Plywood or melamine for garage storage units.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

HI all, What's the best material to use when building garage storage consisting of 6-8 foot tall storage units with shelving and doors? I'm ruling out MDF except maybe for the doors. I don't want all my garage "junk" to show so I'm hiding it in these storage units. Or is it better/cheaper to just buy the units at the Borg? Thanks.

[Brian Hale]

I'd go with plywood, mostly because i'm not a big fan of "plastic" looking stuff. The white surface can brighten up the place but you achieve that with some paint.

Brian :)

[Jim Becker]

This is one of those rare times that I might acutally use Melemine, at least one-side stuff with the white on the inside for easy cleaning. Paint on the outside particle board to suit.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you're willing to live with what the Borg is selling, you can probably buy it for approximately the cost of the materials to build it yourself. If you want different functionality, dimensions, or quality, you may have to build it.

Me, I avoid using particle-board or MDF (melamine-covered or not) for horizontal runs. The stuff is not nearly as stiff as plywood, so it sags worse under loads. I'd go with plywood.

[Mike Wilkins]

For garage cabinets either choice would work. If there is a possibility that there will be water near the floor, I would use plywood for the carcase, and some kind of solid wood (2 X 4) base.
You need to get a copy of FineHomebuilding for a neat article on garages and ideas for outfitting them. Neat stuff there; some would really enhance the beauty of your Ferrari in your garage.

[Frank Pellow]

Plywood without any doubt. It's more durable, better to work with, much more likely to me able to take loads without sagging, and it can be painted something other than white. Oh yes, and I would do as mike says and use solid wood (in my case, spruce) for the bases.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks all for your help. I'm leaning toward using plywood for the boxes and PT wood for a base for possible water contact.

Do you guys have a favorite way of putting 3/4" plywood boxes together? I'm thinking of drilling pilot holes and screwing/gluing just using butt joints. I'll probably use 1/4" hard board for the backs nailing and gluing them on for rigidity. Any other suggestions appreciated. Thanks for the great ideas. Alan

[Stephen Dixon]

Biscuits and pocket holes are a great way to do this kind of rough construction. I would use either or both if the notion suited me. I have built my garage cabinets from melamine sheets and used biscuits and shallow dados at the corners. The dados are very shallow and serve to peel the melamine off of the panel at the glue edges. I have yet to find a glue that sucessfully glues melamine to particle board, so I peel the melamine back and glue the particleboard edges together.

Steve

[Dave Falkenstein]

I would go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy the cabinets. They are easy to assemble and install, and make a neat looking garage storage system. I have done lots of these systems for myself and others, and I cannot make them as inexpensively as I can buy the pre-fab units.

[Steve Clardy]

I'm a plywood guy.

Butt joints,screws and glue are quick easy joints for shop cabinets.

[Vaughn McMillan]

The previous owner of our house installed the borg-style melamine cabinets and drawers along two walls of of the garage. He installed everything on 4x4 legs with leveling screws, attached the cabinets permanently to the walls, and reinforced the shelves with 1x and 2x lumber. They are stout enough to climb on, and I don't think a person could build the equivalent from scratch for the cost of the prefab units and the extra lumber used.

I'd wager that plywood would be better, but more costly, and more work.

- Vaughn

[frank shic]

you know what's funny, alan? i've been pondering the SAME scenario that you're currently presenting: if i could start over again, how would i build IDEAL garage storage units which would shield my junk from prying eyes as well as from incessant sawdust? i'd vote STRONGLY in favor of melamine just because it doesn't need to be finished and the surface is so easy to clean but i'll never fault you for choosing plywood because of its lighter weight LOL!

i would basically rip the sheet down the middle, crosscut about two feet off one end and run a 1/4" dado (a 1/8" wide dado that's half the depth of the material followed by another well-placed WHACK of the fence) about 3/4" or 5/8" in from the back (depending again on the thickness of the material) so that i could attach a nailer at the top and the bottom after inserting the 1/4" melamine back. i'd bore some holes using a 32mm router-based jig like the one that i just purchased from eagle america which works GREAT with a 5mm upcut spiral bit guided by a 3/8" porter cable style bushing so that i could install european hinges (would need approximately three or four for each door). don't forget to get an extra sheet to make the shelves and the doors! while you're at it, tack a couple of sets of camar adjustable levelling feet on to the tab so that you don't have to waste time building a ladder base for all of the cabinets.

incidentally, i'd use a circular saw guided rail system like dino's or festool's or a home made one if you have neither to do the major cuts and then run the dados on a table saw. as far as joinery goes, i'd definitely go with the confirmat screws and maybe throw in some biscuits for alignment. i'd try to remind myself over and over again that they're just GARAGE CABINETS for crying out loud and don't need to be fine furniture!!! skip the fifteen coats of nitrocellulose laquer with a rubbed out finish, ok?

lastly, if you don't have the time, the pre-assembled stuff from home depot or ikea work great like dave mentioned earlier. it's cheaper by far than buying the plywood and factoring in all the time and effort, although with pre-drilled melamine, it might be more of a toss-up.

:D

[John Hulett]

I used melamine, mostly because I didn't have to finish or paint it. If I had to do it all over, I'd probably go wity plywood.

I made large pantry-like cabinets with fixed bottom, top and upper middle shelves. For joinery on those shelves, I made 1/2" dado's in the sides, and rabbited the shelf edges down to 1/2" to compensate for the oversize nature of melamine. Some adjustable shelves, doors w/ euro hinges. Edge banding.... (one of the reasons I'd go w/ ply next time)... I think I'd rather look at exposed edges of plywood.

I made the top shelf flush to the wall, but the 1/4" back of the cabinet was inset 1", then used a "super 1x" pine to make a french cleat so I could hang the cabinets off the unlevel floor (no need to worry about water either). The cleat sits firmly under the top shelf (or vice versa).

All parts glued and screwed (use glue specifically for melamine - Roo Glue? I think Tight Bond makes some too; white bottle w/ purple lettering).

See picture here:
http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=15698&d=1107313587

- John

[chester stidham]

I am doing this right now but I don't like cabnets as I forget where my stuff is but what i'm doing is partical board with 2x3 glued to the front edge with a 3/4 inch rabit not high teck but it makes a cheap strong shelf to mount it to the wall I rip a 2x3 x 1/2 and screw it to the wall and 2x3 for the front support every 4 feet these shelf won't sag even when filled with full cans of paint you could mount doors to the front supports and even use a cheap hardwood for the front supports I start with the first shelf on the fundation ledge then build up I also use carage bolts in the bottom of thr supports so I don't need p/t wood. just a idea:)

[Doyle Alley]

You guys in California and other dry places can get away with melamine very well due to the lack of humidity. However, here in the humid areas of the east coast, melamine will eventually start to absorb moisture in an un-airconditioned garage. You can slow it down by re-sealing the cut edges, but moisture will eventually sneak in and weaken the structure.

[John Scarpa]

Alan,
I have several melamine cabinets that take the clutter of items that need to be accessed by the LOML ofen and for heavy items that my light duty loft cannot handle. These were easy to obtain from the local big box store and serve their purpose. I agree that they will eventually deteriorate and have to be repaced by shop built cabinets or other needs I haven't thought of yet.

As I move back into my shop in a week or two I may have one or two I won't be able to fit in. To bad you don't live in Callif. You could take them off my hands!

[Alan Tolchinsky]

John, Yeah, 3K miles is a little far to go. :D Good luck on your move back into your shop. Why did you move out or maybe I don't understand something here? :confused:

Never mind John, I just saw your post and it looks like a fine shop shaping up there. Alan