Get a grip

It has been awhile since the kitchen was finished by two professional Bob the Builders. However they didn’t put the handles on all the doors and drawers so opening them up was a bit of a challenge. Weekends seem therefore to be the most appropriate time to test my DIY skills and today’s challenge was of Olympic proposition; 20 handles. Key to succeed is as always the tools. After having tried a number of times with different machines and kits it was clear that my arsenal was not sufficient to conquer this war. A quick visit to the DIY store, where I stocked up on Wood, Metal and Cement drill bits. Now capable of making a hole in virtually any surface in my house I headed home to test it all.

With some precise measuring, I started to put the first handle in one of the drawers. At first all was normal until there was a release of smoke and it looked like I started to torch my kitchen. The lacque layer is obviously not appreciating the sudden drill action and is defending its territory. But after a little while I managed to get two holes ready to fix the first of many handles to come. The exercise, although long, isnt very difficult until I met with some proper resistance from the dishwasher. The dishwasher has been integrated and needed special care, the over confident me un screwed two panels and the whole electronic wiring dropped on my kitchen floor. Oops, this was not to open and I started to refit it all which I succeeded in doing after a struggle of 30 minutes with a flexible panel that refused to be put back.

Next challenge the fridge that has a special sliding door system that needed to come off too.
First part of the door was easy but the second part was more difficult since I wanted to continue the symmetry of the other handles. Obviously the system was exactly there were the handle needed to be fixed. With some MacGyver like skills I managed to create something that does both now. The rest was pretty straight forward and I managed to finish the whole kitchen in …bronze medal time. Next phase will be the bathroom but so far I have used my complete collection of drill bits and nothing has managed to get a hole in the tiles.

I guess a visit to the DIY will be needed to continue to transform my house in Dutch gatenkaas.