Crafts/Handy person advice needed

@RiotDemon They are 3/8" inch so pretty small

@RiotDemon I also wanted to get a larger one for the dishwasher cable hole but did not see those at the store. I probably should’ve asked someone.

@cf1 these are not the right color, but if it’s for the dishwasher that should be inside the cabinet:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sigma-Electric-ProConnex-3-8-in-Anti-Short-Bushing-Flexible-Metal-Conduit-Compatible-Conduit-Fitting/50111516

@RiotDemon Those are so festive! They do have them at Lowe’s and I will be there soon to pick up my tile. Thanks!

@CaptAmehrican Those look they might be perfect. I don’t mind a little “plastic surgery” to adapt them.
Thanks!

@djslack I think he just figured fast is better than perfect and there is a lot that needs to be done. For most of it, I agree with him but that one kind of hurt. It did help me get over being “precious” about the new cabinets.

@Doooood That is the one place I saw that looked good but the checkout page wouldn’t tell me how much shipping would be before I finalized the order. It made me a little nervous.

@cf1 @Doooood That’s the way McMaster works. They’re fast, but you don’t really know what shipping is until it arrives.

@cf1 eww.

@cf1 oh I would be very upset with the contractor.

@RiotDemon That is actually the worst one. I was a little surprised.

@tinamarie1974 I was a little upset but he is a really nice guy, is being careful with my money, and actually showed up. (Which is very rare around here.)

@cf1 did you make it to a hardware store and find some bushings?

@cf1 Wow. Guess he didn’t have a smaller or a sharp bit to drill the hole… Is that just zip cord? I don’t see a ground wire.
I would have done the job differently but I know you’ll figure out the best thing with all the ideas here.

@RiotDemon I did not see any at the store I went to. I’m going to try again next weekend

@daveinwarsh Those are the wires that came with the lights. I can’t really see what he did up in the cabinet where the wires converge and the transformer and all that. I’m also in the market for a cheap ladder.

@cf1 @RiotDemon A contractor’s mantra: “You can’t see it from my house.”

@cf1 can you show a picture farther away. I might have a few solutions for you but pictures will help narrow down the possible options.

@bleedmichigan here is one from an angle

@cf1 @daveinwarsh

Guess he didn’t have a smaller or a sharp bit to drill the hole

That looks a lot like he used a hole saw and just punched it all the way through, causing the breakout on the back side of the piece he was drilling. Ideally he would have started on one side and then finished from the other. Unfortunately a grommet is not going to cover that one. You most likely need some wood putty and touch up paint for it.

@chienfou @daveinwarsh I’m afraid you may be right. Having a small panel in front will help hide my handiwork, though.

@cf1 Please ignore the mess. I hadn’t known I would be showing these to anyone.

@cf1 if you have a piece of toe kick still that patches the cabinet have it installed under the cabinet like a valence it will hide the lights and the wire and look aesthetically pleasing. There is also a type of mounding in cabinet land usually called light rail mounding that is meant to cover what you see in your pictures.
For examples.

https://www.cabinets.com/types-of-moldings-for-cabinets

@bleedmichigan I don’t have any cabinet bits left but I can create something that will look similar. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

@bleedmichigan is the definitely on the right track here. @cf1 unfortunately handy people don’t usually think like cabinet installers. A cabinet installer would of had you get a piece of matching molding for this, and they would of probably ran the wires inside the cabinet to begin with.

Where did you buy your cabinets? Most places that sell cabinets in the store would carry white moldings. For this style of cabinet just a plain filler would make a decent valance. You can rip the height down to be aesthetically pleasing to your eyes. You could also lay the filler flat as a light rail on the other cabinets if you want to hide the bottom of the lights a little more.

I know a lot of people are trying to do the euro look without moldings, but in that case I would of suggested the flat tape led lights instead.

/image cabinet valance white shaker

Normally you could order something like this, they have a bunch of different styles depending on the brand.

/image cabinet valance straight white 3

@RiotDemon I got them from Panda Kitchen. I wasn’t really going for a particular look other than not cheap and ugly old brown cabinets.

There is actually plenty of clearance over the sink so a panel would be great there. It is the work area to the sides of the cabinets where clearance is an issue. I had bought other LED lights and then realized that there was no recessed area under the cabinets and that taking away over an inch of depth was a bad plan. I liked the ribbon lights but some reviews said heat was an issue and that they should be installed in tracks which increased the price and complexity.

I do not recommend starting renovations just before a pandemic.

@cf1 I design kitchens… People are trying to do renovations right now because they are bored and hate looking at their ugly houses. When they find out it’s hard to get stuff, they get upset.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@cf1 I’m not sure what they meant about the led tape and heat. They aren’t good over a stove, but everywhere else would be fine.

@RiotDemon My biggest issue was with my orders suddenly all being frozen. Amazon, Ikea, the Container Store all put everything on hold. I am still waiting for things from the Container Store. By the time things started arriving, I had forgotten where some of them were supposed to go. Next Time I will write stuff down. Just in case.

@RiotDemon Some reviewers said they got hot, which sounded odd to me but I was afraid to risk it. I already have two unusable light fixtures I had bought before I realized they were too bulky for my new cabinets.

Something else I have learned is that buying things on Amazon may cost you less but if you can’t return it, you end up paying more in the end.

@tinamarie1974 I can check out IKEA’s options although the lines there last weekend were crazy. I’m hoping people will stop losing their minds soon.

@cf1 @tinamarie1974 some of the Ikea’s are doing curbside pickup.

@RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 Ours has had no availability. I’m hoping now that they are open again, more people will want to go inside or will get it out of their system and curbside pickup will be available.

@cf1 @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974
Wife & daughter were in the Atlanta IKEA last week and they said the line stretched all the way to the back of the store. Took over an hour to check out!

@cf1 @chienfou @RiotDemon omg, that is terrible. I know on line ordering is painful. I have placed a few orders since March and delivery time was 1-2 months out.

@chienfou @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 I just got the rest of my Container Store shipment. It took like 4 months. Still haven’t been brave enough to check Ikea.

@chienfou @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 Oh! And the contractor has disappeared so now I have to go out and try to find someone else to finish the rest of the list. Ugh.

@cf1 @chienfou @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 this is a good site for checking IKEA curbside ordering availability. Can click the clock next to the store to see a history since some stores open availability for the same 10 minutes or so each day.

https://ikea-status.dong.st/

@chienfou @Ignorant @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 Thanks for the tip! I’m going to need this in the next week or so.