How to Build a Garage Wall Cabinet

Build the Base Frame

• Cut your 1×4 frame boards to size.
  • Pro tip: Use a higher-grade pine—it’s worth the extra money to be able to work with straight, knot-free wood.
• Sand all the boards with 100-grit sandpaper before assembling the frames.
• Glue the joints and nail them with 1-1/2-in. brads, just to hold them together.
• When the base is assembled, go back and drive in two 2-in. trim head screws.
  • Note: If you don’t have a brad nailer, no problem; the screws are plenty strong on their own.

Fasten Pegboard to the Base Frame

• Attach temporary braces to hold the base frame perfectly square.
• Lay a 4 x 4-ft. sheet of pegboard over the frame.
  • Note: The oversize sheet lets you position the holes so they won’t be along the outer edge of the cabinet.
  • Pro tip: If you don’t have a router to trim off the excess pegboard (see below), position the pegboard, mark it with a pencil and cut it to size before nailing it in place.

FAMILY HANDYMAN

Trim the Pegboard Flush

• Install a flush-trim bit in your router and trim off the overhanging pegboard.
  • Note: Routing pegboard whips up a dust storm, so wear a mask.

FAMILY HANDYMAN

Complete the Doors

• Rip down 3/4-in. strips of wood to act as a spacer between the first and the second layers.
  • Note: This will allow clearance for the peg hardware on both sides of the door.
• Align the spacers the same way you did with the frame, so the end grain cannot be seen from the sides.
• Tack them in place with 1-1/2-in. brads.
• Tack on the outer layer of pegboard or dry-erase board (white/gloss hardboard panel board) with 1-in. brads
• Drive in 2-in. trim head screws about every 8 in. or so.
  • Pro tip: Pegboard and other hardboard materials tend to pucker when you screw into them, so predrill the holes with a small countersink drill bit. Don’t attach the screen mold on the outside of the doors until the doors are hung onto the base.

FAMILY HANDYMAN

Add Filler Strips

• To create space for the peg hardware on the back of the base, install 3/4-in. strips of pine on the back two sides of the base.
• Fasten them with glue and 1-1/2-in. brads.
• Install a full pine 1×4 on the top and bottom of the back side of the base.
  • Note: These are the boards you’ll screw through when you hang the cabinet on the wall.
• Glue and tack these boards into place, and then drive 2-in. trim head screws through the boards into the base frame.
• Use another 3/4-in. strip of pine to brace up the center of the pegboard.
• Secure it with glue and a few 1-in. brads from the front side of the base.

FAMILY HANDYMAN

Install the Doors

• Use a hacksaw to trim them down the hinges, which are a little longer then the cabinet.
• Install the hinge to the base first.
• Fold it over the front edge of the base at a 90-degree angle and install the screws.
• Clamp the doors into place before you screw the other half of the hinge.
  • Pro tip: A self-centering screw hole punch helps you center the screws in the hinge holes.
  • Pro tip: If the gap between the doors isn’t perfectly even, adjust the screen mold on the front of the doors as you install them until it is. Fasten the screen mold with 1-in. brads.

FAMILY HANDYMAN

Finish It Up

• Fill the holes with wood putty.
• Cover the wood with clear polyurethane.
  • Pro tip: Tape off the pegboard/dry erase board before you treat with the poly, but don’t use an aggressively sticky tape when you tape or you may pull the surface right off
• Screw the cabinet to the wall with screws that penetrate the studs at least 1-1/4 in.
• Try to hit at least three studs on the top and three on the bottom.
• You can install handles on the bottom if you like.
  • Pro tip: When you shop for the hardware you’ll need to hang your tools, avoid 1/8-in. hooks. They fit in the 1/4-in. holes but tend to pull out when you remove a tool.