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Garage - Oklahoma Home
Closet
with Rafter Hanger System
July - August 2018
Fold-Down Table
September 11 - 14, 2018
Hanging Cabinets and Workbench and Stealth Corner Closet
July 2019 |
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It seems like just yesterday,
that I was building a storage closet in a garage.
Well....I guess I am. I built the garage
storage area for the El Paso home only two years
ago.
See
this here....
After purchasing our larger home in Oklahoma the
first thing I needed to do was build a garage
storage closet to store all of our tools.
Every tool I had in El Paso, was still stored in
boxes. Every time I needed a specific tool, I
had to dig through a pile of boxes to find it.
A 5 minute task would turn into 2 hours of
searching. I needed to get all of my tools out
of the boxes and organized ASAP.
A pet peeve of mine is the absence of any storage
space in garages.
Reality check. Most garages, now days, are
used to store an excess of stuff, junk, seasonal
items, etc. Only a small percentage of home
owners actually use their garages to park a working
vehicle. Don't believe me? Step outside
your house and look at your neighbors' houses.
Of note: My husband and I are the only
homeowners that park our SUV's in our garages at
both houses in Oklahoma. Every single close neighbor
does not.
So why does one rarely find a home that already has
built in storage closets or shelves in a garage???
High end homes will usually have storage areas.
Think the Vanilla Ice Project homes.
Ordinary homes? Forget about it. You can
buy a bunch of ticky tacky shelves, which is what
most folks do. I prefer a closet where you can
hide all of the stuff from view.
Unlike the El Paso house garage, which had no fancy
doors or moulding, the Oklahoma garage has moulding,
doors, and door knobs that match the interior of the
house. So when I designed this closet, I
needed to match the existing decor so the closet
"appears" as if it was built when the rest of the
house was built. |
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Recessed
area of garage where closet will be built.
Moulding on wall along floor was removed and will be
used later on outside of closet. Note walnut
stained moulding around door openings and arched
paneled doors. These design elements will be
used on the closet exterior. |
The first thing I needed to do
was select the area of the garage to build a closet.
The wall between the garage and the house was the
obvious place. This area was also recessed
which would help in framing the closet.
To get accurate measurements I first had to remove
the moulding along the wall at the floor. The
removed moulding will be used on the outside of the
closet. The length of the recessed area was 163.5".
The next decision was deciding how deep to make the
closet. The obvious choice would be to make
the closet as deep as the water heater closet which
is 34". However, this is a 3 car garage.
The 2 car side of the garage is large and we only
have 2 SUV's. Even with the SUV's parked
inside, there is ample room to walk. So I can
make the closet deeper than 34" giving me more
storage space. BUT.... there is a pull down
stair for the attic access that cannot be blocked.
The size I decided on would be 40"
The height of the ceiling in the garage is 9 feet.
I could make the closet ceiling height.
However, I always like large storage places for thin
flat objects like scrap wood or moulding. So I
decided to make the closet only 8 feet high with a
foot of storage area on top of the closet.
The image below shows the floor plan for the closet.
There will be 2 large shelving places for large
items. One section with smaller shelving and
several areas for hanging items using rafter hooks.
There will be two 28" doors for easy access into the
closet. |
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Floor plan for closet |
After drawing out my plans for
the closet, I made an online purchase with Lowes.
For this project I decided to make the purchase
online paying $65 extra for the delivery. Why
Lowes? For the area that we are in, in
Oklahoma, Lowes was the only company that allowed
online purchase with delivery. Home Depot, no
delivery. For McCoy's, you need to make the
purchase in person in the store. Since we live
outside of the city where these stores are, Lowes
was the only option for the purchase of the framing,
doors, and plywood.
Also, there is the time involved picking out the
materials in the store. The Big Box store
lumber can be less than desirable. Warped,
twisted, too many knots in woods, etc. When
selecting 2 x 4's or plywood, I spend hours going
through the piles looking for wood that is decent
enough for what I want. Also, a lot of time is spent
loading my old SUV. I also cannot haul full
sheets of plywood.
