Thoughts on Closet design

[Scott Davis]

I have a spent a few weeks on this design for a closet. Mostly had to learn sketchup so time consuming.
There are many tricks I still need to learn!

Anyways, this is my plan and I would love any thoughts on the structure?

I am having trouble with the strategy needed to build this in my third car garage. I will have 9 carcasses to finish as a weekend warrier with a Wagner HVLP gun. Not sure how many sheets of plywood this is but going to deconstruct this into Cutlist Optimizer and see.

Options include:
1) use Melamine (I have not worked with this) to save on finishing with Hardwood faceframes built onto the carcsess once installed and brush painted I guess?
2) build 9 Carcasses, spray a few at a time with primer and 2 coats paint (painful) and keep in basement as I work through this. Build FF's onto cabs in closet.
3) figure out how to spray 8-10 sheets of ply and how to store it while paint cures enough to stack. Then I will only need to paint FF's after building onto cabs in closet.

I am leaning towards #3, perhaps in 2 shifts

Appreciate any thoughts on design or strategy?

my .SKP file I guess is too large to allow posting.

Scott

Closet- working.jpgCloset- working (2).jpgCloset- working (3).jpg

[Kevin Jenness]

I am not a big fan of melamine coated particleboard due to its weight, but if you want a pigmented surface finish it is the efficient way to go. Painting hundreds of square feet of plywood is not my idea of fun. Have you considered subbing out the painting? Have you considered using prefinished veneer core plywood?

If you do go with melamine you will need a good method of cutting out the parts that show both faces without tearout. And eat your Wheaties.

Your layout sensibly avoids scribing. Working in closets always has a ship in a bottle aspect. Make sure you can get the cases in and stand them up and have a helper, or look at building them in place with kd fasteners like Lamello Clamex S. I would assemble and prefinish the face frames before putting them on the installed boxes, allowing for touchup if necessary.

[Jamie Buxton]

There's a new sheet good on the market which is a big upgrade to the old melamine-on-particleboard. The face is very thin formica -- about 1/32". So it is much sturdier than the old melamine face, which is only a few thousandths thick. The core to the new product is plywood. It can hold screws, which is beyond the capability of particle board. My hardwood supplier sells this new stuff for $80 a sheet of 3/4" material.

[Paul F Franklin]

I would avoid the paint first option; you will end up with many scratches from handling/cutting/assembly unless you take a ridiculous amount of care.

If you paint after construction, be careful to choose a paint that dries very hard and doesn't block (the tendency for stuff to stick to the paint after long periods of contact). Most latex and acrylic paints suffer from this and those that don't typically take a long time to cure to the point that blocking isn't an issue. Some of the finishes from Target coatings might be a better way to go; others here are more familiar with them.

My first choice for such a project would be pre-finished plywood. It's way lighter than melamine and although you can scratch it, the finish is tough and requires only a reasonable amount of care to avoid scratches.

[Scott Davis]

I was worried about being able to accurately build the face frames outside and have them match. This would be better as I would guess the paint will fail at the joints if I built them in place.

What product would work to spray to a hard finish after building the carcasses and then I could still touch up?

I have only used Emerald on the cabs I have made, it takes forever to cure but I guess that could still work here if I could build the FF's accurately and finish outside, and could touch up with a brush.

will need to look for that laminated plywood product, I have never seen that. That could be perfect!

If I can get wife to go with prefinished ply (def easier but not white which she planned) how do you finish the FF and trim to match?

[Dave Fitzgerald]

Something like prefinished maple shelving would go well with a painted white face frame. Might be a good compromise between the desired whiteness and practical fabrication. (And to my eye it would look better than all-white anyway.)

[Ron Selzer]

"(def easier but not white which she planned)"
go with white Melamine and keep your wife happy
use a separate base, stand your units up in the closet and then slide them on the base. This will allow you to get by with a narrow trim to the ceiling. Use iron on tape to trim out cut edges, paint will not look good years later. White laminate glued on if you have to, lot of extra work. Maybe a stained wood face installed piece by piece after the cabinets are installed. dry fit the first unit in the bedroom and then try to move it in the closet. May find you have to break units down smaller or assemble in the closet. Work out path to closet. Will the units turn/ go thru doors, down halls? Whether the units will stand up in the closet? Before cutting more than the first one out. You want as fast of an install as possible to keep wife happy. Drag it out and pay the rest of your marriage for it.
Make it too complex and it will
1. drag out way too long and wife will be very upset
2. you will get burned out and rush the front which is what 95%+ people are looking at, especially once items are put on the closet
3. learn how to do one new item on this project, then another new item on the next and grow, don't try making a big jump on each one.
Ron