LESLIE: Kathleen in Rhode Island’s on the line. And apparently, she’s quite tall. How can we help you today?
KATHLEEN: Yeah. I think everybody is getting taller and taller.
TOM: (chuckling) OK.
KATHLEEN: Yeah. But we still have a standard shelf height. My question is why hasn’t it changed?
LESLIE: (chuckling) Why hasn’t it changed? I think, generally, shelf height has just been standardized for so many years that it just hasn’t adjusted. I think what you should look into, as far as putting in shelving in your house, is things that you can control the installation; control the height of where they go. Even if you’re installing your own cabinets – your upper cabinets in the kitchen – have your contractor or yourself, whoever’s doing the work, put them up at a higher location to be more accommodating for you.
TOM: You know, for years, I used to work in construction and I got sick and tired of the short sawhorses that all my coworkers had. So when I built my own, I made them about six inches higher so that I didn’t have to bend over all the time and, you know, put all that wear and tear on my back. So …
LESLIE: And you know what I like to do on my work tables – you know, if you just have a plastic folding table, I take a length of PVC pipe – you know, maybe …
TOM: Right.
LESLIE: … four inches, six inches; that’s the same diameter as that leg of the table – and then I put a little cap on the bottom and I just slap the four of them on the bottoms of the legs. And that lifts the table up so when I’m leaning over doing my sewing work, it doesn’t put a lot of strain on my back.
TOM: Yeah, it makes a – it makes a big difference.
Kathleen, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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