We are attempting to streamline our install process and setup our 14' box truck as a full time install vehicle. Currently we are sending guys out for installs and they have to pack up all of the necessary tools each time and unload when they come back to the shop.
Has anyone here come across or willing to share a complete checklist of everything they use for install or should be in an "install truck"? I am looking to have this truck outfitted so when the cabinets go in the guys can head out and not worry about what is missing. This list would need everything from chop saw and levels to door bumpers and screw sizes.
Thanks for any help given and for all the help I have already received from everyone! -b
From contributor Be
Also if you could talk a little about how your cabinets are prepared before being sent out for install. We are a high end fully custom residential shop and are always dealing with odd size boxes, hoods, etc.
Our current process is leave the hardware off the doors after finishing, flat pack and wrap them in foam and plastic. Put the finished drawer boxes into the cabinets and put everything into the truck. Once on site we unwrap all the doors, install the boxes, hang the doors and drawer fronts then drill and install any remaining hardware.
I may have left out a small step or two, but that is the general idea of how we run things. ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THIS METHOD?
-b
From contributor th
ben,
we do has you are trying to avoid (shop guys loading and unloading) and you'll just need to make a list for yourself. leave a couple of things behind and you can just add them to the list for future gigs:)
regarding transporting - we came up with the idea to screw "wings" (3/4" scrap plywood - 3" x 10"ish) on to the backs of our boxes and screw these to the walls of the truck (or wood running along the walls). this allows us to transport complete cabinets with hardware installed and we don't have to worry about straps rubbing on the finish or things bumping into one another. we typically shrink wrap the boxes prior to keep the door and drawers closed while in transport. this method somewhat limits the amount of cabinetry we can get into the truck at one time but we do a lot of small jobs and this hasn't been an issue.
good luck.
From contributor ca
Hi Ben-
We have check lists for Corian installs, casework loads and install for casework in general.
I had a complete lists that needed updating in word @ our shop and that went with the crash of the hard drive so I started a new on on Google Documents, and I now add to it @ home or in the shop. This has helped tremendously. The guys hand in jotted notes and the office personnel can add to it since its our shop e-mail account.
When I re-wrote the list, I broke it down into sections like 2, 4, 6' levels, pls with spare batteries, chalk line with spare chalk. The belt sander and it spare belts, and I even have duct tape for the eventual dust bag break. Shop vac and spare bags, etc. . I inventoried the screw box and wrote a check list for it. The adding of it to google doc's has made it accessable and right now I just added lacquer thinner and clean white rags.
The checklists are run even for weekly maint. on tools and machines. The trucks even have 'em. Heck, we even have one to start the edgebander and test the glue and set it up for 3mm and then return the bander to 1/2mm :)
On the packing of the casework, we send the jobs complete, hardware is left off. We leave enough time in the schedule for the finish to cure out and allow us to assemble complete. We buy 12 or so furn pads a quarter and throw out the bad ones or send them to the corian, or p-lam duty only. Hoods, mantles, etc usually go out on their backs, and there are times a box truck and a trailer go for the same job, just to protect the odds and ends.
We use a lot of stretch wrap with clean card board and foam to keep the doors and drawers from swinging open. We double the pads and strap everything to the side of the truck or trailer. Huge closet jobs with a lot shelving gets strapped to 8' pallets and strapped cross and length wise to avoid the inevitable brake and smash problems. All counter tops are strapped and padded to the sides of the trucks.
We rent a lot of 24' box trucks and make sure they are clean for our needs. When our guys are free for an hour or two the foreman will send a young guy and a shop vac to the box trucks and panel van to clean them out. There are times when trucks are completely stripped to the bone and accumulated items are thrown out.
Every employee is instructed to care for the new furniture pads and never throw them on the ground preventing rocks and pebbles getting lodge in them. They are also checked before loads to make sure they are clean.
Good Luck, cm
From contributor Be
Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you guys really have got a great system together. Is there any way you would be willing to share some of these checklists you are referring to? I am attempting to get together a very similar system and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again!
From contributor No
I'm assuming that with a 14' box truck, your installers are also the delivery team? I've installed high end cabinets for many years, but as a sub-contractor, not as an employee of the cabinet shop. I was able to carry everything I could possibly need for an install in a GMC Sonoma with an extended cab and a topper with side open windows. On the sides I built racks with dividers that carried all my drill/drivers, jig saw, nails, two screw boxes with every imaginable size screws, 3" planer, 15,18, & 23 ga. nailers, 3 x 21 & 2-1/2 x 14 belt sanders, small router & bits, etc. The side lockers made it easy to access tools and even more importantly, easy to see, at the end of a long day, if anything was missing!
In the bed, I had a bed length, pull out drawer where I kept my levels and other misc. items, including left over fillers and scribe. These came in handy more times than I can count, For some reason, I inevitably cam up 1 filler short. While this wasn't an issue for the high end jobs where the fillers were built into the design, there was always something. Also in the back were my chop saw & knock down stand, pair of k/d saw horses, DeWalt compact table saw with it's own k/d stand, small compressor, and plenty of hoses and extension cords. Finally, I had a tool box, built-in behind the front seats where I kept items like hand planes, spare blades, and whatever else I thought might keep me from making a trip to the hardware store. Oh yeah, The ladder rack on the roof for a 4' & 6' step ladder
While, there were many occasions where the shop forgot something, I rarely found myself unablt to complete an install because I didn't have the right tool or fastener. Plus, I was able to do it in a very, compact & efficient manor!
Most builders, seeing me pull up in my little red truck, were amazed when they saw what I had packed into it!
From contributor Mu
Here's a simple one that's on the clipboard that chases the job.
The empty squares are for weird stuff, particular to that job.
From contributor Lo
Great list. Thanks for the pdf.
