Want to Build Your Own Cabinets?

This episode is jam packed with some great details on how to build your own cabinets. You know I spent nearly $25,000 on my kitchen cabinets and counter tops. Had I known what I know today about building cabinet, I could have saved almost half that amount with no big difference to overall quality. How?

By finding the courage to take on this task on my own. Will it extend the timeline? definitely, will it be a lot of work? without a doubt yes it will, can you do this project? With the right tools and the right attitude you absolutely can do this on your own.

My Crack at the Cabinets

When I first got started with cabinet construction, I had no idea what to do and how to start. My biggest concern was quality and since we were looking to do a built in desk, I didn’t really have an option to take it out without destroying the whole thing so my nerves were definately tense. Unfortunately I couldn’t located the before picture but truthfully my process started with a visit to the local home improvement store by looking at the cabinet construction. I also looked at the cabinets that went into my kitchen and thought to myself that this couldn’t be hard. So I checked out some video’s on youtube and had to recommend the ones by Kreg (I don’t get anything from Kreg for endorsing their product, I just believe its a great tool) and took my first crack at it.

 

 

Hopefully those video’s helped you. Some of the tips in the video are somewhat advanced especially adding the veneer around the door. All these are optional. The point of the video is to help you get familiarized with the Kreg tool and cabinet construction.  In terms of the door, I wanted to make a shaker style door. Here is what my door/drawer design looked like for the desk

Now there are a few ways to make shaker style doors. You could 4 pieces of 1×3 popular wood and make a frame out of it using pocket screws and then attach a piece of 1/4 inch plywood to the back or you can use a tongue and groove set to make a tongue and groove joinery (see helpful links again). Again you connect the four using tongue and groove and slot in a 1/4 plywood piece in between. Making these doors was a lot easier than I expected especially if you decide to make the door using the four pieces and the plywood on the back. Whether you are making doors or drawers the concept is the same

Cabinet Construction

Next you want to put together the cabinets. Again this was a little easier than expected and since this was my first time making them I elected to use a Kreg Jig which is an awesome pocket hole jig. You will also need pocket hole screws which you can pick up for a few dollars from your hardware store. I also used my Dewalt cordless circular saw to cut the plywood sheet down but you can always get the plywood pre cut based on your measurements at the hardware store. Once I had everything cut, I drilled some pocket whole screws and then put the cabinets together. Below is a picture of my cabinets in the basement

Notice in this picture I also made some drawers. This was just 1/2 plywood that I screwed together and nailed a 1/4 sheet of plywood on the bottom. If you look at the drawers you will see these rivets on the sides. Thats where the pocket screws go to screw in the sides. They won’t show because they will be covered up by the drawer front as shown below

Now that I had my base cabinets put together I wanted to see how well they looked with paint. So I took the drawers off, sanded them, make sure the seems on the drawer fronts and cabinet doors were completely sanded down. I then added the first coat of primer. Below is what it looks like after the first coat of primer.

I used a Wagner spray gun to spray on the white paint. I used Benjamin Moore Advance paint which creates a beautiful look. I did two coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. The seems are completely undetectable. To finish off the cabinets I added two coats of a water based polyurethane with a sand in between the two. We used 3/4 plywood for the top of the desk, again primer and Benjamin Moore Advance paint with a polyurethane to seal it. My wife also liked the accent faux brick look so that was added. The end result is below

DIY Can Save You Big

The contractor quotes were on average $4500 for the complete job. I was able to do the entire job for less than $800. If you add in some of the additional work such as the faux brick, chalk paint etc the cost was just under $1000. A savings of over $3000.

You Can Do It Too

This was my first time taking a crack at this kind of work. The quality in our opinion is no different than what a contractor would give you. In this case you can atlas say you did the work on your own. If you’re not comfortable taking on the work yourself ask a friend to help. Sometimes it becomes a fun weekend project. Make some cabinets for storage, something to put in the basement or the garage.

Helpful Links

Kreg Jig

Dewalt cordless circular saw

My Drill set for the pocket hole jig but any drill will do

Wagner spray gun

 

As always feel free to send me a note at [email protected]

 

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