All the salvaged wood that’s needed for this project
As my reader may remember, last month’s ScrapHappy post was a pile of, well, wood. In fact, once the two partition walls and a changing room were removed, there was a large pile of reclaimed material to use. I was a little bit proud that we had stopped all this stuff going into a skip, as now seems to be the norm with building materials like these.
Last month I said the first project would be a breakfast bar to go between the teaching space and the kitchen upstairs in the shop. I was wrong. The first project was, in fact, a shop counter. The Snail chose two shelves that would be the template for the top of the counter and I then constructed the most dubious framework to hold it up off the floor. On the plus side, the floor of the shop is absolutely level, in all directions. On the minus side, I was going to construct the framework. I might even use some of the salvaged screws too.
From the top…
OK, I only used about half a dozen salvaged screws as they mostly had worn out heads (like mine), having originally been driven into the wood using something that was a combination of a pneumatic wheel nut gun and Mjollnir*.
Spirit level stand (you can’t see it, but the spirit level is, in fact, level)
I am pretty sure that some of the uprights aren’t as upright as they should be and, yet, the counter top is as level as the floor on which it stands so I am not going to be looking too closely for now. I just hope it can support the weight of the till, fabric, cups of coffee, dragons etc.!
Clamp down (I know! I used a grown-up bit of DIY gear!)
I am going to use some of the hardboard removed from the partitions to clad the outside and hide the shelf I am going to fit inside – but I ran out of time before this post had to be written! If you check out the shop’s Instagram site (@thesnailofhappiness) you will probably see a picture of the completed counter there.
Hopefully, the dragon won’t frighten away too many customers!
A nearly-completed counter – just some side panels to go on
oOo
* Thor’s hammer.
writinghouse 
I think you’ve done an excellent job despite the precautionary self-deprecation! I don’t have IG so I can’t see how the finished thing looks – did you do a simple cladding, or is it going to be decorated further?
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Well, thank you, I will be posting up here a picture of the final thing – I got quite a bit done Monday afternoon and am in striking distance of the finishing line. 😁 The whole thing will be painted at some point and I imagine there will be some ScrapHappy-style decoration too!
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I kind of have a vision of the front of it decorated with all sorts of esoteric old (and possibly beyond repair) tools to show what people need to make the most of what you’re offering at the shop. But I shall be interested to see what you guys decide to go with!
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fabulous. I am worrying about your flooring though – are those tiles as slippery as they look?
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Thank you, I will be glad when it is completed. The floor is not as slippery when wet as it appears, I think because it is ridged as it were, that helps. I have slipped on it, but that was because I stood on a pile of the runners from the Stak wall (the walls you can hang things from) whilst dashing in to get the keys. I can confirm it is quite a hard floor! 😁
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that’s great to know – not that you slipped, nor that you tested the floor for durability, of course!
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I can attest that the floor is harder than my hip bone! 😂
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looks like the job of getting the shop ready is keeping you busy and ScrapHappy is proving an inspiration!
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Correct on both counts! 😁
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I am sure the not very terrifying Fafnir approved of Mjollnir being used in the construction…Looking good there!
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😂 Ffanir’s distant relative Smaug was less impressed! 😁
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You have been doing a great job so far. Love the floor in your shop!
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Thank you! The floor is rather nice, isn’t it? I think it was put in about 30 years ago and it is as level as the most level thing you can think of! 😁
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