Building simple inexpensive garage cabinets

[Devildogs]

Recently bought a house and im starting to plan out my dream garage.
Anyone ever make Built-In garage cabinets?
I saw some on the Family Handyman. They are built with 2x2 frames hung from the existing 2x4 structure and walls. They do not require a top or a back panel.
http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-P...age/installing-large-garage-cabinets/View-All

 

[JimVonBaden]

There are a couple posts on here where they built their own. Nice work too. Looked similar to your drawing.

Jim

 

[deter]

be careful what type of plywood you get, it needs to be flat and stable. Not bowed and wavy. They look like nice strong cabinets. quality 3/4 birch ply is going to cost $50-$75 per sheet. OSB is $10-$15 a sheet. So depending on the look you want, you could cut costs by going that route (use some construction adhesive with OSB)

 

[daveroy]

Maybe use Birch for the outside/exposed pieces, and OSB for the interior dividers and shelves...?

Make sure you post pics if you do, I have been contemplating this for quite a while.

 

[Gary S]

Yes, I built mine out of left over scraps of oak plywood and solid oak that were taking up space in my woodworking shop after building furniture for the house.

 

[wintermute]

You could always check your local building salvage shops for old kitchen cabinets as an alternative to building your own.

 

[bad_idea]

I built the family handyman cabinets in my garage. I modified the dimensions and used construction grade plywood. Very sturdy and easy to build.

 

[JasonW]

PBS's 'The New Yankee Workshop' did a two segment program on building simple garage cabinets. It was apparently one of their most popular shows. I believe it is available from their website and you might be able to find it in your local library. I fully intend to build my own cabinets when the day comes.

 

[Devildogs]

be careful what type of plywood you get, it needs to be flat and stable. Not bowed and wavy. They look like nice strong cabinets. quality 3/4 birch ply is going to cost $50-$75 per sheet. OSB is $10-$15 a sheet. So depending on the look you want, you could cut costs by going that route (use some construction adhesive with OSB)

yup 3/4 cabinet grade should do. I think i will lag bolt the 2x2's to the wall first. Shim them to get everything straight and level before attaching the dividers.

 

[Devildogs]

Yes, I built mine out of left over scraps of oak plywood and solid oak that were taking up space in my woodworking shop after building furniture for the house.

Those are nice. I'm gona have to stick with yellow pine but then again i plan on painting them instead of staining.

 

[Devildogs]

You could always check your local building salvage shops for old kitchen cabinets as an alternative to building your own.

I considered this first. I understand that habitat for humanity has outlet stores but i need alot of cabinets maybe 20 top and 15 bottoms. I want them all to look the same.

I built the family handyman cabinets in my garage. I modified the dimensions and used construction grade plywood. Very sturdy and easy to build.

Did you take any pictures? I would love to see those.

PBS's 'The New Yankee Workshop' did a two segment program on building simple garage cabinets. It was apparently one of their most popular shows. I believe it is available from their website and you might be able to find it in your local library. I fully intend to build my own cabinets when the day comes.

Thanks i will check that out.

 

[Devildogs]

Made some 3d layouts to get an idea of what to put where. It's in the early stages.

 

[SweetD]

My cabinets are very similar to that design, but made out of left over OSB and pine trim from our house addition back in 2007. They are really strong and simple. We referred to them as "floating cabinets"...I don't have a great pic right now but you can just see one of them in the background here:



Mine are hung mid-wall and have a top, which of course makes for more storage. I would like to put doors on them some day. I get lots of spiders and their webs.

Dave

 

[mayday0017]

I have built cabinets before and won't do it again... If you come across some cheap cabinets some how that's fine. But you can buy metal cabinets for what you will spend building wood ones. They will hold up well, they are light when empty to move around, and you can take them with you to your next house.

 

[Motofixxer]

I searched CL for cabinets and got a whole kitchen of cabinets that were torn out and in good shape. They were $100 for the whole set. I did have to make a couple doors and slightly modify 2 of the face frames because 2 of them were blind corner cabinets. That will give me almost all the cabinets I need for my shop. I also brought home a couple more from a vanity replacement that I will have to make slightly taller and make doors that match the others. That will just leave me a tall cabinet to construct.

Much less work than making my own. I would have constructed them sturdier, but the time savings and cost difference is what convinced me.

 

[Falcon67]

Custom cabinets will be very cool and work well, if you have the time and inclination to do the work. If you do it thinking you'll save money, better read mayday0017's post again. My dad and grandad would have done nothing else - and did. Me thinks I've got 100x less idle time in 2012 than there was in 1962.

 

[thdewey]

I,ve made some simple and very cheap cabinets. Sheets of 4X8 OSB were used with pine face frames and 1X2s for the shelf supports.

5 cabinets for less than $200. 4 cabinets at 3'X5' and one at 3'X3', all are 18" deep. very little waste.

