there is a window on the the far left. Between that window sill/casing and the wall where the built in would go, there is only about 5". The apron is high enough that i could do the louvered doors below and that won't be a problem. It's just getting the bookcase around the window casing or removing the casing. Make sense?

[Dave Richards]

Makes more sense. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to make the built in more like 7 or 8 feet wide and leave a gap between its end and that window. I think it would be better aesthetically to leave an intentional space where you might put a plant stand or a wastebasket or something rather than trying to shoe horn the cabinet in there.

[David Dolloff]

Yeah that's not a bad idea. Would you do it on both sides or just the one. I could actually see wrapping the shelf around to the right side...maybe

[Dave Richards]

I'd do it only on the one side. You could make the built in turn the corner but then you actually wind up with some space that is either wasted or difficult to use in the corner. If I were doing it, I wouldn't bother going round the corner.

[David Dolloff]

I'd do it only on the one side. You could make the built in turn the corner but then you actually wind up with some space that is either wasted or difficult to use in the corner. If I were doing it, I wouldn't bother going round the corner.

Thanks. Now to begin the planning and to get an OK that the plan is good from my wife :-) SketchUp is in my future :-)

Oh I forgot to ask, we have hand scrapped wood floors. Does it make sense to go right over the top of that or to cut it out and go down to the subfloor? Also, is is standard to carry the board across the kick or to leave the kick flat and just add a shoe moulding that matches the other shoe moulding in the room?

[Jerry Miner]

David--- I build and install cabinets for a living (but bow to Dave Richards design skills). I would install over the top of your floor, so that if you want to change something in the future you won't have to patch in the floor.

You can use a scribed-in "skin" as the toe-kick front, or a shoe mold.

I also would modify the ducting to bring it closer to the floor and minimize the "toe-kick" height---to something like 6". You should still have plenty of room for air-flow.

You should be aware, though, that using an empty stud bay, or a cabinet toe-kick, as a duct is not a great practice. The surfaces of these areas tend to collect dust and lint and are difficult-to-impossible to clean. These "ducts" are notoriously leaky and draw in air from lots of places, including wet basements and crawl spaces---leading to moisture build-up in the "duct" and then to rotting framing, mold growth, etc. I don't mean to frighten you, but want you to be aware of the risks.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I was thinking of louvered panels fronting a open space above which the bookcases start. The louvers could be held on with magnets......

Rebuilt our kitchen in a mid-20's bungalow. HOt-water [not steam] boiler with separate supply and return piping - the guy that built the house had more money than sense. That was one wonderful heating system. Even had 2 large radiators mounted flat, suspended from the joists below the living room floor - radiant heat.

ANyway - traditional cast-iron radiators all around.

One in the kitchen on the bottom level of cabinets. I made a "louver" for it, if you will. IIRC, it was a bunch of 1-1/4" x 3/4" slats, lap-jointed all over the place, with "holes" maybe 1-1/2" square. Installed with some rare-earth magnets that hit some target - forget what I used for those metal plates? YOU don't need a lot of magnet strength - the panel is not going to want to go anywhere unless you yank on it.

Really easy to do. ONly issue, of course, was the jillion lap joints - panel was maybe 30" x 24".

Air moved from radiator out the panel via convection just fine....I did add a piece of thin brass sheet above the radiator - kind of a curved fairing - to direct the rising heat to the front.

You can't possibly cause any material inteference to the air flow of your ducted system. That would be the farthest worry from my mind.

[Mark Bolton]

You should be aware, though, that using an empty stud bay, or a cabinet toe-kick, as a duct is not a great practice. The surfaces of these areas tend to collect dust and lint and are difficult-to-impossible to clean. These "ducts" are notoriously leaky and draw in air from lots of places, including wet basements and crawl spaces---leading to moisture build-up in the "duct" and then to rotting framing, mold growth, etc. I don't mean to frighten you, but want you to be aware of the risks.

The only thing here is this is a return. Much less moisture issue AND its on an interior wall so the return air is not hitting an ice cold duct (thats when the moisture problem hits). The dust issue is definitely there but Im not sure it would ever be a real concern.

[David Dolloff]

The only thing here is this is a return. Much less moisture issue AND its on an interior wall so the return air is not hitting an ice cold duct (thats when the moisture problem hits). The dust issue is definitely there but Im not sure it would ever be a real concern.

Yeah I am trying to decide. i like the louvered approach as it keeps the kick a normal 3.5" without my have to do a 32" wide kick grate for the return air. I think if I just put a nice cover over the return air inside the louvered doors that would look good enough for when you oven the doors.

[Jerry Miner]

David-- I tried before but was unable to upload pics. Today, it's working.
Here is a sketch of my concept---but of course if you like the louvered door panel idea, go for it!


Bookcase (1) 1-7-14.jpgBookcase (2) 1-7-14.jpg
---Jerry

[David Dolloff]

David-- I tried before but was unable to upload pics. Today, it's working.
Here is a sketch of my concept---but of course if you like the louvered door panel idea, go for it.
---Jerry

Wow Jerry! That is one heck of a nice sketch. How high did you make that kick? I'm thinking I probably need to do atnleast 4" if I go that route. Otherwise it would mean some fancy duct work and vents I think. The plan is certainly more simple than louvered doors. I guess I'll run it all by my better half to see what she thinks.

How would you recommend doing the sides since in your design an 8' sheet of ply no longer reaches the ceiling?

[Jerry Miner]

My drawing is of a 6" kick, but do what works.

To get a 9' panel, I either buy 10' plywood (readily available from a hardwood dealer---maybe not a big box store)---or I extend an 8' piece with a pieced-in addition, and try to match the grain as well as I can. In your case, one 4 x 10 sheet would get you 4 verticals @ +/- 12" wide--worth the cost of a 10' sheet, IMHO.

You might also cut vent holes in your supports and center a couple of vents across the front (looks better, IMHO, than my original sketch)

Bookcase (2) 1-10-14.png Bookcase 1-10-14.png