Built a bookshelf that ended up 4 inches too tall for the alcove after I already stained it

Measured three times, cut once, right? Nope. I measured the alcove height but forgot to account for the baseboards being deeper than I thought. So the shelf unit sits on the floor but the top sticks out past the top trim. I had to take the whole thing apart, cut 4 inches off each vertical piece, re-stain the cut ends, and reassemble. Took me an extra 6 hours on a Saturday. Anyone else ever mis-measure something and have to basically rebuild it?

3 comments

3 Comments

annajenkins1mo ago

My father had the exact same problem with a built-in cabinet he was making for my mom's sewing room. He measured the space like five times but forgot the baseboard trim sticks out further than the tape measure can reach. Ended up having to cut a full 5 inches off the sides and re-stain everything. What worked for him was using a sharp Japanese pull saw for the cuts instead of a circular saw. It made way cleaner edges that didn't need as much sanding before the new stain went on. He also mixed a little bit of the original stain with some denatured alcohol to make it blend better with the old finish. Took him an extra day but you couldn't even tell where he cut it after he was done.

vera1951mo ago

Wait did he try the denatured alcohol trick on a scrap piece first? I'm curious because I've done similar fixes with stain mixing but alcohol can really mess with the color if you get the ratio wrong. Also how long did he let the mixed stain sit before applying it? I usually wait about 30 minutes for it to thicken up a bit but I've seen people say you should use it right away. The Japanese pull saw tip is genius though, I will definitely remember that one.

brianreed1mo ago

@annajenkins that Japanese pull saw tip is solid. Tried the alcohol trick once. Looked great for about an hour. Then it dried and looked like a raccoon crawled through the grain. Bet your dad's cabinet came out cleaner than his tape measure skills.