Garage Cabinet depth

[jhendric]

Folks,

I am about to start building my garage cabinets. I am contemplating making my wall cabinets over my bench 24"deep. in planning this I realized none of the commercial cabinets are that deep....about 18" is the deepest. Is 24" to deep? I want maximum capacity for large tools, but I also want them to look "right".

Thoughts?

 

[Handyandy23]

I think the problem is you need the uppers to be a bit shallower than your work bench, or else you'd be hitting your head on them trying to use your bench.

I have the Husky HD cabinets and stainless steel work top, and there's only maybe 18-20" between the table top and the upper cabinets. If they were full depth it would make the bench very hard to use.

Same as a kitchen. You never see the uppers as deep as the base cabinets, because again the countertop would be unusable.

 

[Squirel]

I just built a bunch of upper cabinets for my shop. I started at 18" but decided that 16" was a better depth. At 24" I would think that things that get shoved to the back will never be seen again especially on the upper shelves. I had some wire shelves that held most of my tools that get stored in their cases (Dremel,rivnut tool, hand router, stuff like that) it was 16" deep and almost everything fit on it without hanging over.

 

[Terranova]

Do NOT make your cabinets 24” deep. You’ll regret it. Stuff will get lost. Promise you.

 

[Paul_The_Builder]

Almost all garage cabinets (and kitchen cabinets for that matter) are between 10"-12" deep.

I built a "prototype" cabinet for tool storage and made it 14" deep to have a little extra storage. Even at just 14" deep the cabinets seem really big. 16" might be do-able depending on your setup, but anything deeper than that is just not practical if you want a work bench underneath it. You'll run into the paradox that if you mount the cabinet higher to have more access to your workbench, it'll be too high to comfortably lift large items in-out of it, and if you mount it lower to have easier access, you'll lose access to your work surface underneath it.

I think I'll continue making my future cabinets 14" deep, but that's the absolute deepest that I think I'm comfortable with.

Full height cabinets are another ball-game, 24" or 30" deep cabinets will totally work.

 

[LeeG]

I made an upper cabinet that was 24" deep, but I built it as a ***** style slide out. Normal cabinets would be way too easy to loose stuff in if they were anywhere near that deep.

View media item 104959

 

[polhub]

LeeG, I like the idea of the slide outs, do you have any other info or pictures?

 

[nadogail]

Measure your kitchen and think about how your stuff would fit in those cabinets.

Then after due consideration, go from there.

 

[Shovelhead]

I made an upper cabinet that was 24" deep, but I built it as a ***** style slide out. Normal cabinets would be way too easy to loose stuff in if they were anywhere near that deep.

View media item 104959

What in the hell you doing with EVAPO-RUST in Arizona!!

 

[LeeG]

Here is a link to the Sketchup file I used to build it. I used 100lb, 24" full extension drawer slides on the back of each slide out.

It has been in use for 8 years now, and is still holding up well. I used baltic birch plywood for the construction, and made the interior of each slide out with holes for adjustable height shelving. 2 slide outs are sides to hold 1 gallon cans/bottles, and the other 3 are sized for quart sizes.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I think it depends on how deep your work bench top is, what you are storing and how tall you/cabinets are.

The shallower the bench top is, the same thing for the upper cabinets.

If you are storing some larger things, you might need more depth.

The shorter you are, the harder it will be to reach the back of the cabinet on the higher shelves.

I'd take all the details into consideration and the fact of what you are building with. Plywood comes in 48"x96" sheets, id try to use a multiple that creates the least amount of waste for what works for you.

 

[Slowbuilder]

Hey LeeG! I do like your pantry style cabinets.

OP, I had 24" deep full height cabinets in my last garage (typical garage cabinets around here), and you MUST do something to manage the stuff that gets lost in the back. As a simple solution, I bought a bunch of clear plastic totes that are around 5" deep, put the stuff in them, and put them on the shelves. If you get some with handles, it is easy to slide the tote out on the shelf to see what is in the back. Not as finished a solution as LeeG's, but quicker and cheaper. You'll want to make sure you fit the cabinets to the totes so the doors shut.

 

[jhendric]

Great points guys. Plus if I go 16" the math on 4x8 plywood works out 33% cheaper.

 

[jhendric]

I made an upper cabinet that was 24" deep, but I built it as a ***** style slide out. Normal cabinets would be way too easy to loose stuff in if they were anywhere near that deep.

View media item 104959

Wow, that's a whole 'nother level!

 

[cruzer75]

I have a two 12 in wall cabinets and a base cabinet thats 12in deep under it that were built in by the Previous owner. You can fit a lot of stuff in them and they don't prototrude out to far if you have space constraints.

I have one Vidmar upper cabinet with a flip up door thats 16inches deep, stuff get lost all the time in the back.

I plan on building more cabinets above my Table saw/Lathe wall to eliminate a floor cabinet i have and am thinking 12in.

It also has to do with what you want to store in the cabinets.

 

[k1rodeoboater]

I'm going to be building mine 10-14" deep. 18" is way too deep. You're only 6" shy of your bench or a base cabinet at that point.

 

[rburke65]

I would think you’d be banging your head on them

 

[jetnow1]

I mounted a bunch of cabinets high along the sides of my garage to leave room under them for movable items, work bench etc. I find 12 cabinets too shallow so I built boxes
that were 16 inches deep, and took some old kitchen cabinets that had bad chipboard boxes but good hardwood face frames, and reused the faces. Solid cabinets, all plywood
and hardwood for dirt cheap. I find the 16 inch deep is still visible as to what is in back but holds a lot more. Doors keep the dust down too. Of course the better half is eyeing them now.

 

[rayra]

I'd go no deeper than 16". And it's a good dimension for breaking down plywood.

 

[Voi]

Folks,

I am about to start building my garage cabinets. I am contemplating making my wall cabinets over my bench 24"deep. in planning this I realized none of the commercial cabinets are that deep....about 18" is the deepest. Is 24" to deep? I want maximum capacity for large tools, but I also want them to look "right".

Thoughts?

I no longer have my workbench under some deeper cabinets I built but I played around with a mockup before I did so. I found a height above the bench and a cabinet depth that still allowed for a good work surface.

I can measure the cabinet depth but it was less than 24" for sure. I'm guessing with the french cleat and face frame it's close to 18". I'm not home to measure that right now.

 

[Joemctag]

For loose items, my 14” deep shelves were about right to not have to rummage through to get to stuff. I put loose items on the first shelf above the bench, at about eye level, but I’m nowadays a believer in plastic totes for the shelves above that. For totes, 16” or even 18” deep might be better. Do you like small or large totes? I’ve never put doors on my uppers (or lowers), but maybe I like seeing all my stuff. Rooting through your shelves looking for something is amateur. Used to do it, but now feel stupid if I have to.

 

[poppakap]

Here is a link to the Sketchup file I used to build it. I used 100lb, 24" full extension drawer slides on the back of each slide out.

It has been in use for 8 years now, and is still holding up well. I used baltic birch plywood for the construction, and made the interior of each slide out with holes for adjustable height shelving. 2 slide outs are sides to hold 1 gallon cans/bottles, and the other 3 are sized for quart sizes.

Link not working for me. Would really like to see it. Thanks!

 

[LeeG]

I fixed the link in my original post. If it doesn't work still, send me a PM.

Lee

 

[PhantomEB]

26” for my work bench, 12” for my cupboards. Everything fits up there other than my chopsaws.