With an online purchase, the store does all the
picking and delivery. Yes, I take a chance of
getting a crappy piece of wood, which I did.
However, the twisted or warped 2 x 4's will be used
for smaller pieces. Worth the $65 delivery
charge not having to go to the store myself.
I ordered the basic building materials and pre-hung
doors (moulding and paint bought later) online on
Friday, July 20, 2018. Delivery was the next
morning on Saturday, July 21, 2018. Less than
24 hours from ordering to delivery. Can't beat
that! |
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Materials for Garage Closet |
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3 -- 14 foot - 2" x 4"
for framing |
$25.11 |
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50 -- 8 foot -
2" x 4" for framing |
219.00 |
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2 -- 8 foot -
2" x 8" for rafter hanging system |
14.58 |
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4
boxes (4 lbs) 2 -1/2" nails |
15.48 |
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6 --
4' x 8' sheets of 15/32 pine plywood
for walls, ceiling |
176.70 |
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2 --
4' x 8' sheets of 23/32 pine
plywood for shelves |
79.96 |
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2
pre-hung 28" doors |
149.36 |
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1 gallon oil
based primer Ace Hardware |
20.68 |
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1 gallon semi
gloss paint for inside closet |
46.10 |
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1/2 gallon egg
shell paint exterior of closet matching
rest of garage. No cost. Left by
building contractors |
0 |
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Walnut colored stain
for moulding. No cost. Left by
building contractors |
0 |
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Moulding - outside
corner, quarter rounds, top of closet,
chalk board frame |
50.66 |
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Moulding bought at
Home Depot for around doors |
54.54 |
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1 box of 1 1/2"
finishing nails |
3.12 |
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Total |
$855.29 |
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The first section of the closet
to build was the framing along the wall shared with
the house. Since this framing was being butted
up against an existing wall, the 2 x 4's were laid
long edge against the wall. If this wall was a
free standing wall, I would turn the 2 x 4's the
other way. This way allows more room on the
interior.
Two of the 14 foot long 2 x 4's were cut to 163.5"
and were used at the top and bottom of frame.
Ten 8 foot 2 x 4's were first cut to 93" and then
attached to the 163.5"- 2
x 4's. Spacing of the 2 x 4's is every 16"
starting from the right side. I also needed to make
sure that the 2 x 4's did not hit where the two
existing power outlets are.
The 3" scrap pieces of the 2 x 4's that were cut off
were later used as shelf supports nailed to the
frame. |
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Back wall sketch |
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Back wall of closet framed and attached to existing
studs in house wall. |
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The back frame was nailed
together with the 2-1/2 inch nails. Since
nailing for me is difficult with the nerve damage in
my hands, I pre-drilled the holes first and then
nailed.
In the corner of the back
closet frame, I notched both corners. The side
walls of the closet will be slid in here and then
attached to the 2 x 4 on the back frame. Since
this framing is supported by the existing walls, it
is silly to waste a 2 x 4 in a corner that does not
need the usual support of a freestanding structure. |
Corner notch made. Side of closet wall
framing will slide in here and be attached
to the 2 x 4 in corner. |
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The next section was the wall on
the left side against the water heater closet.
The horizontal 2 x 4's were placed where the shelves
will be placed. The horizontal 2 x 4's will be
used to support the permanent shelves. |
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Left wall of corner put in place. Horizontal 2
x 4's on this section will double as shelf supports. |
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The next section completed was
the front wall of closet on the left side.
Horizontal 2 x 4's were placed at the same height as
the side piece. This will provide the support
for the shelves on the left side. |
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Left front wall attached to the side.
Horizontal 2 x 4's match side to additionally
support the shelves. |
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I then worked on the
framing for the right side of the closet.
