POLL: How Much Will You Spend On Nice Cabinets?

[enginerd]

I'm doing some research on what the current market is for Cabinet Systems in the Mid to high end market.

This forum is a great resource for information, although I rarely see any of the many high end garages that are out there featured or posted about...I assume its because the owners want to keep things private, which I personally feel the same way about our own garage...even though I love seeing other high end facilities

However, I am curious to see what the forum members would pay for a Mid to High End Steel Cabinet system, (think Lista Quality cabinets), fully customizable, basically any color you want, and readily available.

So the poll is what would you be willing to pay for this Wall cabinet system?

Average wall systems would be 12-15' in width, and include base and overhead cabinets, tall cabinets, integrated workbench and accessories (Drawer inserts, lighting, custom colors/decals, etc). System will be fully customizable by choosing a combination of the available cabinet components.

Thanks!

 

[mikeyr]

You forgot $0 !

I wont spend anything on cabinets, I prefer and like open shelves to see my parts and what ever else is on them. Its MY garage and not my wife's.

The garage did have built-in's that the realtor pushed big time as a big plus when we purchased the house the look on her face the day after escrow closed as the cabinets were in pieces in the back of my truck was priceless. Open shelves so you can see are way nicer (in my not so humble opinion).

Now toolbox/workbench wow did I spend a LOT.

And then Racedeck flooring and wow did I spend a lot but cabinets not for me.

 

[enginerd]

How much did you spend on the toolbox/Workbench? $7500?

The pricing I gave is fairly low to what many high end consumers purchase. In some cases, $20k is more like it for a 12-15' wall assembly, but I have yet to see more then 1-2 people on this forum use such a product...its a very small market for such a product.

Shelves are good, but for a mid to high end garage they are out of place. Also a 24" deep shelf requires some beefy bracing to hold up many many hundreds of lbs

 

[mikeyr]

close... I spent 6k on the toolbox/workbench combo, custom with Red powder coated base with stainless drawer fronts and 7'10" long 1/4" steel workbench top.

In my opinion and this is MY opinion only, a high end garage like you are proposing is the wife's garage and not the guys garage where he goes out and works on his car, its for the wife to show off what great cars he can afford to own for her. I have a mixture of that since I have the Racedeck flooring for show and the lift and workbench and yeah shelves for work.

I go with the Gorilla heavy duty shelves which do not need any bracing and paint them the same color as my car, a nice bright RED and I also like the shelves because they don't go all the way up to the ceiling so I have the Ferrari logos and signs that I collect on the wall above them.

Like I said, to each his own, I will go away now

 

[PoorOwner]

As my name would tell you.. I am kind of frugal.. I have not spend more than $1000 on a single equipment or project for the garage yet.

My cabinets that are MDF and I have not spent more than $700.. they have held up well. And when my jack handle run into the cabinet I don't blink an eye, I imagine if I dented the uber expesnive metal cabinets instead, it would bother me forever.

If I have over 10k to spend I would spend it on the kitchen first!

 

[nova65ss]

In my opinion this really isn't a good source for the answers your looking for. Most of us here are DIY'ers and a shelf that holds the paint on the wall is just as good as a $500 cabinet. Seems to me the poeple that are willing to spend the money are the people not interested in building something on their own. JMO

 

[SteveL]

I voted in the $500-$1500 catagory as I plan on making my own and that should cover the cost for materials. I plan on building floor to ceiling cabinets that will look like they came out of an early 1900's hardware store. Lots and lots of small drawers for tools, detailing supplies, etc. two work surfaces that will be out of a free piece of black manufactured granite look material. Good quality Blume or Accu-ride suspensions on all drawers. The cabinets will cover about 18' of wall space and would easily cost $15k or more to purchase. Thank God I can make them or I would be stuck with the mdf **** from HD.

I prefer to put me money in the cars, not the garage.

 

[bluesman2a]

I voted 1500-2500.

I'm of two minds here. I agree with Mikeyr, except I use the Sams Club rolling baker's rack shelving and bin/rack shelves. I also have some rolling lockers from Gladiator. While I like the rolling racks for most stuff, there are certain things that are nice to have in a closed locker either for looks, or to protect them from the shop environment itself.

I have a WORKING garage. Things get dirty, oily, dusty, etc. I cut weld and grind almost constantly.

BUT I also really like my Sams/Costco stainless toolboxes. If I could reasonably extend at least that quality to my shop furniture/cabinets, I certainly would. The issue I have is that I have found NOTHING I like between the 600-700 for the tool-chest and the more significant investment in Lista-class cabinets. I refuse to buy particle board **** or things that will not survive in a working shop.

I mean how hard is it? Look at the design of the existing stuff (like the stainless chests) at the same/lower price-points and take a slight variation!