Build
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50978

 

[JasonW]

PBS's 'The New Yankee Workshop' did a two segment program on building simple garage cabinets. It was apparently one of their most popular shows. I believe it is available from their website and you might be able to find it in your local library. I fully intend to build my own cabinets when the day comes.

Season 12 Episodes 1 and 2

 

[Devildogs]

My cabinets are very similar to that design, but made out of left over OSB and pine trim from our house addition back in 2007. They are really strong and simple. We referred to them as "floating cabinets"...I don't have a great pic right now but you can just see one of them in the background here:



Mine are hung mid-wall and have a top, which of course makes for more storage. I would like to put doors on them some day. I get lots of spiders and their webs.

Dave

Yup thats what im talking about. Taller to the ceiling so i don't need a top and with doors. I was worried that they would not hold up all the weight being "Floating" cabinets. Glad to hear that they do.

I have built cabinets before and won't do it again... If you come across some cheap cabinets some how that's fine. But you can buy metal cabinets for what you will spend building wood ones. They will hold up well, they are light when empty to move around, and you can take them with you to your next house.

Well im not looking for more work but I don't have the $3000 or so that going with the metal cabinets would require so I will just have to put some sweat equity in to the project.

I searched CL for cabinets and got a whole kitchen of cabinets that were torn out and in good shape. They were $100 for the whole set. I did have to make a couple doors and slightly modify 2 of the face frames because 2 of them were blind corner cabinets. That will give me almost all the cabinets I need for my shop. I also brought home a couple more from a vanity replacement that I will have to make slightly taller and make doors that match the others. That will just leave me a tall cabinet to construct.

Much less work than making my own. I would have constructed them sturdier, but the time savings and cost difference is what convinced me.

I will keep an eye out for this on CL but so far I havent seen any that fir the bill.

Custom cabinets will be very cool and work well, if you have the time and inclination to do the work. If you do it thinking you'll save money, better read mayday0017's post again. My dad and grandad would have done nothing else - and did. Me thinks I've got 100x less idle time in 2012 than there was in 1962.

Agreed. I know this will be alot of work and will ultimately be a very wastefull project that I am better off not doing, but I can't help my self. I must jump in with both feet and bite off more than I can chew. It is in my nature!

I,ve made some simple and very cheap cabinets. Sheets of 4X8 OSB were used with pine face frames and 1X2s for the shelf supports.

5 cabinets for less than $200. 4 cabinets at 3'X5' and one at 3'X3', all are 18" deep. very little waste.

Build
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50978

These look very nice. This is alot like what I will attempt.

Season 12 Episodes 1 and 2

Thank you

 

[Devildogs]

Think more like what you would see in a walk-in closet rather than a kitchen.
My main concern is that the doors will not work if the front of the cabinets are not straight and level. Interior walls are usually not even close to being straight. This is not a problem when building boxes but built-in's are a another story. Maybe I'm over thinking this?

 

[JasonW]

Think more like what you would see in a walk-in closet rather than a kitchen.
My main concern is that the doors will not work if the front of the cabinets are not straight and level. Interior walls are usually not even close to being straight. This is not a problem when building boxes but built-in's are a another story. Maybe I'm over thinking this?

I think you are on the right track.

One simple way to deal with uneven walls w/o having to shim is to run a dado in a 1x3 to support your shelves.

If you consider the typical ledger board that supports a shelf from underneath, instead raise that ledger up about by the thickness of the shelf plus about an 1/8 of an inch. Into that 'ledger' run a dado the thickness of the shelf leaving that 1/8 topside to hide the unevenness in the wall. These 'ledgers' provide a solid support for both your shelf and face frame which can either be cut to follow the wall or simply installed square to the opening and trimmed with a small molding. The face frame would in turn give you a solid fitted surface from which to hang your doors. All told this gives you a really clean appearance with a minimum of work.

Hope that helped. I can sketch some quick details for you if you have any questions.

 

[csp]

Well im not looking for more work but I don't have the $3000 or so that going with the metal cabinets would require so I will just have to put some sweat equity in to the project.

I don't think that whomever mentioned metal cabinets was talking brand new, especially since they said you'd have about the same money into them as building your own.

I see the double door, 6' tall cabinets all the time going for $free to $50 each. An auction company I regularly buy from has them all the time, just as an example.

That said, I built my own. Home Depot had this nice cabinet grade 3/4" plywood for $25/sheet and I used three sheets along with two sheets of 3/4 OSB that I already had for the backs. Face frames and doors were made with materials I had on hand already. I got two tall cabs and one drawer unit out of the material. I don't remember my dimensions.

Unfortunately the plant that was making the plywood burnt to the ground not long ago and won't be back in production until October (estimated), per the Home Depot contractor dept.

