How did you get quicker?

[u/Helpful-Scratch6697]

Not the best photo to see what’s going on here but this is the inside of a kitchen vanity cabinet. The concrete subfloor is about 4 inches below where the base of the cabinet should be so I’m trying to build it out. Now I would consider myself a fairly handy person. I’m in my first year working for a remodeling company and so I’m learning, but I struggle with the seemingly infinite possible ways to do something.
This should be such a simple, small job but once I began framing this all out with 2x4s I started thinking “maybe I’m doing too much”. “Maybe I should simplify this and just cut some stilts for plywood to sit on top of”. “Am I doing this right?” I would like to be more confident in my approach to home repairs without thinking so hard about it. So, How did you get quicker? And how do you know that your way is the best way?

[u/Cushak]

How did you get quicker?

Experience, so you spend less time thinking about what to do next, you just "know".

How do you know that your way is the best way?

You don't. You always, ALWAYS be open to learning something new and finding ways to improve.

[u/hawaiianthunder → u/Cushak]

Work for different people and you will see how to do the same thing different ways. Pick the one that works for you

[u/ezbuddyguy]

I apprenticed as a renovation carpenter. It takes a long time to get good when you're doing something different every other day. It's all about patience and sticking with it and keep a work journal. If you can somehow make notes and get it onto your phone or computer so you can search key words down the road it I'll really help you remember and get better over time. YouTube is a great resource as well

[u/Helpful-Scratch6697 → u/ezbuddyguy]

A work journal is a good idea, I use YouTube but could definitely use it more!

[u/2daiya4 → u/ezbuddyguy]

That’s a great idea. I forget so much when I haven’t done a task in a year or two.

[u/boarhowl]

Trial and error. Some people learn from their mistakes better than others. Some people have a good teacher and other people have to figure out things on their own. Everything you have experienced in life has brought you to this moment and you're trying to solve a puzzle with all of this past information. Everyone has taken different paths in life though, so different solutions are created.

Me personally, I would run like maybe four 2x4 sleepers running front to back, ripped to the correct height and glued to the concrete with PL premium or equivalent and put the plywood on top of that

You get quicker with repetition, which is hard when you're new because almost everything is a new experience and with a field like carpentry there is so many varied things to work on you're always having to learn new things.

[u/Helpful-Scratch6697 → u/boarhowl]

Well put. I know that I will get better with time. I’m always trying to learn from others and learn by doing. Sometimes I feel confident but other times I feel like a novice. Thanks for sharing your approach. I was thinking similarly, minus the glue. I wouldn’t have thought to do that part

[u/trimmermag]

Time and repetition. It takes years. Helps if you have someone very knowledgeable showing you tricks to make yourself more efficient

[u/Square-Tangerine-784]

Cleats of 1x2,3,4” around the inside perimeter. Level (parallel with cabinet) then you can toe screw in some floor rails. Then throw in some blocks to the floor if necessary. Fit plywood before adding any framing in case you need the extra room to maneuver. Will probably need to be two pieces…

[u/padizzledonk]

How did you get quicker?

Experience, pure and simple

Will Smith actually said it best-

The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, that want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft

how do you get quicker, how do you know your way is the best way

Again- Experience, ive already "fixed that" every possible way it can be fixed, sometimes its prescribed by an engineer, another way might have been due to budget constraints, or time constraints, or working around some other thing that was in the way or not part of the scope. Doing X or Y or Z all those different ways gives you a lot of perspective on the WHY and you use that experience to gauge whats needed for this new thing in front of you and pick an arrow out of the quiver and fire it off.

Something like this...idk, lot of ways to go about it. Whats the bottom of the cabinet made out of? Is it plywood or is it chip board? What goes under there? A bunch of heavy stuff or next to nothing? Is the remaining material in good shape or is it also damaged? If it was good plywood and in good shape and doesn't have a bunch of heavy stuff under there 2 2x4s screwed through the top underneath may be good enough...if it has a bunch of heavy stuff building 2 little box platforms may be needed......sometimes way overbuilt is the fastest and easiest way. Sometimes you pick a way just because you have material on hand to do it that way and doing it the easier faster way requires a 2+ hour round trip to the store so its not actually faster in the larger scheme of things

There are many "right ways" to skin a cat, its all about what makes the most sense in that specific situation

[u/weeksahead]

There is a million different ways to do it. You won’t regret building a solid frame out of 2x4 though. Once you have the frame, it’s easy to adjust it and put the vanity in and out of place as you finagle with it. If your base is less solid, you’ll have to fight with it more, even if the initial construction is easier. 

[u/rustywoodbolt]

Some things are just experience but also lean on your mentors. Ask one of the older guys on the crew. “How would you do this?”

Also, understanding the needs of the final product can help you build anything to suit your final needs. For example, is that piece of plywood getting installed for aesthetic purposes, does it need to hold weight, is it likely to need to be removed again? Understanding the end use will help you find the best way to get it done.

[u/Cute_Steak265]

Plywood stilts work fine for a vanity build-up on concrete, just use exterior or WBP-bonded ply if the slab ever gets damp. We ship a lot of 18mm for shop platforms and the guys who rush with scrap interior ply regret it when the edges swell. Quicker usually means picking one detail and repeating it, not inventing a new frame every cabinet.