Building Garage Storage Cabinets?

[Gary Warren]

I have a 3 car garage with the back portion of the slab being elevated 3 - 4" above the car parking area height and extends towards the front of the garage almost 4' from the back studded wall. In the past, I have put up standard shelving from the big box stores but I find this is just so junky I want to construct a stick built frame to tie to the studs and rafters and then cover with plywood or melamine facing. My question is since I have never built this type of frame or shelving, I would appreciate any advice on how best to accomplish this. I plan to run this cabinetry the entire length of the back wall. I think 2" X 4" construction would work best but not sure and also I am not sure what I should use for internal shelving. Any suggestions or links to construction designs would be appreciated.

[frank shic]

gary, i'm currently in the process of redoing my garage layout to facilitate better work flow. i built 14 base cabinets to take advantage of the space and i'll post pictures later on tonight when i get home.

[Dick Sylvan]

Wood Magazine has done a number of features in their magazines, as well as special issues on this subject. You can order back issues and plans at their website: www.woodmagazine.com (http://www.woodmagazine.com) .

[Dave Falkenstein]

Before you commit yourself to building garage cabinets, check out the kit cabinets available from Home Depot or Lowes. I have installed lots of these systems, and I cannot build melamine cabinets for the price of buying the kits. I just finished a job for a client. I bought, delivered, assembled and installed 15 linear feet of cabinets that are 30" wide X 20" deep X 72" high. The material cost was about $600 at Home Depot. My total labor time was 9 hours.

[Brian Penning]

Agree with dave. Bought my cabinets at one of the Borgs up here for $96. complete with hardware. Even had room for a french cleat on the back.
They're on the upper left side...
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/Bri68/Miscilaneous/IMG_2607.jpg?t=1176920734

[Jason White]

Check out the plans for the "garage workshop" at www.newyankee.com (http://www.newyankee.com). The upper cabinets in those plans are very easy to build and hang.

TP


I have a 3 car garage with the back portion of the slab being elevated 3 - 4" above the car parking area height and extends towards the front of the garage almost 4' from the back studded wall. In the past, I have put up standard shelving from the big box stores but I find this is just so junky I want to construct a stick built frame to tie to the studs and rafters and then cover with plywood or melamine facing. My question is since I have never built this type of frame or shelving, I would appreciate any advice on how best to accomplish this. I plan to run this cabinetry the entire length of the back wall. I think 2" X 4" construction would work best but not sure and also I am not sure what I should use for internal shelving. Any suggestions or links to construction designs would be appreciated.

[frank shic]

it's true that buying the RTA mill's pride cabinets at home depot is a LOT FASTER and most likely MUCH CHEAPER than making them yourself. nevertheless, i figured i needed some practice and i really wanted to try out metaboxes to speed up production time. slab doors are actually MUCH HARDER than you may think. cutting them chip-free is a minor challenge compared to edgebanding all four sides. after edgebanding one door, i gave up and figured i'd do it some other time in the distant future.

it took me approximately four five-six hours days to cut and assemble the cabinets. i'm still working on the installation as you may have surmised. major bummer is i cut the last remaining sheet i had exactly in half with the eurekazone only to realize that i want more overhang! guess i'll just have to recycle the melamine for some mobile outfeed/garage cabinets.

[Rob Wright]

Gary,

I also went back and forth on to buy or build my shop cabinets. I agree that purchasing the shelves or cabinets from the BORG is cheaper and easier as others have posted previously. Even though cost was a concern, I decided that I somehow needed to justify the thousands of dollars of tools in my garage(shop) to myself and SWIMBO. I picked up the birch "cabinet grade" - or ChiPly as my local wood supplier refers to it - plywood from BORG and used this for the cabinets and shelves. I know that this isn't the best stuff, but having them rip the sheets on their panel saw was a plus. If you use it - remember that there are a lot of voids and sometimes the ply like to de-laminate. Alos, when you do cut it - get it down on the flat becasue it tends to warp - overall not great material but it came out ok. It was only $20 a sheet so I can't complain too much. I picked up a bunch of poplar from the local wood supplier and used it for the face frames and front edges of the shelves to avoid sag. I used pocket screws and glue to put them together along with the face frames, as well a cleat on the back to attach to the studs. I also built a few upper cabinets to attach to the wall above the work bench with a french cleat. I overall spent $300 on ply and poplar to make the face frames. I don't think that I could have gotten all of the stuff I made for that cost from the BORG in the pre-cut and ready to assemble Melamine units. It was a great exercise in how to built cabinets and it got me off of the couch for a week or so! Good luck with your choice and have fun if you do decide to build

[Joe Trotter]

I bought these from H Depot. They were easy to assemble, and hang. I wanted to make them but did not have the time.

http://bigbikeriders.com/photopost/data/500/5629after.JPG

[Carroll Courtney]

How about some pic's and alittle info on the chair in the background?Looks very nice.

[Gary Keedwell]

Before you commit yourself to building garage cabinets, check out the kit cabinets available from Home Depot or Lowes. I have installed lots of these systems, and I cannot build melamine cabinets for the price of buying the kits. I just finished a job for a client. I bought, delivered, assembled and installed 15 linear feet of cabinets that are 30" wide X 20" deep X 72" high. The material cost was about $600 at Home Depot. My total labor time was 9 hours.
I'm with Dave on this one.... I put 3 big ones in my new garage...LOML loves them.
Gary K.;)

["Michael Hinkel"]

I bought about about 12' of upper cabinets, 7' of lower cabinets and one 2'x2'x7' for about 300$ at the "Habitat for Humanity" resale store"

[tom coleman]

I have the same 4" slab to contend with and I have existing plumbing on the rear wall as well. I am building a false wall using 2x6 studs and plywood sheathing to give myself a clean surface on a new wall. I am having the slab removed ($300 price quote and worth it IMHO)

I will build a long horizontal work surface the length of the back wall at a height of about 40" and use this for miter saw, drill press and router table.My table saw, variable thickness planer and 2 Sears rollaway storage cabinets will nest under this work surface.

I plan on building 15" cabinets to hang high on the back wall so they won't interfere with my work area. I have 10' ceilings in my garage. This approach works for me, you could build base cabinets for extra storage beneath the miter saw horizontal work surface if you prefer