 

[mayday0017]

I bought brand new ones and have 2 large standing cabinets and 2 hanging wall cabinets and only have $400 ******* in all of them.... They would take 6 sheets (miniumum prob more) of plywood to make yourself at $25 (cheap) a sheet so $150 in plywood, add $50 for frames for all of them you are at $200, add another $50 for shelf you are at $250, $25 for paint $275, $25 for hinges $300... OK so you saved $100 doing it yourself, they are very heavy now and **** to move if needed. They don't have locks (or if they do that's another $30-50) and if you ever want to sell them becasue they don't "Fit" your needs anymore they are worth $10 a piece.

I'm not saying cheap cabinets can't be made, but you get what you pay for and some times in life being cheap cost you more then it would of to do right the first time.

Also yes you can build wood cabinets you are happy with and for the same or less then metal cabinets can be had in some instances. But going out and buying materials new from big box store you will spend about the same money unless you seriously cut corners.

 

[bad_idea]

No pictures at the moment. Unfortunately my garage is only 14x20 and my 02 z28 is on jack stands waiting for a new clutch. I can't get a good picture of the cabinets with the Camaro parked in the middle of that small space! I'll see what I can do tomorrow. Nothing overly amazing though, very similar to Jack Olsen's upper cabinets.

 

[Devildogs]

I think you are on the right track.

One simple way to deal with uneven walls w/o having to shim is to run a dado in a 1x3 to support your shelves.

If you consider the typical ledger board that supports a shelf from underneath, instead raise that ledger up about by the thickness of the shelf plus about an 1/8 of an inch. Into that 'ledger' run a dado the thickness of the shelf leaving that 1/8 topside to hide the unevenness in the wall. These 'ledgers' provide a solid support for both your shelf and face frame which can either be cut to follow the wall or simply installed square to the opening and trimmed with a small molding. The face frame would in turn give you a solid fitted surface from which to hang your doors. All told this gives you a really clean appearance with a minimum of work.

Hope that helped. I can sketch some quick details for you if you have any questions.

That makes sence. I originaly wanted to build frameless cabinets but I figured it would be a can of worms with all those slab doors end to end. Face frame is the way to go. I never thought of using the face frame to help conceal the inperfections.

I don't think that whomever mentioned metal cabinets was talking brand new, especially since they said you'd have about the same money into them as building your own.

I see the double door, 6' tall cabinets all the time going for $free to $50 each. An auction company I regularly buy from has them all the time, just as an example.

That said, I built my own. Home Depot had this nice cabinet grade 3/4" plywood for $25/sheet and I used three sheets along with two sheets of 3/4 OSB that I already had for the backs. Face frames and doors were made with materials I had on hand already. I got two tall cabs and one drawer unit out of the material. I don't remember my dimensions.

Unfortunately the plant that was making the plywood burnt to the ground not long ago and won't be back in production until October (estimated), per the Home Depot contractor dept.

I have seen the ocasional CG add with 3/4" birch for $28/ sheet. I also considered MDF in the begining but now Im thinking all plywood.

I bought brand new ones and have 2 large standing cabinets and 2 hanging wall cabinets and only have $400 ******* in all of them.... They would take 6 sheets (miniumum prob more) of plywood to make yourself at $25 (cheap) a sheet so $150 in plywood, add $50 for frames for all of them you are at $200, add another $50 for shelf you are at $250, $25 for paint $275, $25 for hinges $300... OK so you saved $100 doing it yourself, they are very heavy now and **** to move if needed. They don't have locks (or if they do that's another $30-50) and if you ever want to sell them becasue they don't "Fit" your needs anymore they are worth $10 a piece.

I'm not saying cheap cabinets can't be made, but you get what you pay for and some times in life being cheap cost you more then it would of to do right the first time.

Also yes you can build wood cabinets you are happy with and for the same or less then metal cabinets can be had in some instances. But going out and buying materials new from big box store you will spend about the same money unless you seriously cut corners.

Agreed. I have several of those particle board pre-made cabinets in my garage right now. I agree that for a your basic cabinet they are hard to beat. But Im looking for some High speed low drag type cabinets with shallow tool drawers and plenty of room. Also these will be separate top and bottom cabinets for plenty of counter space.
I currently have a Melamine type kitchen counter top. I have had it for 4 years and it still looks great.

No pictures at the moment. Unfortunately my garage is only 14x20 and my 02 z28 is on jack stands waiting for a new clutch. I can't get a good picture of the cabinets with the Camaro parked in the middle of that small space! I'll see what I can do tomorrow. Nothing overly amazing though, very similar to Jack Olsen's upper cabinets.

I had to kick my toy car out of the garage because it is filled with moving boxes to the ceiling! My poor 928 has been sitting in the Texas sun exposed to the elements for a month now.
I hope you get that clutch soon. Those jack stands tend to stick to the car after a while.