Soffit Cabinets

[tjpavlov]

Does anybody have any plans for soffit cabinets? I have seen a few people do it on here (XYZ seems to have started the trend), and they all seem great.

I have a finished garage with insulation, blueboard, and plaster. I have trusses above that, and I am not sure where to start.

Jack Olsen has something similar, but his seem to be sometimes stacked on top of his Stronghold cabinets for support.

I was going to start by lagbolting up a horiztonal board around the walls. Maybe start with the 2x6 or even 2x8. From there, I could build out with Simpson strongtie joist hangers and eventually frame it out with a faceboard. Does anybody have any ideas of how often these should be tied into the ceiling? As noted above, I have trusses, and I don't know whether they are designed to carry additional load from shelving below. Is it safe to tie into them? Is there a general rule of thumb for how far out these can go before you have to start supporting them from either above or below?

Any input or ideas would be most appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tjpavlov]

Here are a few links to some of the great soffit cabinets that have been created by GJ members:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122006

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45022

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81594

 

[PECVD2]

I used a method similar to this in my first garage way back when and with a few extra screws/lags and some cabinets doors faces from your local re-sale store you can build some soffit cabinets and store stuff up and out of the way.

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-soffit/index.html

 

[csp]

This photo was over a year ago and I still haven't made the sliding doors. Built something similar in my old house in '98, but never enclosed it. That one was just framed in with a plywood bottom.

Never used any plans. Just cut/assemble as I go usually. I ran a 2x4 across the top of the bottom chord of my trusses to help spread the load and tied my vertical front supports into the trusses and the 2x4. Trusses usually aren't rated to carry much of a load like this, so keep anything you store on it on the light side.

 

[BWS]

Just remember,2x4 construction eats up alot of space.

A typical "wall" is a 4-9/16" system........so,if you had two walls,partitions,whatever......coming out from a backwall.Thats a little over 9" of wasted space.

Start thinking thinner.Look at how kitchen cabmets are construtced.Look at how on some builds....the fridge is in a "nook".Theres two verts(upright pcs)with a fridge wide cabmet above.There wasn't any 9" lost.


So I'd be thinking "verts" when designing "soffit" stowage.And it don't have to be 3/4 plywood.Could be steel angle bolted together,erector set style.Then utilize thinner ply as the stiffener.....heck,peg board would be good enough to keep it from "racking".You can also use a bare bones skeleton,angle leg system......just lag it to the backwall to keep it plumb/stiff.

 

[bad_idea]

The Family Handyman cabinets are a favorite. I built a set of them and changed the dimensions to suit my needs. They are very sturdy and were easy to build.

 

[eastbaysubaru]

The Family Handyman cabinets are a favorite. I built a set of them and changed the dimensions to suit my needs. They are very sturdy and were easy to build.

Ditto! I did the same thing and they're great. I've used this technique twice, once for a stand alone unit and once for a unit above recycled/reused kitchen cabinets (repurposed as garage shelving).

-Brian

 

[tjpavlov]

I too have seen that link on the Family Handyman. They look great, and I really like how you build them in place.

However, I am nervous about tying them into my trusses overhead. I am just not sure that the trusses are designed to take any more load than the room and roof above it. I live in MA, so if there were to be a problem down the road, it would present itself when we have about 12 inches of snow on the roof.

 

[regguy1]

Here's soffit storage units I built: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65557

More here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[mdbeck1]

Does anybody have any plans for soffit cabinets? I have seen a few people do it on here (XYZ seems to have started the trend), and they all seem great.

I have a finished garage with insulation, blueboard, and plaster. I have trusses above that, and I am not sure where to start.

Jack Olsen has something similar, but his seem to be sometimes stacked on top of his Stronghold cabinets for support.

I was going to start by lagbolting up a horiztonal board around the walls. Maybe start with the 2x6 or even 2x8. From there, I could build out with Simpson strongtie joist hangers and eventually frame it out with a faceboard. Does anybody have any ideas of how often these should be tied into the ceiling? As noted above, I have trusses, and I don't know whether they are designed to carry additional load from shelving below. Is it safe to tie into them? Is there a general rule of thumb for how far out these can go before you have to start supporting them from either above or below?

Any input or ideas would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Lots of links on this thread. However I think I saw a newer one on another thread where they used unistrut for the main frame. That minimizes the lost space and gives you lots of places to hook into your joists.

Whatever you do lag bolt at every joist and if you can make some uprights lagged into both the joist and the top board. Overkill is your friend on this. You may know not to overload them but the next owner of your house will overload them. I just took some down that were sagging in the front and ready to fall. They were actually only held in place by about four 16 penny nails. I put in floor to ceiling wooden shelving units.

 

[tjpavlov]

Just an update for everybody....

I spoke with an architect today and he stronly recommended against anchoring into the trusses for heavy storage. My trusses bottom chord is actually three pieces. I believe that they are 2x8s on the ends, where they attach into the walls, and 2x12s in the middle, where they support the floor above.

He said that the room above is certainly not using the weight capacity that it is built to hold because of the way that I use it (bedroom). However, he said that the best place to anchor into the trusses would be the middle, not the edges or around the perimeter, where I would be putting in the soffit cabinets. He suggested that I try to get most of the load on the walls, which would be better equiped to carry the weight. He said that I could attach to the ceiling for smaller weights, but I know my family, and we will eventually end up stuffing more and more weight up there.

So I think that I need to redesign my plan to be more kitchen cabinet like rather than shelf-life. I am thinking that if I lag bolt 2x6s into the wall around the top of the wall and then the bottom of my cabinets, I can build out from there, much like the Family Handyman designs noted above. I will need some vertical supports for rigidity, much like the sides of cabinet boxes. That will limit some of the usefullness of the cabinets, but I think that it may be a wise move, all things considered.

One issue that I have is that my studs are 16 inches on center and my trusses are 24. So a vertical support can't anchor into both. Perhaps I will need to build a top plate out of plywood to just help hold the faming together. I am torn between whether I should build the cabinets in place like the Family Handyman article, or whether I should build boxes and just lag them into the studs.

If anybody has any more thoughts or ideas about all of this, please let me know. Thanks for all of your input!