[King's Ransom]

mp -- well that is certainly disconcerting. This stuff is supposed to have a 10-year warranty against hail damage, but I will definitely keep an eye open for leaks, especially after hail! Too late to change it now, and I had not intended to have the skylight -- as I said, it was a miscommunication. But, I do like the light and it does make the room very special. If it leaks, though, we'll have to come up with a Plan B!

[Bluey]

Just try not to put something like a saddle right under there and it will be fine, even if you get a leak.

[mp]

mp -- well that is certainly disconcerting. This stuff is supposed to have a 10-year warranty against hail damage, but I will definitely keep an eye open for leaks, especially after hail! Too late to change it now, and I had not intended to have the skylight -- as I said, it was a miscommunication. But, I do like the light and it does make the room very special. If it leaks, though, we'll have to come up with a Plan B!

The damage to our skylights and barn roof was covered by our insurance, so there is that. And the second time, it was caused by tennis ball-sized hail. No kidding. I've lived in Kansas most of my life and had NEVER seen anything quite like that. These things were HUGE.

After that, we just covered the damned things up. As much as we liked the light, it wasn't worth the hassle.

Just keep an eye out for damage if we have one THOSE kinds of storms and be prepared to move things out or cover them up until you can get someone on the roof to inspect it. You know how the weather is around here.

[King's Ransom]

We decided to go with a custom-made tack cabinet like this one: http://www.amishcountryproductsandmo...th_Shelves.JPG

I am meeting with the cabinet maker next weekend. I'm going to ask him to make the shelves adjustable, and -- what do you guys think of having this made out of cedar instead of pine? Would it be worth the cost? I am looking at cedar primarily for limiting mold, mildew and bugs.

Would it be sufficient to have cedar shelves?

Or does cedar make that much difference? Looks to me like the cost of pine is about 1/3 cost of cedar, so it would be a significant price bump (I have not talked to the cabinet maker about this yet).

Thoughts?

[Bluey]

Wonderful cabinet.

Cedar is costlier and harder wood to work with, because there is not that much that mills as larger pieces like other woods do.
Best I know, it is not used for main production as much as for linings and shelves and smaller items.
I think it also doesn't take stains as well, but has it's own natural grayish coloring as it gets older where exposed.
Cedar is bug resistent to a point, but I don't think to molds?

The carpenter should be able to answer those questions best.

[ReSomething]

That amish cabinet IS nice. My opinion on cedar, after having a cedar floored closet, and a pine saddle rack with shelves plus rough redwood shelves, is that cedar is great for cloth items, it's an oily aromatic wood that imparts a pleasant scent and keeps the bugs at bay, but there's no point in spending the money if you're going to put cans of anything up there, you'd be best off with contact paper or Formica or something you can clean goo and dirt off of. I got Hooflex on my rough redwood shelf and it never came out, just made a greasy dirty splotch that made the wood unfit for any other use - unless you're a big time woodworker with a planer. Perhaps if you had one or two higher shelves dedicated to blankets and the lower ones for goopy stuff?

It looks beautiful and I can't wait to see further pictures!

[JanM]

Go with Pine. The price difference would convince me, and I second making the shelf surface laminate or something, to prevent stains from leaks.

[snbess]

I love that cabinet idea. You're putting me in the mood for a little tack area project myself!

[Toadie's mom]

I'm allergic to cedar, so wouldn't be an option for me

[ChocoMare]

Pine is fine! This is my Armoire'. I highly recommend doing the pull-out basket shelves since fixed shelves tend to let stuff get lost in the back... especially if you're vertically challenged & can't reach the back of the top shelf

Even if you do have fixed shelves, you can get the pull-out baskets like for kitchen cabinets, where the slide bracket is mounted to the shelf.

[King's Ransom]

ChocoMare, great idea on the slide out baskets! Love your armoire, too.

[ayrabz]

Love reading this thread, KR....what a gorgeous door (!) and touching tribute. You'll have a great time setting this up, but please keep us posted with photo updates so we can drool along!
Choco: my corner cabinet is tough to 'outfit' I'm finding....just difficult to decide where to put what hardware. Yours helps to review even though its much larger and has more options!

[OnThinIce]

Go with pine and line a compartment with cedar. You can do it yourself. It comes in tongue and grooved packs and it's easy to install. My sister made one of the closets in her house a cedar closet this way. You might want to pick an area in the tack cabinet you want to store blankets & such and have the carpenters put a door on it when they build it. Either hinged or on rails (so the door recesses into the compartment instead of hanging off the front). Or you can tell the carpenters you want a cedar lined compartment with a door on it.

[Long Spot]

I just can't wait to see this all finished, KR. I imagine how lovely it will be, with pictures of your crew on the wall. Of course, with King's picture in the most prominent spot.

May you always be surrounded by his loving spirit when you are in there.

[bdj]

KR, I'll forgive you the missing pictures - but promise us someday we'll get to see Rocky all decked out! And "new best friend, after King"? Awww! (And oh, how I get it - "La Princesa" (my girl) is definitely my best pony, after Min.)

The wood cabinet is going to be lovely, no matter what you end up using inside it. I don't have any suggestions on that, save that my dresser (inherited from my grandmother) has one drawer, with a lid, that's lined in cedar. It's very lovely, old enough that it doesn't seem terribly cedar-y in terms of smell, and makes me think that I'm doing something right when I put handknitted stuff in it.

Choco, are you sure that's not a studio apartment, rather than a tack armoire?

[ChocoMare]

Yeah, it's big but I had to. The tack "room" where I board is just an open-air space that cannot be secured. I had to be able to lock away everything I keep there, sooooo it's big!

I designed it and Mr. C'Mare and a friend built it for me. One of these days I'll get around to staining it.

[pony baloney]

The wood cabinet is going to be lovely, no matter what you end up using inside it. I don't have any suggestions on that, save that my dresser (inherited from my grandmother) has one drawer, with a lid, that's lined in cedar. It's very lovely, old enough that it doesn't seem terribly cedar-y in terms of smell, and makes me think that I'm doing something right when I put handknitted stuff in it.

You can lightly sand cedar to bring the scent back.

[Event4Life]

Yeah, it's big but I had to. The tack "room" where I board is just an open-air space that cannot be secured. I had to be able to lock away everything I keep there, sooooo it's big!

I designed it and Mr. C'Mare and a friend built it for me. One of these days I'll get around to staining it.

There's your excuse then, you essentially needed a tack room! I would never store my tack in open air again after (without realizing it) leaving my nice leather halter in an unsealed storage bin in the barn at our house. I was able to rescue it, but just!

I've drooled over your amoire before though, will definitely be getting something like that someday! Right now I have a crappy dover plastic trunk. It does the job but it's not pretty .

[OnThinIce]

I don't have any suggestions on that, save that my dresser (inherited from my grandmother) has one drawer, with a lid, that's lined in cedar. It's very lovely, old enough that it doesn't seem terribly cedar-y in terms of smell, and makes me think that I'm doing something right when I put handknitted stuff in it.

What does the lining look like? If it's a consistent grained, pale orange/brown/pinkish wood it could be Spanish Cedar, which normally has a milder scent.

Eastern Red Cedar has a darker purpley-red color with dramatic grain and much more pungent aroma.

[King's Ransom]

Saddle and bridle racks arrived today! It is warm enough to paint for the next several days, but sadly I am battling bronchitis and so will have to wait until the next break in the weather before I can start.

We may go ahead and put up the racks anyway, we are so anxious. We could always take them down or paint around them later ... maybe ...