I tried skipping the test fit on a built-in bookcase and it cost me a full day

Last month I was putting together a big built-in for a living room in Portland, and I was running behind. I figured I could save time by assembling the main carcass in the shop and just bringing it over for install. The measurements were dead on, or so I thought. Got it on site, went to slide it into the alcove, and the whole thing was off by a quarter inch because the back wall wasn't perfectly plumb. Had to completely disassemble it, trim the back panels, and reassemble on the spot. Took me over 8 hours to fix what a 5-minute dry fit would have caught. I learned that no amount of careful measuring beats actually checking the space with the real piece. Has anyone else gotten burned by trusting the tape measure too much?

4 comments

4 Comments

dylan_brown302mo agoMost Upvoted

Feel your pain, did the same thing with a kitchen cabinet.

drew_hart42mo ago

Man, why does that always happen at the worst time? I was putting up a shelf last weekend, got it perfectly level, drove the last screw in, and heard that awful crack from inside the wall. Hit a pipe? Nope, just split the stud right down the middle. Had to take the whole thing down and start over in a new spot.

hollywhite2mo ago

Sounds like you and dylan_brown30 are in the same club.

daniel_gonzalez16d ago

Plastic anchors saved me after that happened once.