Walk in closet systems - Woodworkers unite!

IÂ’m adding a bedroom suite to my house and my wife is getting the walk in closet she badly needs - 11 by 7 with a small window. My contractor budgeted a hefty 4K for the closet system and I thought that was outrageous but welcomed the credit to be used elsewhere. Then I started to price out pretty basic systems online and itÂ’s at least 3k or more for 2 units on the 11 foot wall sections. And that is using all composit materials with band edging.

Now i I donÂ’t need anything fancy in my closet and IÂ’m sure the veneered composit will hold up just fine. But the woodworker in me is having a really hard time with this given the absolute simplicity of the construction. IÂ’m just looking at a few shelving units, 5 drawers, and then 2 side panels to hold the clothes rods.

i figure even if I use walnut plywood and then make a face frame out of walnut IÂ’m only a couple hundred in materials. I then buy the drawers online and put a walnut face on them too. ItÂ’s just a bunch of rabbets and dados and I can use screws for most of it. Plus itÂ’ll be secured to studs in the wall so I donÂ’t have to overbuild either.

Am am I just crazy to think this is a 4 day weekend type of project for a few hundred in materials? If so IÂ’d be left with something far superior to the cheesy looking veneer composit systems they are selling and saving 2k in the process.

Welcome more sage and reasonable advice...

i use the borg white melamine for our closets. pre drilled and pre edged. took us a single weekend day for about 16 lineal feet with 2 shelving units, 2 sections of 2 levels of hanging, and a section of combined shelves and hanging space. Looks fine, was fairly cheap and was fast to build/install. one thing, use the solid tube for the hanging bars, not the extendo cheapo ones, much better quality. a few dadoes plowed with a router, glue and screws for the rest. a vertical 1x4 dadoed into the back along the top full length shelf and below the middle shelf in the shelving units for strength and 3 in cabinet screws into the studs through them for hanging the units.

You may have a challenge finding prefinished walnut plywood (not to mention the solid wood FF), so some type of finish will be required. That is often the most labor/cleanup – definitely the longest duration of time. Without seeing actual detailed plans it is hard to provide cost estimates. Blum Tandem 563H in 21" will cost about $30-$40 a pair (including all parts and shipping) ... so five drawers puts you at $175. The drawers themselves if pre-made will run $60-$80, so add another $350. Two sheets of plywood at about $125 each, $50 worth of hooks and rods (likely more) and then another $75 of fasteners and finish and so forth. Then the Black walnut solid wood ... $100? So yes $250 + $350 + $175 +$50 + $75 +$100 = $1,000 of materials as a ballpark number?

We priced a closet system for our 8x10 mater bedroom closet and were told for real wood figure on a starting price of about $10K. I built my own, do not know how much it cost since I did not track it.

I would find walnut too dark for that use. You don't say if you have used that material before, the veneer is really thin and easily damaged.

I always underestimate the price of the labor when doing things myself.

Time is worth different things to different people.

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Originally Posted by Mel Fulks

the veneer (on Walnut) is really thin and easily damaged.

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This is true. It seems thinner than other hardwood plywoods, though they are all thin. Though to Prashun's point below, the materials are likely to be the least expensive part of the project. And the effort is rarely calculated accurately.

To get an apples to apples comparison you need a specification. That is the job of the homeowner (or their architect/design consultant). It sounds like the OP is comparing many different approaches and may actually be more cost driven than feature/function.

I was assuming all unfinished wood and i'd have do that finishing myself. But now that I reflect a bit more on it that part might take this from a 4 day weekend project to a longer investment of time....

Probably need to paint the closet first?

One strategy I have used is to purchase Ikea frame units to use as the skeleton of the closet, and then dress them up with crown molding, connecting shelves, base molding, raised panel doors and drawers. Of course this assumes you can live with the choice of white or black/brown. Finishing would be limited to painting the add-ons to match. But the heavy lifting is pretty easy because the Ikea units come completely finished, line bored, and once secured to the wall, they are adequately strong.

It helps that they are available in a variety of size configurations. I have also added box components from their kitchen cabinet line. If you go this route, it is possible to do a stunning closet and come in under what your builder quoted, depending on how you value you time as others have pointed out.

I can post some photos if it would be helpful.

Edwin,
I would love to see a couple of pictures of what you've done. Like the OP, I have been weighing the huge investment of money vs the huge investment of time. I have come to the conclusion that I really have neither to invest in any substantial amount and I would love to see what you came up with!
Thanks in advance!