The side framing has a
large open space on the bottom section that
will be used to store scaffolding platforms.
Two scaffolding platforms will fit exactly
into this space, held in place with a piece
of wood slid into place.
The front wall framing has a rafter hook
hanging system. I just placed
additional 2 x 4's on top of the horizontal
2 x 4's for the rafter hanging system.
You just move the hangers where you need
them to be.
This rafter system can handle really heavy
items, if needed. |
Right side and right front wall complete.
Right front wall had rafter hook hanging
system. |
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Left and right side complete. Right and left
corner fronts complete. Shelves for the left
side cut and put in place until closet is painted. |
The shelves for the left side of
the closet were cut and put temporarily in place.
They will be removed when painted. The shelves
also came in handy to store my tools while working
on the closet. The support for the shelves on
the right side were provided by using the 3" scraps
cut from the back section's 2 x 4's. I just
nailed the 3" scraps to the back frame.
The next sections to complete was the center front
and the door framing. These three sections
were completed laying flat on the garage floor and
were then lifted into place. The horizontal 2
x 4's on the center front section will support the 4
large shelves that will be in the middle of the
closet.
At the top of the door frame a 2 x 4 was added
providing more hanging area for rafter hangers. |
|
Wall framing complete for the closet. |
From this point on, I did not
take any photographs. I was so involved with just
finishing this project while the temperatures
outside were in the 90's and 100's. Hot , hot, hot.
I needed to get all of the plywood off the floor of
the garage so with my husbands help, the ceiling and
walls were cut. The ceiling and wall were
hammered into place.
I then built the small shelf section on the left
side. The large shelves were also cut for the
center section.
I made a run to the hardware store to purchase the
moulding for the top of the closet, moulding for the
inside and outside corners of , the doors, and the
chalk board that will be painted on. The
moulding was put in place and caulked.
One week was spent painting
everything three coats of paint. All of the
bare wood got a coat of oil based primer. Why
oil based and a primer for something inside?????
Just extra protection in case anything DID get wet
and because of the abuse a garage storage space will
get. After the primer, the inside got two
coats of a semi-gloss. Semi-gloss in case
something spills. Easier to clean. The
outside of the closet received 2 coats of the
eggshell color that was used on the surrounding
walls.
Another half of a day was spent getting the two
doors hung properly. After the doors were put
up, the moulding for around the doorway was cut,
stained, and put in place.
The floor moulding removed from the back wall was
cut to fit the outside closet walls and put in
place.
The two 2 x 8's were cut to provide additional
rafter hook hanging along the right side of closet
and on the front of the closet.
Four coats of blackboard paint was painted directly
on the small right wall. The moulding was cut,
stained and glued onto the wall over the painted
surface. |
|
Completed closet. Scrap lumber and moulding
stored on top. |
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For the center wall of the
closet, between the doors, I am debating whether to
place a fold-up table there or not. If I place
a fold-up or fold-down table here, I will add the
photos. |
The
photo on the right shows the right corner of
the closet.
Where the closet wall extended beyond the
existing wall, quarter round moulding was
used in the inside corner. For the
outside corners, I used PVC corner moulding
which is cheaper than wood and a little
tougher if dinged.
At the top of the closet I placed moulding
to hide where the plywood walls edges meet
the plywood ceiling edges. This
moulding was painted the same color as the
wall.
The chalkboard was made by first painting 4
coats of chalkboard paint. The
moulding for the frame was cut and stained.
I then glued the frame together on a flat
surface. Since the chalkboard is on a
single plywood surface I glued on the
chalkboard frame instead of nailing it. I
used a scrap piece of moulding and wood to
make the chalk and eraser tray. It was
mounted on top of the chalkboard to keep it
out of the way. |
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The
photo to the right shows the small shelving
inside the left side of the closet.
Nine small shelves hold small objects like
nails (using Crystal Light containers),
tape, small tools, etc.
