Slide out drawers under dinette seats

ThePressureIsOn · 04-19-2013, 12:44 PM

Okay, it's time to do something about storage under the dinette seats. It's such a PITB, to access. The end of the dinette seat is 24"W X 16"H. I plan on cutting an opening 18"W X 12"H. That would leave me about 3" on each side and 2" on the top and bottom. The seat is framed with 3/4" X 1 1/2" of what looks like oak. The end panel is probably made of osb or particle board. Would cutting that large of an opening into the end panel compromise the structural integrity of the dinette seat? I plan on framing the cut panel with trim, add a handle pull to match the cupboards, and stain the trim to match. I will probably make the drawers out of 1 X 10 Aspen for the sides and a 5 ply, 3/8" piece of plywood for the bottom.

Slides for a drawer that long are expensive. I found a pair of 32" 100 lb full extension for about $50 including shipping. That would get me about 6" of being fully open. Anything larger is over $100 per pair. When the slide is in the clearance between the dinette seat and couch is 19", so it will open over half way, and when the slide is out the clearance is 39".

Am I missing anything? If I do this right the DW will love me, but if I screw it up she ain't going to be happy, of course neither will I. I am pretty handy, but let it be known, I am not a cabinet maker.

If anyone has any ideas please let me have them. I won't begin the mod until I'm confident that the dinette seats won't collapse. If this works out, I'm going to be a hero, if it doesn't, you won't be hearing from me until I recover.

SlowPoke · 04-19-2013, 12:55 PM

I'm watching your thread closely, as I want to do the exact same thing, or at least figure a way to put doors on the sides ...yes those cushions and pullup panel are a pain.

If I run across anything, I'll pass it along.

GaryWT · 04-19-2013, 01:05 PM

I will suggest you take a look at a premier bullet or other trailer that comes with the drawers. We have them and they were a huge selling point. The draw covers about 2/3 of the possible area.

MISailor · 04-19-2013, 01:40 PM

If you can hold on a couple of weeks I'll post pictures of how I did exactly what you are thinking of doing. I'm in the middle of a project to add maximum sized drawers under our dinette.

So far I've completed the following:
1. Removed (carefully) the face of each seat, cut them out and screwed them back on. The pieces are particle board as you suspected. My holes are big (no comments please

...I left no more than about a 1/4" margin from the inside frame, so the sides of the panels are now no more that 2" wide but they seem stable after being screwed back in place.

2. I ordered drawer boxes from drawerdepot.com (affordable). The rear drawer is 42D x 19-7/8W x 10-1/2H. The front drawer needed to be a bit shorter due to interference with the kitchen peninsula so it is only 38" deep.

3. I made drawer guides out of wood because I too found "real" ones way too expensive for the size I wanted in order to be able to use the entire space.

4. I ordered 2 extra cabinet doors and hardware matching the cabinet over the TV in our 19FBPR. The are the perfect size to function as drawer fronts since they cover the face of the dinette benched perfectly.

All I need to do when I get the TT out of storage is slide the drawers in and mount the drawer face to the drawer box. I'm eager to get this done but the weather is not cooperating. We had more snow today

ThePressureIsOn · 04-19-2013, 04:31 PM

MISailor, are you done yet, are you done yet? Your mod seems really promising. I thought about ordering two extra cabinet doors but the small ones are too small, 12" X 14", and the others are too large. I will check out drawerdepot.com. Thanks.....I will try to be patient.

I hear you about the weather, we are neighbors!

GaryWT, I've seen the pictures of the new slide out drawers. I'm so jealous. I would love to check them out except the nearest dealer is one hour away. I just might take a day trip....and soon! Thanks

MISailor · 04-19-2013, 04:37 PM

Wow! We really are neighbors. You're welcome to come over and have a look-see for yourself when I'm done. I promise I'll try to get 'em done ASAP and I'll keep you posted.

planesnut · 04-19-2013, 05:26 PM

You two are going to have a lot of fun helping each other with your drawer mod! Please don't forget about the rest of us that want to see pictures, and thanks in advance.

ThePressureIsOn · 04-20-2013, 05:10 PM

Thanks MISailor, I would love to come and check out your mod. I'll send you a PM.

Planesnut, We wouldn't think of keeping anyone in the dark! This is going to be a great mod.....at least I hope it will.

