Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

All,

Was hoping for some feedback on what are the pros and cons of building your own cabinets vs buying them from a big box store like home depot.

I'll preface this by saying that building cabinets makes me nervous. I'm pretty sure I can handle it, but I want my conversion to look as professional and neat as it can. Not to sure my building skills will make them 'pretty' at all.

Buy from Home Depot:

Pro's
* Very Nice Cabinets and already painted/finished
* Many sizes in the big box store, i'm confident I can find good si*zes to work with

Cons
* Very Expensive
* Since they are prebuilt, they will be very heavy with all sides

Build your Cabinets

Pro's
* Cheaper (Is this true though?)
* Custom fit exactly to your trailer. Therefore minimizing weight and space.

Cons
* Painting them!
* Building them and not really having the right tools to do the doors and whatnot.

What am I missing? What do you all recommend?

I wanted the best looking cabinets I could find and what I found was from lowes they were made to go over a toilet so they were narrow only 6 - 8 inches deep they have really nice spring hinges and something I like the bottoms are open so it's really easy to put something away without opening them up.
they were 75.00 each,really easy to put up and I think it makes the trailer look more finished looking.

An idea would be to buy maybe 1 cabinet and their doors if they sell them seperate. Try ikea if not. Use the cabinet to get measurements and build your own cabinets, use their doors and door hardware and paint it all the same. Or use white melamine or something so you can avoid painting.
I think making your own cabinets and doors is a fair bit of work. Calculate what it would cost to buy everything. Then add up materiel cost to build your own, give yourself an hourly wage and see how many hours that gives you to make them.
You can always modify and cut sections out of the box store ones. Probably easier with ikea ones.

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Howdy All;

Swing by your local (or near to you), Habitat for Humanity and see what you might find there.

hank

jwhite wrote:I wanted the best looking cabinets I could find and what I found was from lowes they were made to go over a toilet so they were narrow only 6 - 8 inches deep they have really nice spring hinges and something I like the bottoms are open so it's really easy to put something away without opening them up.
they were 75.00 each,really easy to put up and I think it makes the trailer look more finished looking.

I'm leaning towards buying also since I know it would look better then any I can make. Also it is much simpler. But I keep on looking at my budget too and wonder if the added expense is too much.

I went to HD the other day, and I would be spending about $821 just for the kitchen. And I will still have to build a few custom areas for the nose and possibly fridge.

This is for:
12x30x12 - Two of these
30x12x12 - Three of these
60x34.5x24 - Kitchen Base

I just wonder what is the cost difference when building them yourself and then doing the painting and all that good stuff. Plus any extra tools you will need.

I think after I get passed the insulation, water system, and electrical, i'll have a better idea budget wise where to go.

hankaye wrote:Howdy All;

Swing by your local (or near to you), Habitat for Humanity and see what you might find there.

hank

That is a good idea. I'm gonna check that out.

dancam wrote:An idea would be to buy maybe 1 cabinet and their doors if they sell them seperate. Try ikea if not. Use the cabinet to get measurements and build your own cabinets, use their doors and door hardware and paint it all the same. Or use white melamine or something so you can avoid painting.
I think making your own cabinets and doors is a fair bit of work. Calculate what it would cost to buy everything. Then add up materiel cost to build your own, give yourself an hourly wage and see how many hours that gives you to make them.
You can always modify and cut sections out of the box store ones. Probably easier with ikea ones.

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This is true, I did look online at the ikea cabinets. Some are pretty cheap, but it looks like they get you with what kind of door you want. When you add that in they are pretty pricey. I found HD to be cheaper.

Interesting idea of just buying one and using it to build others. Never thought about it like that. Ikea's would probably be easier to replicate.

I think your right, it comes down to writing it all down and comparing the prices and effort of each. Since I want to build this as quick as possible, I think i'd probably buy them done just to speed up the process.

For me I am competing in a very expensive sport and I am the only one in a converted cargo trailer and I am always parked next to the A class motor homes or the new 40 ft toy haulers so I wanted the inside to look as good as possible incase someone wanted to look inside, so I splurged on the inside.
I went with really nice flouring carpet on the walls and the largest flat screen TV and cd dvd player home speakers, nice counter top and bar sink nice paneling on the ceiling.
Probably the first thing someone see's when they look inside are the cabinets and the rest of the interior, I have had many complements as to how nice it looks.
the other thing at the time I didn't have any help and I was able to install the cabinets myself and I don't regret the cost one bit.

I actually struggled with this too when I was building my CTC. I have limited woodworking skills (and tools) and I wanted my CTC to look as nice as I could make it with the skills I have. Another TNTTT member actually encouraged me to make my own.

Building does cost a lot less than buying cabinets ( I didn't keep track, but I think the hinges and hardware were the most expensive single item (all together) other than plywood, but all said, I bet I spent less than $300 for wood, Paint, screws, and Glue).... but it is a lot of work/labor, so you have to be into it. I could have afforded to buy them, but I chose to build. For me, I am glad I did (thanks again Martin!)

In the end, I think they turned out well and it really does make the camper "mine" in terms of the overall custom build. Not another the same. I know every little flaw and can take pride in it... I would say that the cabinets I made are built stronger than most anything you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. No particle board that swells with moisture and is destroyed by water. Everything is screwed and glued plywood... not.staples that may vibrate loose... Particle board is much heavier than plywood so the home made cabinets are lighter. They are also lighter because if done right, there is just the face, side and doors . You can use the trailer walls and ceiling for the back and tops and in some cases, the sides.