To the left and right of the small shelves I
nailed on short pieces of 2 x 4's to the
back frame to create more rafter hanging
space.
Since I used pre-hung doors, the frame for
the doors were the generic primer white.
Around the door openings, I needed to stain
the door stop area to match the moulding. This
matches the style throughout the house and
garage.
The doors also needed to be painted the same
bright white to match the doors in the
house.
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Large shelving in left corner of closet |
Large shelving in center of closet from
the
left side of closet |
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Larger shelving in center from
the right side of
closet |
Rafter hanging system along back wall
on
right side of closet |
|
Photo to
the right shows the right inside corner of
closet.
As I mentioned above, the right wall of the
closet would be used to store some
scaffolding platforms held in place with a
board.
The rafter hanging system on right front
wall of closet is currently holding a ladder
and some extension cords.
If the closet looks packed you would be
correct. I have my tools. My husband
has his tools. Combined, there is a
lot of duplication of tools. Oh well,
we will work this out over time.
This garage will also have a work bench and
cupboards that will be built in the far
right corner of the garage to the left of
the water heater closet. When I build
the work bench, I will add it to this web
page. |
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Rafter Hanger System
What am I talking about when I mention a
rafter hanger system?
It is simply a hanging storage system using
rafter hangers. The cheapest and
strongest rafter hangers I have found can be
found at the Home Depot.
The hangers are usually used in garages or
storage sheds where the rafters are exposed.
However, you can still use these hangers
without exposed rafters by using 2 x 4's, 2
x 6's, 2 x 8's, etc.
|
8" Everbilt rafter hangers
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-8-in-Heavy-Duty-Rafter-Hanger-in-Black-18015/202305459 |
Just mount a 2 x 4 on a wall with as little
as a 1/2 inch behind it so the rafter hanger
hooks over the top. As your storage
needs change, just move the hangers where
you need them. One hanger holds 50
lbs. So 2 hangers can hold a 100lb
object. Just make sure your 2 x 4, 2 x
6, or 2 x 8 is mounted on studs in your wall
and not just drywall.
To create the space behind the wood, just
attach a 1 x 4 on the wall on each end and
some in the middle, if your wood is long, to
the studs on your wall. Then attach
your 2 x 4, 2 x 6, or 2 x 8 on top of the 1
x 4's.
For the rafter hanging I created on the
front of the closet walls, I did a little
extra work. Instead of a 1 x 4, I used
2 scrap pieces of 2 x 4's cut 8" long.
I then routed out a corner on each.
Mounted the 2 x 4's on the wall and then
placed my 2 x 8 in the notches. See
diagram below and photograph. |
|
Diagram of how I did rafter hanger on the
front of closet wall |
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Rafter hanger on front of closet wall |
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You can
paint your rafter hanging system wood with
decorative colors or don't paint it at all.
If painted, it can look as fancy as those
expensive less versatile metal hanging
systems. |
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Fold-Down
Table
On the center wall of the garage closet I
wanted to place a folding table. I
always need a flat surface to work on or to
set stuff on. Being older, with a bad
back, I hate having to bend over all of the
time.
I wanted the table to lay flat against the wall when not in use. I
also wanted it to fold down NOT up. I
wanted to use the space above the table to
place more hanging space.
After searching on the internet for what
other folding tables have been done, I soon
realized that having a folding table WITH
folding legs that folded down was going to
be impossible for the small space I wanted
for a table. If the table folded UP on
the wall, there would be no problem.
Because I wanted this table to fold DOWN, it
would be impossible. It is hard to
explain this, but with only 24 inches to
place the table, the legs would not fit, if
attached.
I also wanted this table strong, so if you
throw something that weighs 50+ lbs on it,
it will not collapse. Therefore, the
wall support needed to be attached to a stud
within the closet. The stud height
that will be used is 39.25" high from the
floor. This is higher than a normal
table height of say 30", but this was ok.
