OK stand is complete!!! YAY... last lesson learned: when making doors for your stand and you measure your openings compared to the remaining side area, include at least 3/4" for each hinge side. This is something where for me, 20/20 hindsight works best. I had to ram the hinges under the edge trim and still the doors slightly nock together when closed. No biggie... the stand still looks pretty good and is really functional. I'm actually working on my own private list of lessons learned here for when I make further wood projects.
Funny thing while taking a break to figure out what to do with the doors, I decided it was time to put in the 4' long power strip on the underside of the top plywood. So I climbed in and on my back put up one side. While pivoting around, bringing over my drill and driver and looking for screws, all while holding up the unattached end, I realize it is going to be a pain to put this end's screws so close to the wall. Nontheless, I finished it.
Then I figured it was time to put the cutout of linoleum on the bottom. So I flipped the stand on its top and laughed as I saw the pwr strip sitting there now very easily accessable and clearly gravity would now hold it in place without the screws. Ha Ha.
I nailed down the lineolum to the bottom frame about every 2-3 Inches with the last 3-5mm angled over to provide additional contact area. I also eurathaned the bottom 2x4's and posts so I will move the stand onto carpet and let the carpet push up the linoleum naturally (I also left enough slack for this to happen). I then plan to silicone the edges to make an attempt at a bathtub effect around the inside edges of the stand should (read: when) water end up here to activate the leak alarm.
I also added some of the 3M plastic hooks to the doors and an inside post to hang towels.
I've moved on to preping the remaining plumbing issues to finality with the exception of actual installation once the stand/tank are in place. So I'm threading teflon tape on all threads, using large channel-lock plyers to crank the fittings down. And I'm in search of some 3/4" and 1" Flexible PVC as I think that will be the ticket to getting this thing to work right with the least amount of fittings and overall cost.
Also, when I ordered the glass for the lids they came out as I requested but in reality an inch too long. So I got out my scoring tool and attempted to snap off the six 1" pieces. Only one came out perfect. Three others needed additional work, and two were a total loss. Also the glass lid hinge material seems to be the correct size for 1/8" thick glass but simply doesn't hold the glass in its grip. I wonder if exposure to light/heat will cause these to shrink and actually hold the glass?
So I'm on my way to making my goal of tank swap a reality!!!