I know a lot of people buy their cabinets and that is fine for them... But since you asked... I just shared my personal choice to build.

Just a few pics of how mine turned out and I had no experience prior (maybe it a shows)... disclaimer.. I did buy the vanity cabinet in the bathroom because they almost gave it to me. It was an open box return that has some issue with the backside that I repaired. The medicine cabinet was also a purchase.. Was cheap.

One thing to also consider... building your own cabinets lets you build non-standard sizes and make best use of space in some cases. There was no good way for me to fit what I did in that Vnose with off the shelf cabinets. That was a big consideration for me also.

If I can do this.. anybody can when it comes to wood.. it is not my thing believe me. I'd encourage you to do it yourself.

I ended up building our cabinets. Using Pinterest and YouTube I was able to build some nice shaker cabinets. It you have access to a table saw and the kreg screw system, you can do virtually anything.

In all I spent about 300-400 on materials, 40 on beer and lessons learned are priceless. I looked at big box store cabinets and they require a lot of hacking to fit well in a trailer. Once you build your face frame and side panels, you're halfway done. Another good source to look at is Anna White. She has a couple videos on tiny house cabinets that helped us!

Check out below






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Cost, yes. Plus getting them to fit exactly. I know this isn't an issue the same in a CTC as it was in my house kitchen, but NOTHING in there was square! When we found this house, the kitchen was basically the end of the living room with a sink in it and a tv tray with a hotplate on it. I built the cabinets and tiled the tops for economy's sake, and wound up realizing it was the only way to go to deal with funky corners and oddball stuff I ran into.

An added benefit is, I KNOW they're all wood. No sawdustboard in this kitchen! I know it's not high-end but it's damn sure functional and I think it's kinda cool lookin' in a rustic sort of way.



(All circular saw and jigsaw. No miter or table saws were harmed in this endeavor. )

On my teardrop, my cabinets are part DIY and part purchased. I made the cases and face frames, but purchased drawer boxes, drawer fronts, and doors. I have the tools to make the items I purchased, and have moderate woodworking skills, but I don't have much free time so I purchased the time-consuming items.

Ready-made kitchen cabinets are a possibility, but keep in mind that kitchen base (lower) cabinets are generally deeper and bigger than RV cabinets. If you have room for the depth, that is a viable option. If depth is a concern, you could purchase upper cabinets and place them on a base. One downside of this option is that upper cabinets do not have drawers.

@aggie79.. good point on cabinet depths. Something I needed to manage given the CTC interior width and desired floorplan.

All depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

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I appreciate the advice everyone!

@flyboy - Your cabinets look professionally done. If I can make them look like yours, I'd be super happy.

@rmcrist - Yours look nicely done and very sturdy. I watched about several hours worth of Youtube today on tips to make cabinets. I will be doing the shaker type. It doesn't look terribly hard. I will be buying that Kreg drill block for the pilot holes. Seems like everyone on Youtube was doing it this way. It looks easy to do.

@redneck Packrat - Your cabinets look really solid too. Rustic is in nowadays...

I've decided to build my cabinets as well. After seeing everyone's cabinets here who posted and looking around the forum, it feels like the right thing to do.

Here is why I decided to build them:

1. Cost. If I can keep it at $1,000 or under, that is a huge win for my budget. I believe $400 - $800 is where I will land.

2 Weight. Since I technically won't have back walls, I can keep the weight down. I probably can also choose lighter materials for the frame and walls that aren't seen and just pick nice wood for the face and end sides that are visible.

3. Space. After doing several designs of what I want, I realize how critical realty is. The only way in my opinion to take advantage of all your space is to build exactly what you want for what you need.

4. Repairs. As some have mentioned, I wonder if the HD cabinets will hold up to the road. But I know with my cabinets I will choose good wood, use glue, and make them very solid. If they do happen to break, i'll have the skills to fix it and it won't be a big deal.

Well, I'll post the pics when I get there. Not sure how long it'll take, but I'll be starting my build next week.

Maybe a bit late on the topic, but I'll chime in anyways.

I hadn't even thought of buying cabinets for mine. Until about two weeks ago. I was actually going to start my cabinet building process so I went first to Habitat for Humanity to see if they possibly had a countertop to use then incorporate into my design. I was going to buy the counter, then head over and start buying materials for cabinet build. Then I went through the kitchen cabinet section of the store. My mind was changed.

I'm trying to do a very budget conscience build. After seeing that I can get standard cabinets all day long for $20-40 each, I can't justify the price of plywood, hardware, paint/stain. I'll probably have all of my cabinetry done for less than $200. Being as presanded birch ply is $40 a sheet, I'm going to come in ahead of the game with a ton less time invested.

Additionally, the environments that I use this trailer in do not lend themselves to things always being clean and pretty. Had my maiden voyage this weekend. It rained the ENTIRE time. By the end of the weekend the trailer looked like I was hauling Colorado red clay instead of some people sleeping in it and hauling a couple of ATVs. Cabinets that are too pretty would make me paranoid of ruining them. With used I could care less.

*side note*
HOOKS! I didn't have any hooks in my trailer yet. Now I'm going to have plenty after such a wet weekend!!