I am tall and my husband is 6'2". The
edge of the table will be resting on top of
this wall support and not the hinge for
support.
The table will fold down using a 24" piano
hinge.
The legs for the table will be made from 2 x
4's and rails of 1 x 4's. The legs
that support the end of the table will slide
under the table when the table is in use.
Step One - Determine size of table
The width of the table is 24" wide
(width of wall) and 35"
long (folding down). I could have made
the table longer, up to 39", however, I did
not want the table to hit the floor moulding
along the
wall.
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Step Two - Make table top
I could have taken a
piece of plywood and cut it to 24" x 35".
However, I did not have any 1" plywood
on-hand, or a piece of project wood.
Both would work just fine. You want
something close to 3/4" - 1" thick for a
decent table top. I did have several
pieces of 1 x 12's that I used as shelving
at the old house in El Paso that I dragged
with me to Oklahoma. I did not toss
them because it was good lumber!!
I ripped this lumber into 4" wide pieces and
put them together to make my table top.
I used wood glue to hold it together.
No nails. On the underside of the
table I placed cross supports and screwed
them into each piece of wood.
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The two cross supports at the end of the
table where spaced just far enough apart to
allow the table legs to slide in.
The cross support near where the hinge would
be was placed just low enough to prevent any
interference with the hinge.
The table top was then given a good sanding,
primed, and then painted the same color as
the wall. |
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Step Three - Mount the table to the wall
The wood support for the hinge was screwed
into the stud on the wall with 3 2-1/2" wood
screws. The piano hinge was then
attached to the wall support.
The table top was
fitted in place on top of the wall support
and the end propped up so it was level.
I then went underneath the table top and
attached the piano hinge.
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Wall support screwed into wall and the stud
on the other side. Piano hinge mounted
onto support. |
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Table top screwed onto piano hinge and
folded down out of the way |
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Step Four - Make the legs
I needed to wait until
the table top was hung on the wall to make
sure my legs were exactly the right height
to make the table top level. I placed
a level on top of the table top and measured
the height for the legs.
The 2 x 4 legs ended up being 40 1/8" inches
long. Using my old ripped shelving
wood, I made the rails for the legs.
Attaching the wood on both sides of the 2 x
4's and screwing them in place with 2 1/2"
wood screws.
The legs were then primed and painted the
color of the table top. Plastic 2 x 4
caps, purchased from a children's playground
equipment website, were glued on the bottom
of the legs. Believe it or not, no one
else sells plastic end caps for 2 x 4's.
There are metal caps for fencing, but no
plastic ones for leg bottoms, unless you
have a 3-D printer. Someone has online
plans to make
these. |
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Table folded up and ready for use.
Additional hanging space added above table |
Table folded down and legs resting on
table edge. |
A couple of things you may wonder
about......
Will the legs come out from underneath
the table? Of course, if you hit
it hard enough. But you would really need to
hit it hard. Normal abuse. Nope.
The table only lifts a couple of inches up
from the level position. This is
because the wall edge of the table hits the
wall and prevents the table from folding up.
Will the legs stored on top of the table
ledge fall off? Again, yes, if you
hit it hard enough. I could also throw
the legs up on the hooks above if needed.
If any of the above becomes a problem, I will
just make adjustments to secure the legs
better. |
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Hanging
Cabinets and
Workbench
There was one other area of the garage that
had a big indented area to the left of the
water heater closet. When we moved in,
it was used to store the gardening tools and
equipment. After we installed our
new shed
this area was now free of clutter.
Time to design the hanging cabinets and workbench.
To see step-by-step pictures of the cabinet
and workbench construction, visit the
garage page for the El
Paso home. The cabinets
were basically built the same way. The
only difference was the size of the cabinets
and style of the cabinet doors.
Cabinet steps are simply, to build a box, hang the
boxes, and then make the boxes pretty.
