Advice: Companies that do Garage Cabinets, like Smart Garage

15 years ago

I just had one company come give me an estimate for "building" and reorganizing my garage. They did a reorganization of an inside closet to more of craft shelving and storage about 2 years ago. They did a good job and now I want something done to my garage. It was Closets By Design, but they are similar to California Closets. I decided to try companies that also just deal with garage storage. My estimate includes three 8-9 foot, 48" cabinets attached to wall studs and raised off floor and one 8 foot "work bench" with cabinets, 3 drawers and full laminate top. Estimate was about $2700. All the clutter being out in open is driving me crazy.

I have it currently on steel open shelves with MDF shelves, but the different sizes of bins and buying bins that end up not fitting (my problem, I forgot to check), makes me want something that is easily adjustable without having to take the entire shelving unit apart. Any other options that would close it off to look symmetrical would also be an option, I was thinking about those sliding "barn" doors on tracks. It does not have to be a custom storage system, just something, nice, easily adjusted and neat.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these types of companies? Construction-wise, what should I look for so far as material used, melamine vs MDF vs powder coated welded steel? This if a garage in TX (not a lot of cold weather) that I use for storage and workshop for woodworking and crafts. Thanks for any advice.

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caroles_jungle

14 years ago

I did not want to spend a lot of money on my garage, so I bought a nice USED kitchen from someone doing a remodel on their kitchen. Love all those cabinets for storage and counter tops for a work area.

I hired two laborers to move the units... and had a carpenter install all the cabinets and counter tops in the garage with a new Formica sort of wood-look top. I might change out the doors later for a wood look.

My laundry room shares a garage wall and I had a plumber connect a pipe into the garage and install the kitchen sink that came with the kitchen. :) Nice to have running water in the garage for my garden clean up... washing out my old pots or paint brushes I don't want to wash inside my home. I put rubber mats in the old stainless steel sink too. With all the counter space, I can do a lot of different things.

It is fun to go to garage sales or thrift stores looking for the perfect old stool or high chair for the garage. :)

A friend bought two of those big metal garage cabinets at Sam's (I forget the price) and installed in their garage to take care of a lot of things like tools. They also bought those big heavy garage mats at Sam's for one area of their garage if that is your taste.

I have always done the "install old kitchen units" in my garages over the years, as most of these can be fixed up with cheap wood looking Formica tops from Home Depot or inexpensive new cabinet doors. Those old kitchen counters are a lot stronger than any of these units sold by companies. It will cost under $500. if you find the right kitchen to put in. One time I got a unit for free to haul away.

No one realizes my garage storage was once a kitchen. They think I had the upper and lower cabinets built in etc. I use hooks on the wall for certain things and I have this medium size brown antique barrel where I put things like rakes and other long handled items upside down.

We have 95 degree humid summers here but no really cold weather. I think kitchens are built for all kinds of weather. Anyway... that is what I do in a garage for storage and counter space.

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Comments (12)

yadax3
15 years ago
I've never purchased anything from Closets by Design but I got a quote from them to do our MB closet several years ago and then I found Easy Closets online and saved about $1,000. I checked the quality of Closets by Design pretty closely at the time and I believe Easy Closets quality is comparable or maybe even better in some respects. Anyway, although $2,700 sounds pretty reasonable for everything you described, typically you will pay a premium to have a company design and install your cabinets. If cost is a consideration, designing everything yourself and ordering online can save you quite a bit. You could order them online and still hire someone to install them for you but it's really not a bad DIY job for two people.

P.S. Even if you don't end up ordering from them, it's always fun to use Easy Closet's design software to experiment with different options and configurations. I've got 3 closets designed and saved on their site for future purchase.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Closets
sonepi
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks. My concern is the construction of these types of storage closets outside in the garage where there is variable weather and temperature. We can get up to 110 in summer and about 20-30 in winter.
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sonepi
Original Author
14 years ago
Has anyone ever had these types of storage cabinets built? Is there something I should look for like type of material used, depth and weight? Any info would be appreciated. Just trying to determine if overhead storage or cabinets would be a better option. I may decide to do a little of both. Just not sure yet. Now that the weather is getting warmer, looking more seriously at options. Of course, the downside is having to remove everything from the garage for the construction of cabinets. :-(
sonepi
Original Author
14 years ago
Does anyone have any advice? Now that the weather is nicer, I would actually consider moving things out of the garage, IF these companies and their products are a good deal.
osxaddict
14 years ago
One thing to keep in mind with the shelving from any of these companies is to figure out whether you'll be really loading them up. If the shelves are made from MDF or similar AND there is no front support (edging,etc) on the shelf and a heavy load is put on them, they may sag -- this really depends on width of the shelving, how much weight,etc.. There are calculators out there that can tell you how much sag to expect.. One is listed below.. The reason I mention this is because our kitchen cabinets are made from MDF and they sag quite a bit..

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet Sagulator
sonepi
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you osxaddict. I was wondering about these sort of details. I have A LOT of heavy stuff. The calciulator was very helpful.
yadax3
14 years ago
One final thought - if you're worried about whether the product will stand up over time in a garage there's nothing I've seen that can beat Gladiator cabinets by Whirlpool. That's what we installed in our attached garage and I'm pretty sure they'll still be going strong long after IÂm gone.

We installed Ikea cabinets in our detached workshop to save money and they'll do just fine for occasional use but Gladiator cabinets are the best for a garage that gets alot of traffic.

P.S. Gladiator has online design software too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gladiator
sonepi
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Carol's Jungle for the tip and a great idea to recycle old cabinets. You're probably right about the construction of old cabinets vs the new ones now.

Yadax3, how long have you had your Gladiator cabinets? I've seen the fridge/freezer and tool boxes, but not the full cabinets.
dancingqueen1982
14 years ago
I recently had my garage done (everything from garage cabinets, to the garage floor coating the wall organizers!) by PremierGarage and could not be happier! I am in Phoenix, AZ so the heat is something we are very used to and something that won't affect the cabinets either if you are in TX. Their garage cabinets are extremely sturdy (the shelves can each hold up to 100 pounds!)and are mounted off the ground so it is easy to clean the floor and we don't have to worry about any of our "desert friends" living under the cabinets. We went with the powder-coated garage cabinets in Slate, they are a green product, which was a big plus, and they are moisture, stain, and chip resistant so nothing my kids do to them will make a scratch! We also did one cabinet with their new sliding garage cabinet doors, so it is so easy for me to get to my gardening tools!
PremierGarage is a national company (also one of the reasons we went with them) with a lot of locations across North America.
They also have a really neat tool where you can design your garage online and then send it in, it was fun to do!
Hopefully this will help in your decision, good luck!
http://www.premiergarage.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: PremierGarage
yadax3
14 years ago
I've had Gladiator cabinets for about 2 1/2 years. They are pretty tough as they are all metal except for the handle inserts and wall tracks. I acquired all of our components at a discount by watching the sales at Sears, including Craftsman Club discounts.
sonepi
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Yadax3 for the info about Gladiator refrigerator.

Dancingqueen1982, you registered just to answer my question. I'm honored.

Advice: Companies that do Garage Cabinets, like Smart Garage

caroles_jungle

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Advice: Companies that do Garage Cabinets, like Smart Garage

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