CincyGus · 04-21-2013, 04:59 AM

Interested to see how this turns out for you. I'm thinking of doing something similar but cheaper by working around the expensive slides by using caster wheels on the end of the drawer closest to the wall and guide rollers on the end of the bench frame closest to the living space.

f6bits · 04-21-2013, 05:17 AM

MISailor, what were the specs you ordered for your drawers? I looked at the drawer depot site's custom drawer section and they had tons of options.

I'd also sure like to see what you came up with for the drawer glides. With such a long drawer, fancy glides don't seem like the best option.

MISailor · 04-21-2013, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f6bits

MISailor, what were the specs you ordered for your drawers? I looked at the drawer depot site's custom drawer section and they had tons of options.

With such a long drawer, fancy glides don't seem like the best option.

f6bits, On drawerdepot.com go to "Preselected Combos". I ordered from "Combo 3" but made a few upgrades including thicker bottoms (3/8" instead of the 1/4" standard bottom) and a removable divider to allow each drawer to be divided into 2 compartments.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one drawer was 42 x 19-7/8 x 10-1/2 and the other was the same except only 38" deep (due to interference with the kitchen peninsula). Each cost about $44 which I thought was reasonable, but it cost almost $90 to ship them from CA to MI

.

I will post pictures of the drawer guides I made once I get back into the TT, but basically what I did was glue and screw a 3/4 x 1/2 strip along the side of each drawer near the bottom edge and 2 similar strips on the sides of the dinette frame above and below the level of the strip on the drawer to form a channel for the strip on the drawer. I added a self-adhesive Teflon tape to the top of the bottom strips on the dinette frame to help the drawers run easier.

It'll all make sense when I post the pictures. I promise!

audio1der · 04-26-2013, 06:10 AM

Looking forward to this.
After I mount some gas shocks the plywood under the master bad for easier storage access, this mod is next.
I'd likely just fab up some drawers and use drawer glides as shipping anything up to Canada is prohibitively expensive

Great thread; thank you!

E597283 · 04-26-2013, 09:49 AM

Great mod..all I was thinking of doing was cutting proper size hole and ordering doors and hardware that match the kitchen. I was just looking for easy access.

B&T · 04-26-2013, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E597283

Great mod..all I was thinking of doing was cutting proper size hole and ordering doors and hardware that match the kitchen. I was just looking for easy access.

I agree -- Great Mod!

I was was also planning on cutting holes in the end panels but instead of ordering doors and hardware was thinking of making my own doors and just covering them with the matching cloth (that i removed from under the couch) with added padding. Still pondering . . .

MISailor · 04-27-2013, 01:22 PM

The weather finally broke in Michigan so I was able to get the TT home today to finish the dinette drawer mod

. Some pics of the finished job are provided here. I'll follow up with another post to show some of the details of how I made the full-length drawer guides, etc.

MISailor · 04-27-2013, 01:31 PM

Here are pictures of the home-made drawer guides and a view of the full-size rear drawer with the seat cushion removed:

SlowPoke · 04-27-2013, 01:40 PM

Wow MISailor, professional looking work.... really looks "Factory" actually!

Makes me really want to do mine now...gotta save me some $$ first though!

ThePressureIsOn · 04-28-2013, 09:23 AM

Thanks for letting me see you mod up close MISailor!

You are a true gentleman. Folks, Bill's mod looks even better in person. If my slide out drawer mod looks half this good I will be a happy camper. Truly professional work.

MISailor · 04-28-2013, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePressureIsOn

Thanks for letting me see you mod up close MISailor.....Truly professional work.

Bob, Thanks for the kind words. It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday and I enjoyed your visit. Meeting people face-to-face after becoming acquainted online can be risky with some online forums but not so with this one. There are some very gracious and helpful people here and I count you among them.

As I mentioned when you were here, much (and by "much" I mean all) of my ability to do projects like this comes from my late father who was a master at stuff like this. I think of him often and miss him greatly when I work on these types of projects and always wonder how he would have dealt with the inevitable "surprises" that pop up in mid-project. How I wish I could show him how much I learned when "assisting" him in his amazing work.

Greysquirrel · 05-05-2013, 05:05 AM

Thanks Bill for the link, the mistake I made was searching for threads that you started.
The $44 for the doors is an OK price but is the $90 shipping for four doors, two for the dinette and two for the bed? I live in NC and I had to think about the shipping to me I may be better off taking off the cabinet door and seeing how much a local cabinet maker would charge me. Then again maybe Keystone would be the better deal.

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