For this overall project it took me about 2
weeks. I was only able to work about 4
hours a day because the temperature in the
garage was in the 90's. I used my
table saw outdoors wearing long sleeves and
a big floppy hat to keep from getting
sunburn.
|
For these cabinets I had a wall area of
76.5 inches wide and ceilings that
are 9 feet high.
I had two choices regarding the
height of the cabinets. Go to
the ceiling or stop about a foot
from the ceiling which would allow
small boxes to be stored on top of
the cabinets.
I decided on cabinets that went to
the ceiling, so they ended up being
48" high. No matter which option I
chose, a ladder will be needed to
reach the upper shelves.
I would be using 3/4" plywood for
the cabinet frames. Which
means, that if I made a double
cabinet like at the El Paso home, it would be too heavy
for me to get onto the wall.
I decided to make 4 separate
cabinets measuring 48" high, 19"
wide, and 16" deep. For the
area width of 76.5 inches, I left a
1/2 inch to play with, to slide the
cabinets left or right in place once they were on
the wall. Any gaps would be
covered by trim or moulding.
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3 of the 4 cabinets hung in place on French
cleat.
The moulding along the floor in this area
was
removed before workbench was made.
One piece was used on the top of the
cabinets. |
|
For these cabinets, I wanted to make
them adjustable since I would
probably be living in this house
until I die. Might as well
make them as flexible as I can.
After cutting the cabinet pieces, I
created a jig with holes and drilled
5mm holes on the cabinet sides for a
peg system for the shelves.
I also decided to not make any backs for the
cabinets. The wall will be the back. |
|
All four cabinets lifted into place and
hooked on French cleat that is attached to
the studs |
At this point on, I did not take any
photographs. Sorry, but I was just
duplicating what I already did in El Paso
which is why I referred readers there in the
beginning.
After drilling the holes in cabinet sides
for the peg system, I also made dados on the
sides for the bottom and tops of the
cabinets to slide into. I left space at the top and bottom
so that there is something other than the
ledge to nail moulding on.
The inside of the four cabinets were painted
the wall color (Sherwin Williams Agreeable
Gray) before I hung them on the wall.
Easier to paint while on the floor, than on
a ladder. The French cleat and the
horizontal piece of wood at the bottom of
each cabinet, used to level the cabinets,
were painted after the cabinets were secured
in place.
The top piece of moulding on the cabinets
came from the floor. I removed all of
the floor moulding in this area because of
the workbench.
For the wood between each cabinet and along
the wall on the left and right, I used 1 x 3
white board. For the pieces against the
wall, I ripped the trim in half. The 3" moulding along the
bottom of the cabinets was the same moulding
I used around the top edge of the garage
closet.
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Cabinet doors open with shelves installed on
peg system
All of these trim and moulding
pieces (excluding the moulding that
was taken off the wall at the
floor), were painted with one coat Minwax Polyshade Satin finish - Espresso
which was then sanded when dry with
220 grit sandpaper and then a coat
of Minwax Polyshade Satin finish -
Pecan. This color combination
gives me a brown color similar to
the existing moulding in the garage.
To make the cabinet doors, I used
1/2 inch plywood and furring strips
as the trim on the doors. The
furring strips are real cheap. This
is fine for this project because the
cabinet doors will be stained too
dark to matter or will be painted
over with wall paint.
|
1 x 3 x 8-ft
Furring Strip (Common);
0.75-in x 2.5-in x 8-ft (Actual)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/1-x-3-x-8-ft-Furring-Strip-Common-0-75-in-x-2-5-in-x-8-ft-Actual/1000427903 |
However
because all of this wood was really rough, I
took an orbital sander to both sides of the
doors with 80 grit sandpaper followed by 120
grit to take off all of rough edges after
the trim was glued and nailed on the front
of the doors.
A note about these furring strips. You
get what you pay for. They are
supposed to be used when doing rough framing
of a structure. They are not meant for
fine furniture. However, if you are
wanting a rough look, they work fine.