 

[bmwpower]

I voted in the highest range, but would go higher. I bought what I bought because I never want to buy another cabinet ever again. I'm in for the long haul and plan to pass everything down to my kids. I could have compromised and tried to make something myself, but I don't have the ability (yet) nor the tools to accomplish what I wanted. I love the quality and love the look. I wouldn't have done it any other way.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Mind are some old wooden ones I salvaged from a house. A thick coat of oil based battleship gray enamel and they work great. I just got a refrigerator sized metal officel cabinet and soon it too will get the good old battleship grey. I plan to use it for extra tool storage and a place to keep all of my spray paint and engine additives,wax etc. I can appreciate fancy high doller cabinets but in my case I dont need them.

 

[Kurn]

I "rehabilitate" old metal kitchen cabinets.They are cheap (sometimes free),and after painting and new hardware they work perfect for me.I also keep my eye on industrial surplus stores,such as HGR in Cleveland,machine shops selling stuff,etc.

 

[BoostAddiction]

Your range probably doesn't go high enough for truly high-end garages. There are plenty of guys who have already lived through the MDF, or lightweight steel, or plastic/steel, or similar variations and now want a better, permanent solution, like BMWPower. That's why places like Lista, Baldhead and others do a fine business- there really are people willing to drop five figures on nice cabinets.

Not all of them are the hard-core car guys that do work on their own cars, but many of them are. Personally, working on cars is a hobby for me, and making the environment pleasant makes it all the more rewarding. And a good cabinetry system makes it a lot more fun.

 

[Lloydthumper]

Mind are some old wooden ones I salvaged from a house. A thick coat of oil based battleship gray enamel and they work great. I just got a refrigerator sized metal officel cabinet and soon it too will get the good old battleship grey. I plan to use it for extra tool storage and a place to keep all of my spray paint and engine additives,wax etc. I can appreciate fancy high doller cabinets but in my case I dont need them.

Must be a NC thing I have some actually very high end cabinets from a house that was being remodeled. (Free) Money I don't spend on cabinets = more car parts.

 

[PhantomEB]

Wheres the -500 option, only way I can see 500+ for when I cut and build my own cabinets, is when beer is added.

 

[enginerd]

Thanks everyone, greatly appreciate it!

I'm not surprised by the results at all though. I'm aware this is a very "hands on" forum where its a lot of Diy'ers who like to get the best bang for the buck.

As for the higher end range, I was trying to imply this poll was for mid range, with a "high end" construction. The market currently has ~$5k cap for the mid range steel cabinets like Geneva and Hercke. Major differences between cabinets is available options, finish quality, and if it comes built or flatboxed.

From the research I have done there is a big gap in cabinets available when you get to 5k...they jump to about 20k. So if you can get a 15-20k wall unit for $5k, and with the current trend of building 2-3+ garages in new houses, it definitely can have the same effect as redoing your kitchen or bathroom.

While I don't agree with the "wifes garage" comments, I understand your point of view. Unfortunately, most high end garages don't get "used" as much as they should, they are merely showrooms essentially.

However, for the larger facilities/garages, there are separate showrooms and shops. So you get a specific area in the building/garage that is dedicated to work. And when you have $500k-1M+ into a residential garage, I don't care if its Bob Villa master home craftsman, you're not going to have $500 cabinets in that garage. These types of buildings/owners/users I was not expecting to get feedback from here. Thats what the Porsche/Ferrari forums are for

Most of the "car nuts" I know who have large garages (3000sf+) are mostly using them for storage and "social" activities. For the garages that actually have work take place, they have dedicated shop areas. I only know 2 people who uses warehouses, as they just have too big of a collection to build a residentially located garage. The only Metal "kit" style garages that have multi-million dollar car collections in it, are finely finished inside.

Anyways, thanks again for the responses, and keep them coming!

 

[rickairmedic]

I will have less than $100.00 invested in all my cabinets when done and thats for paint and sanding supplies . I picked up an ungodly number of old metal kitchen cabinets off of my local craigs list FREE a while back took 2 over full trips in my van to get them all home . I also have some other cabinets that were store display cabinets at one point in their lives prolly $2000.00 plus bucks when new but free to me .


Rick

 

[78fj40]

You guys are all crazy...I've spent a total of ~$300 bucks outfitting my garage with used cabinets I got from a used office furniture auction site.


And they look awesome too. You could always paint them any color you wanted, plus they can be keyed for security:

For the amount most people are actually going to use them in everyday activities, they serve their purpose very well. Spend your hard earned money on a good tool box with ball bearing drawers.....

 

[sjsfire]

I'm a wood worker as a hobby so I built my own. 12 ft long 3 ft high. Wood, paint, hardware. Less than $130

 

[Bevis]

Mine will be either old metal kitchen cabs. or from someones remodel.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Another scrounger here. Mine have been dug out of the neighbors trash after the kitchen redo. I would never spend my limited tool/machine funds on any wall cabinets. So my answer is a big fat zero!

