Appreciation post: A client's old house taught me a new trick for tricky corners

Last week I was working on a kitchen remodel in this 1920s bungalow in Tacoma. The walls were so out of square it was crazy, and I was fighting with this one corner cabinet for hours. I was about to just force it and fill the gap when the homeowner, this older guy, came down and said, 'My granddad would've scribed the back of that carcass to the wall.' I had never thought to scribe the whole cabinet box itself, just the trim. I gave it a shot with my jigsaw, and it slid right in like it was made for the spot. It took an extra forty minutes, but it looks perfect and saved me a ton of headache trying to hide a bad seam. I guess sometimes the old ways are still the best. Has anyone else picked up a good trick from a client or an old house like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

linda_butler281mo ago

My uncle's 1920s place in Spokane had the same problem. I spent a whole afternoon on one corner before I gave up and called him.

richardfox1mo ago

That "scribe the whole cabinet box" idea is a game changer. I've only ever scribed trim or filler strips too. How do you make sure your scribe line is right on something that big? Do you just hold the whole carcass in place and mark it, or is there a better way to get the shape of the wall onto it?