Be prepared to go through the pile for
straight boards. There are a lot of
twisted and warped boards. You want to
cut and get them attached to your project
before they dry and warp more. Use
lots of glue and clamp everything down to
dry.
Because the cabinet doors were so long, I
gave them a barn door style trim to dress
them up a bit.
The doors assembled are 1.25 inches thick
around the edge, so they are heavy and
solid. Heavy duty hinges will be
needed for the doors because of their size.
Since the doors will be flush mounted, I
needed flush mounted hinges. Since
this is in the garage, I did not need
anything too decorative but I wanted
something a little different. After
looking at various rustic type hinges, I
came across the H - L style hinges on the
House of Antique Hardware website.
I also wanted some simple pull handles that
screwed onto the surface. With thick
cabinet doors, finding machine screws the
exact size needed, is a problem sometimes.
If the handles just attaches on the top of
the door, there is no problem. You
also don't have to drill a hole all the way
through the cabinet door.
The shelves were made
with 3/4" plywood and use an adjustable pin
system.
The completed cabinets and workbench
is pictured on the right.
To build the work bench, I just used
basic framing techniques using 2 x
4's.
I built the back first. Then
the two sides were built followed by
the front with door framing around
the door opening.
The dimensions of the workbench area
are 76.5" wide x 38" high, and 32"
deep.
The area under the workbench is just
a big open storage area for things
like shop vacs.
I debated on whether to paint the
trim around the workshop door brown
but opted for a cleaner one color
paint job with the exception of the
trim at the floor.
The front walls of the workbench are
1/2" plywood. |
Completed cabinets and workbench |
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Cabinet under the workbench for big
bulky items |
The top of the workbench is 3/4" plywood.
I painted it with two coats (making it
almost black) of the Minwax Polyshade
Satin finish - Espresso. Sanding
between coats. I then finished off the
top with two coats of Minwax Polyshade
Gloss - Pecan for a shiny finish.
A lot of the trim I used here, I had
on-hand.
The trim along the front of the top was a
door stop from a door frame that was not
used when we needed a door for the other
house in Lawton. My husband bought the
door in the frame when we only needed the
door. I took apart the door frames and
saved the wood.
Along the wall on top of the workbench I
used trim that was also bought and not used
for the now sold Lawton home.
The workbench edge along the wall on the
sides, I used quarter round moulding
to cover the tiny gap and give the workbench
a more built-in look. Also something I
was going to use at the other house but
didn't.
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Workbench surface and wall |
The five Knape & Vogt 16
in. x 16 in. Diamond Plate Galvanized Steel
Pegboard (Model # 203950733) squares
attached to the wall between the cabinets
and workbench are the same one's I had
installed in El Paso. I removed them
before I moved. I am very glad I did
this. What I bought for $7.74 each,
back in July 25, 2016, is now $16.13 each on
the Home Depot website. Over double
the price. Darn...I wanted to buy 2
more for this space. After a quick
internet search, Ace Hardware had the same
pegboards for $9.99. The cheapest I
could find. I ordered it there with
free store pick-up. There is an Ace
Hardware only 1.5 miles from my home.
I also removed the LED light fixture over
the workbench in El Paso and reinstalled it
here. I paid almost $60 for it in 2016 and
it was still new. This item is now much
cheaper because the market has driven LED
light fixtures prices way down.
There is only one outlet along this wall
which is now covered by the workbench.
While installing the workbench top, I
drilled a 1" wide hole in the surface.
I had an old black power strip which I
attached to the moulding along the back of
the workbench surface. The LED under
cabinet light is plugged in here.
There are 4 other outlets also available on
the strip.