 

[PanelDeland]

I spent about $500.00 on stock kitchen cabinets,a couple of open shelf units and 2 8' flourecent lights.I used 3 2X10's for a benchtop.Covered with replacable cardboard.It's low budget and works well.I did invest in a great 42"
roller glide toolbox.I have slightly less than 400 sq.ft. so I don't have room for a lift or a lot of room for cabinets.The QOV also seems to store spare paper goods,dog food and other stuff there no matter how often I point out that she has 4700 sq.ft. of house.I reused some of the open wall mounted shelves for some items.QOV doesn't like open shelving because it looks cluttered and I agree,also it lets the stuff get dusty dirty and such.My bench is 8' with upper cabinets on the sides and a shelf between the uppers to mount a 4' light on.I need to update my elect and add a welder and compressor(soon).

 

[W-Cummins]

That's why places like Lista, Baldhead and others do a fine business- there really are people willing to drop five figures on nice cabinets.

I don't know about Baldhead as I have never heard of them, but I bet that lista makes way more cash off industrial sales than SMALL sales to poser garage owners.

Large industrial buyers snap up 100's of them in a pop. People like BMWpower probably cost them more in time and order changes than they make off the whole sale.

I guess the poser sales maybe a growth area now and the industrial sales are going down as more and more manufacturing moves off shore. I know places like Boeing still buy them in large numbers, (and sell off the old ones through surplus as does the US army).


now I will duck behind my firewall!

William....

 

[enginerd]

There are higher spec cabinet systems then Lista, and for the specialty applications, they are all done contracted. But Lista is one of the largest manufacturers, for sure. Quality Control and quality of the design is fantastic, and is hard to beat for the price...but if you can get the same quality and service/support for half the price...thats what I am researching.

I used to engineer for a defense contractor, and we built the largest Mobile Command Centers in the country (if not the world). The last project I worked on for them during my contract period was Maryland State Police's unit. Amazing vehicle.

When you are dealing with this caliber of a project, we designed and manufactured everything from scratch, with designs that could not be 'optioned' or made to fit from a Lista Catalog.

Similarly, there are hundreds if not thousands of "small" automotive and fabrication Shops out there that use the prebuilt wall units from companies like Lista and Avonsdale/Scottsdale/Phoenix type units. There definitely is a market for these, and as the economy comes back and the rich get even richer, there will be more "toys" purchased, even bigger garages built, and more young car collectors looking to impress their friends. Regardless if they are using the product to its designed potential, they are still potential customers

If the manufacturer is big enough, having quality WITH quantity is what brings in the profits...and much of that is moving to China. Which is not a bad thing necessarily. For the companies that build their own facilities in Shanghai/China and Japan, the quality can be maintained at a very high level. I also did work for a machine designer that laid off 150+ union workers b/c they built facilities in China and Japan. While it ***** they got laid off, the company made huge profits, and was able to employ more engineers, producing better products, more efficiently, while greatly increasing the profit margin.

I think the DIY'er group might not realize how many people actually spend this kind of money b/c its not blasted all over the internet. Usually its people age 30-60 who like to keep their lives private. Plus, if they can afford 20-50k+ for cabinets in their home garage, they most likely work many hours and have busy lives (unless they are trust fund babies) so internet posting is not friendly to their schedules. Its more of a "do it right and give me the bill," as opposed to, "what can you do for $10k."

Some of the biggest car collectors we're friends with (20-100M collections) don't post on the internet and are basically "unknown" outside their "community." But that doesn't mean they don't exist as a customer in the market

Anyways, thanks again for all your responses, I'm learning a lot, and am getting great feedback from several online communities.

 

[bmwpower]

I don't know about Baldhead as I have never heard of them, but I bet that lista makes way more cash off industrial sales than SMALL sales to poser garage owners.

Large industrial buyers snap up 100's of them in a pop. People like BMWpower probably cost them more in time and order changes than they make off the whole sale.

I guess the poser sales maybe a growth area now and the industrial sales are going down as more and more manufacturing moves off shore. I know places like Boeing still buy them in large numbers, (and sell off the old ones through surplus as does the US army).


now I will duck behind my firewall!


William....

Not sure I like what you're implying. When do I obtain the next level above poser? When I run 1000 gigawatts of 3 phase to my garage?

 

[W-Cummins]

Not sure I like what you're implying. When do I obtain the next level above poser? When I run 1000 gigawatts of 3 phase to my garage?

No, _your_ the example of the small sale that didn't net lista a dime gezzz you have to keep your roll straight To get to poser at status you need to get a much bigger place and fill it up with the $500k cars that you neither drive or work on....

 

[bmwpower]

No, _your_ the example of the small sale that didn't net lista a dime gezzz you have to keep your roll straight To get to poser at status you need to get a much bigger place and fill it up with the $500k cars that you neither drive or work on....

Ahhh. Gotcha. Thanks clearing that up.

 

[enginerd]

Any more feedback for the topic at hand...cabinets.

Thanks for the feedback guys, the poll is great for my research!

 

[enginerd]

Just bringing this back up.

I've had great responses throughout a couple forums, thanks for your help!

 

[bgarrett]

I am willing to spend $0 --thats nothing-- for nice cabinets

 

[zvezdah1]

I've settled on the stock modular units they sell at Lowe's can get in white, bare wood, etc. Very cheap, and each unit is coded to help you set up the configuration you want. A very inexpensive way to do this.

Chris