Answers in order: 1. Yes, the cabinets will be painted before they are installed. My intention is to paint all sides before install. If my practice goes badly, or it turns out they must be sprayed, I will be painting. 2. At this time, the doors will be on and the drawers out. Is it better to have the doors off? 3. There is no other construction happening when I paint - too much dust and too much mess would ruin the finished product. 4. I read your recipe to use the kiddie pool and filters for the wet floor on a different painters discussion board and on the FPE site, so I will do that. I already have a pool that my grandsons use and fans. I'm uncertain about the furnace filter and filter charger - there will be a ductless mini-split system and whole house air filter that replaces the old floor furnace. 5. I have several 2x4s on which the drawers will rest while drying. I would use the same for the doors if I have to take them off, painting one side at a time. 6. I purchased the brushes recommended and sold on the FPE site. 7. My process will be: a. sanding, vacuuming, damp cloth, microfiber cloth b. FPE brushing putty with paint regular brush from Lowes c. light sanding and repeat of de-dusting process d. oil primer undercoat in white e. Hollandlac Satin - because it's the kitchen, I prefer an oil based paint. For my test on the chest of drawers I recently stripped, I ordered the smallest sizes which will be more than enough. Right now, I think it will take me about 2ish weeks to paint all of the cabinets, but we shall see once I practice a bit. I want to make as many mistakes and have as much trial and error during the practice. My kitchen cabinets will be unfinished maple and the piece I'm working with right now is ash, so pretty similar. Any suggestions, corrections, additional instructions, thoughts?

Last year, I spent several hours doing some Googling on the FPE panels. I came up with two failure modes that were well documented: 1. Double-pole breakers can jam in such a way that they will not trip under any circumstances. It is also possible that one or both poles can remain on when the handle is in the OFF position. 2. Physical fragility of the panels. It is possible to plug breakers into slots where they don't belong. Breakers can work themselves loose in the panel over time. I didn't find a well-documented failure mode for the single-pole breakers to fail to trip. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist; I just couldn't come up with much (some anecdotal evidence, but it doesn't appear that anyone has done a thorough independent investigation, as has been done on the double-pole breakers). Just riffing on this, I speculate that a faulty breaker could have been a factor in the first fire. If it occurred in stove wiring, that presumably would be a 220V 3- or 4-wire circuit with a double-pole breaker. A short or overload on that circuit might not have been cleared by the FPE breaker. I find it less likely that a breaker was a contributing factor in the second fire; that sounds like a poor connection at the switch, or an arc across the contacts inside the switch. Nonetheless, I would be trying my best to convince the co-op that these panels need to be replaced. As I understand it, every resident of the co-op shares the financial risk of liability in the event of a fire. Not to mention the shared risk of actually living in the building with this hazard. If I were a resident, I'd want to reduce my exposure to that risk ASAP. And yes, if those disconnects in the basement contain FPE breakers, I'd replace those too. Remember, those are the double-pole breakers that have a well documented failure mode.

The Federal Pacific were not made by Schneider in Canada. Schneider still makes sells FPE panels in Canada. They are a very common panel up here.

Oh ci_lantro...so many things, all the bad things. I am not exaggerating when I say we had to reframe the fireplace 4 times to get where we are. That was all just trying to make sure the house didn't burn down. Nope...cement board with mudding. the fourth rebuild was because they put a flammable drywall in direct contact with the face of the wood burning insert. We had to get the manufacturer, inspector, and company doing the fireplace install to make sure the contractor got this corrected...they collected money for permits never acquired, hired unlicensed help and had them install the electrical and mechanical work in the house, and Oh, he doesn't even have a contractors license. Apparently the bank accepted someone else's license number and never checked the contractors information. The gentleman whose license was provided to the bank, has never worked on our home. I learned Thursday, the wood flooring was installed incorrectly and will need to be completely replaced (cupping, shifting, quarter inch gaps). We also learned he did the gas lines wrong and they can't handle the associated BTUs. Permits and licensure matter. He also didn't pay his subs and they are coming after us...even though he has been paid funds towards these subs and never passed the money on. So I am focusing on the fireplace as we try to settle all the horrible, very bad things. Katinparadise...where do I look for a plasterer...how will this be different from the mudding?