The cost for this job and the closet below,
because I bought the plywood at the same
time, is around $400. I used about
eight 2 x 4's left over from my Tuff Shed
shelving project. The plywood, firing
strips, whiteboard, brown stain, H-L hinges,
and pulls were bought for this project. I
used a lot of on-hand moulding. If you
have no materials on-hand, expect to pay a
little more. |
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Finished garage area. Workbench on the
left. Closet with 2 doors on the
right. Water heater closet
in the middle with the double doors.
Ladders now hung on the wall on far left.
Empty spot is
where my SUV goes, backed up against the red
plush thing hanging from the ceiling. |
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Stealth
Corner Closet
Between the large garage door and
the smaller garage door there is a dead
corner. It is not big enough for much
of anything.
You could hang a ladder
or some brooms in this corner. That is
about it.
I had a more creative solution for using
this space. Why not build a narrow
little closet? My husband kept
going.... huh? What are you talking
about?
This closet will be small and will only use
one 2 x 4 to support the outer corner.
Smaller lumber will be used for the shelf
supports on the sides. The closet will
only measure 18.5" x 23" and will
have 3 shelves. |
Small corner between garage doors.
Shelf supports screwed into studs on wall. |
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The first thing I did was remove the
floor moulding in the corner and
remove all of the staples along the
edge of the garage opening frame that are for the
garage opener wiring. I wanted
the wiring clear of this area.
I will remount the wires later and
much neater.
On the existing longer section of
wall, I found the second vertical
stud in the wall. The first is
located on the outer corner. I then
mounted some scrap lumber I had,
either 1 x 2 or 1 x 3 on the wall
where the shelves and closet ceiling
would be.
The scrap lumber was mounted on the studs
on the existing wall, I then painted the
bare wood. I was using a
primer which was slightly lighter,
so you can see it on the wall.
On the 3/4" piece of plywood I cut
for the outer wall, I attached the 2
x 4 along the outer edge of the
plywood. The shelf supports
were then attached to the plywood. |
Small corner between garage doors.
Shelf supports screwed into studs on wall. |
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When all of the wood
shelf support pieces were attached to the
plywood, the plywood was put into place
against the edge of the right side of the
garage opening. A 2 x 10 is part of
the garage door frame and the piece of
closet plywood just fits against the edge.
I toenailed the plywood to this 2 x 10.
I did cut some notches in the plywood along
the top so that the plywood would fit in
snuggly. I also made a notch in the
bottom corner for the wiring to go through
for the garage door opener.
Scraps of 1/2" plywood, left over from the
workbench, were used along the left side and
top of the closet. Scrap pieces of
plywood were also used for the shelves.
2 pieces of plywood make each shelf except
for the top shelf, which is half-sized.
I used some polystyrene moulding along the
top of the closet which is the same as the
large garage storage closet. I also
placed some PVC corner moulding on the outer
edge. |
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Outside closet wall constructed |
Outside closet wall constructed |
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The door for the
stealth closet is nothing more than
a piece of 1/2" plywood painted.
2 simple cabinet door hinges, that I
had on-hand from the other house,
were flush mounted on the left edge.
A simple wood knob is used to open
the door.
The entire closet was then painted
the wall color. I also painted
over the hinges and pull knob.
I wanted the closet to be as
invisible as possible.
The floor moulding was cut and
placed along the bottom of the
closet. Note: because of
where the cement ledge is, the
moulding at the front of the garage
is higher on the wall.
The floor moulding was also cut for
the front of the closet door to add
to the stealth feature. |
Stealth closet complete |
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Stealth closet complete |
Stealth closet complete |
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I ended up using the
closet for all of my paint and paint
supplies that were previously stored in the
large garage closet.
For anyone looking into or walking into the
garage, this closet will not even be
noticed. Walking out of the garage
someone may notice it, particularly if they
notice the box on top.
I will add some hooks on the outside of the
closet to a hang a broom or two. On
the inside of the stealth closet door, I
will place some small hooks to hang brushes,
etc. |
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Page last updated August 8, 2019 |
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