Worked case: a locking steel cabinet run with a clean-out first — steps and cost

The scenario

Picture a two-car garage that has been in the same family for a long time. One wall carries a sagging run of home-made plywood shelves, a stack of paint cans, a lawn mower and a collection of spare parts that no one has sorted. The owners want one wall that holds the household's tools and chemicals behind doors that lock, and a floor that is clear enough for both cars.

The wall is about 18 linear feet. Because the old shelves are in the way, the first visit includes a plan for removing them. The plywood and its brackets are unscrewed, the holes are noted, and the wall is checked for studs. Hauling the old shelving away is its own line, so the total shows what that part of the job costs.

Powder-coated steel suits the room. The July highs near 97°F in Menifee make an unsealed particleboard cabinet a poor bet, and steel shrugs off a hot closed room. Cabinets stand on leveling legs because the floor slopes slightly toward the door, and the base units run to a counter-height top that doubles as a surface for small repairs.

Two cabinets get locks: a tall one for power tools and sharp tools, and a base unit for cleaners, fertilizer and paint. Locks keep a child or a visitor away from them, and the chemicals stay in their original containers. They are kept away from the water heater and out of direct sun from the door window.

Quail Valley is a small place with a mix of older and newer homes, and the garage here is measured, not guessed. The plan marks the heater, the panel and the door to the house before a single cabinet is drawn, and the run stops short of all three. A clear lane remains for walking and for the hose that runs to the side yard.

The result is one wall that looks the same on the day it is installed and years later, because the owners decided what lives in it before the first box was ordered.

Before the order, the owners also decide what happens to the items that come off the old shelves. A pile goes to donation, a pile goes to the curb, and a smaller pile goes into the new cabinets. That sorting saves money, because a run planned for what the household actually keeps is shorter than one planned for everything it owns. The installer suggests keeping the most-used items between hip and shoulder height, with the heaviest on the lowest shelf. Labels go on the inside of the doors in plain block letters. Keys for the locks are kept in the house, not on a hook in the garage, and a spare is placed with someone the owners trust. If the owners later want slatwall or a rack, the cabinet color and finish are chosen to stay in step with it.

What the job involves

1. The wall is cleared; the old shelving is unscrewed, stacked and set aside for removal.
2. Studs are located; holes from the old brackets are noted and kept out of the fastening points.
3. Base cabinets are set on leveling legs and fastened; wall cabinets are hung on a rail.
4. Locks are fitted to the tool and chemical cabinets and tested.
5. Items go back in groups, labels are placed, and the floor lane is checked.

Materials and hardware

• Pry bar, drill and driver bits
• Stud finder and laser level
• Mounting rail and structural screws
• Lock sets supplied with the cabinets

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Locks on tool cabinets — +$100–$300. Locks on the tool cabinet and the chemicals cabinet.
• Remove and haul away old shelving — +$100–$350. The old plywood shelving and its brackets are taken away.

Why it is done this way

Eighteen feet of steel with wall cabinets is a mid-sized job, and the calculator multiplies the combined rate by the length of the run. Locks and haul-away are flat lines because they do not change with the length.

A lower total is possible by leaving the locks out, and the page shows how much that saves.

What would change the price

• The wall is longer than 18 feet.
• A tall cabinet is added at one end.
• The floor needs repair before the cabinets stand on it.
• More cabinets are locked.
• Items need to be moved out and back.