# Garage Cabinet design



## LBCportagee (Mar 4, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie to the site and have some initial questions on my cabinet design. I've used google sketch for my garage which is drawn to scale. I plan to make face frame cabinets with overlay doors for simplicity. The cabinets are not necessarily drawn to final dimension. I'd love some comments on the overall design specifically how to incorporate the washer/dryer and amenities. Second, I know there are "standard" cabinet sizes and dimensions that are ideal to get the most out of board stock. I plan to use MDF or similar since these will be painted. I'd like to make these cabinets slightly larger then say kitchen cabinets. Can anyone suggest basic box dimensions that will utilize MDF board size efficiently. And last question, my elevated foundation sticks out from the wall a couple inches which can be seen in the sketch. Does my frame need to go up and over this so the back of the cabinets are flush with the wall? This will make creating the box much more difficult/time consuming. THANKS!!!








http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c50/LBCportagee/GaragewithCabinetpost.jpg


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

As for the size, what do you mean larger ? There are reasons for the size such as height if you make it to tall or short it could be uncomfortable to be functional. The depth is because of basic counter top standards. Width can be anything you want as long as you have support for the top.

Your cabinets need to be flush to the wall for mounting and aesthetics. Once you have the pattern it won't be that hard. My question to you is this how high would they have to be cut out for the foundation? It would be easier if your bottoms were above that point.

A little more info would yield more info if needed.


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## jlhaslip (Jan 16, 2010)

'Slightly larger' in what dimension? taller? deeper? wider?
Normal cabinet boxes are around 30 " high. The toe kick is around 4 3/4" and the top is about 1 1/4" giving a finished counter top height of 36".
The space between counter to the uppers is about 18 inches with the height of the uppers being 30 inches.
Overall height top top of the uppers is 84 inches (7 ft).


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## aggreX (Aug 14, 2008)

IMO garage space in certain areas are exposed to high humidity or extreme temperatures thus I could not use mdf or wooden cabinets. I am concerned with mdf cabinet weight and shelf warpage.


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

LBCportagee said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I'm a newbie to the site and have some initial questions on my cabinet design. I've used google sketch for my garage which is drawn to scale. I plan to make face frame cabinets with overlay doors for simplicity. The cabinets are not necessarily drawn to final dimension. I'd love some comments on the overall design specifically how to incorporate the washer/dryer and amenities. Second, I know there are "standard" cabinet sizes and dimensions that are ideal to get the most out of board stock. I plan to use MDF or similar since these will be painted. I'd like to make these cabinets slightly larger then say kitchen cabinets. Can anyone suggest basic box dimensions that will utilize MDF board size efficiently. And last question, my elevated foundation sticks out from the wall a couple inches which can be seen in the sketch. Does my frame need to go up and over this so the back of the cabinets are flush with the wall? This will make creating the box much more difficult/time consuming. THANKS!!!
> 
> ...



You can make them any size you want but going deeper would make reaching things in the back harder without crawling inside to reach items at the back. 

Toe-kick can be any height you want. Is the foundation within this height? If so you could make your cab boxes square & make the toe-kick separate accounting for the front recess & the foundation recess. If not make your cab ends run long on the backside to give you some scribe room & notch for the foundation. 

Make only the sides that show run long so you would not have to scribe all the partitions in the middle. I prefer birch ply for garage but I've seen mdf. I would use the birch ply for the shelves regardless because it does not take much weight for mdf shelves to start sagging.


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## RLHERRON (May 15, 2008)

If the washer and dryer are front loaders, I would put them on a riser (10 - 12 Inches off floor) Could put a storage drawer underneath. 

As you age you will appreciate that feature more :laughing:

It also gives them a built-in look.

RLH :thumbsup:

Sorry, didn't look at your picture first. oops!


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## LBCportagee (Mar 4, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I've decided to go with "standard" dimensions, but make the cabinets one box longer. The pictured cabinets had a 4" toe kick, 36" tall countertop, and overall height of 84". The depth was 24" and 16" for the wall cabinets. Just basic boxes now...I'm going to build the sketchup design this week and try and make use of the cut-list script.

The foundation could be tricky because there is a gradual slope of the garage floor. In the back of the garage the foundation is only 8" high but mid-garage where the cabinets start the foundation is 16" high. To make it even more difficult someone has made a portion of the wall flush with the foundation which you can see in the picture where the wall comes out an inch or two. So part of the wall is flush floor to ceiling and part sticks out 16"-8" at the foundation. I considered this too high for a toe kick. 

I live in Southern California so I'm not sure temp or humidity are much a factor but I'm definetly going to look at the prices of birch ply for the boxes and definetly will use ply for the shelves.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

LBCportagee said:


> Thanks for the replies. I've decided to go with "standard" dimensions, but make the cabinets one box longer. The pictured cabinets had a 4" toe kick, 36" tall countertop, and overall height of 84". The depth was 24" and 16" for the wall cabinets.



"Standard" for wall cabinets is 12".


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## Willie T (Feb 1, 2009)

Well, here is my first impression. Get your bench area out of that corner.

You will soon hate yourself for not giving yourself an open-ended area in which to work.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

With stacked washer and dryer your wife is probably going to want a shelf/table top nearby to place cloths as she takes them out. Is your workbench top going to stay clean enough to do this? Or do you have a roll around cart for this purpose?

George


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## Eusibius2 (Jan 6, 2010)

I suggest you'll have to build a sub-floor to give you a level work space. That's first and formost, otherwise your whole workspace will be pitched towards your garage door. I believe this is pretty standard to keep rain water out of the garage?

Second - to combat the the foundation that sticks out 1-2" from the wall (also on a pitch), I suggest you build a back to the workspace. Much like a backsplash. This way, you can have your 24" depth continuously throughout without having to customize each base cabinet to fit over that lip.


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## Eusibius2 (Jan 6, 2010)

Willie T said:


> Well, here is my first impression. Get your bench area out of that corner.
> 
> You will soon hate yourself for not giving yourself an open-ended area in which to work.


+1 for this. Open ended work stations will give you more options.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

aggreX said:


> IMO garage space in certain areas are exposed to high humidity or extreme temperatures thus I could not use mdf or wooden cabinets. I am concerned with mdf cabinet weight and shelf warpage.


If you are not going to use MDX or wood what material would you use?

G


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

RLHERRON said:


> If the washer and dryer are front loaders, I would put them on a riser (10 - 12 Inches off floor) Could put a storage drawer underneath.
> 
> As you age you will appreciate that feature more :laughing:
> 
> ...


I would not put them on a riser if he is stacking them as shown in the drawing.

G


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

PhoebeSini said:


> cabinets would mean you'll have a harder time removing appliances, like the dishwasher and fridge, if they ever need to be taken out and replaced. You'd have to lift the appliances over the lip of where the new flooring meets the appliance


I don't think this will be a problem in his case as the OP is building garage cabinets.


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