I did it. Garage cabinets on order

"MUSASHI66" (musashi66)
07/11/2019 at 17:35 • Filed to: None

I have been catching myself in these massive loops of “this set has this, and this set has this, and this one cost this much and maybe I need this and that”.... well, it drives me crazy and it makes it hard to make decisions.

So, I just went with the gut feeling, and ordered this from Costco

8 pc, with bamboo top, in gray - wife didn’t want red :/

$1099 with free shipping and only $46.75 in taxes thanks to unincorporated county address. Next on the list - $350 for all of this, with lifetime warranty on tools and batteries(as long as you buy at Home Depot and register online) . I wanted to go Milwaukee or DeWalt, but the battery warranty is beyond anything else on the market and the price is way better as well. I know it won’t be as good as premium brands, but I’m just a DIY home tinkerer. I still haven’t decided on angle grinder or skill saw - I have a corded skill saw so it will probably be the angle grinder option.

DISCUSSION (33)

For Sweden > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 17:45

Is Rigid not a premium brand?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 17:46

niiiiice, I want it

Sadly my garage is not even sheetrocked...

Sovande > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 17:46

I think Rigid is made by the same company that makes Milwaukee, so I bet they will be fine. The cabinets look nice.

MUSASHI66 > For Sweden
07/11/2019 at 17:51

Based on Tools reddit, it is not. It seems Hilti, Bosch Professional line, DeWalt, Milwaukee sit on top. Then you have Ridgid , Ryobi, Porter Cable, Kobalt, Makita, Bosch consumer line - all fighting for a spot under and trying not to be lumped in with Black and Decker.

MUSASHI66 > Sovande
07/11/2019 at 17:53

Thanks! I never had a tool die on me, but I had batteries go south. These are premium versions of Ridgid - Octane line, brushless motors, and a great price. But that life-time warranty is what really attracted me. Hopefully I’ll get it in a month or two.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 17:53

Grey and bamboo is a very nice color combo, this designer approves.

MUSASHI66 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/11/2019 at 17:54

Thanks! I figured I am starting from scratch on this garage, I want to make it as nice as possible for the budget we have. This is the low end of NewAge - 24 gauge, 18" deep instead of 18 gauge 24" deep models in their professional series, but I won’t have anything super heavy in these anyway.

Chariotoflove > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 17:56

This is gonna be sweet.

MUSASHI66 > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
07/11/2019 at 17:57

Thanks! The whole house is painted in gray tones inside and out, so I know it will work. I am not sure if my garage will be painted, if it isn’t I’ll probably throw a coat of white on it. Then, some pegboard for the space between cabinets for hanging tools, and a light of some sort, and I’ll be done. Plus, I have some gray metal cabinets that will probably end up in the garage so it’ll match.

MUSASHI66 > Chariotoflove
07/11/2019 at 18:05

I can’t wait. I am a bit OCD for storage - not that you’d tell in my curent space.

For Sweden > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:07

My entire life is a lie

Chariotoflove > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:09

My wife is like that. She would love to have something like this in our garage.

Sovande > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:15

I’ve been building up my stash of Milwaukee tools lately, but it’s slow going. I just got a 1/4" impact yesterday and it’s great. That said, the only Rigid tool I have ever used was a 1/4" impact and I don’t think there was much difference between the two . I’m sure the specs are different somehow, but not in any appreciable way in real world applications.

7:07 > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:19

Makita isn’t on the same level as Dewalt? (a ccording to them, I mean)

MUSASHI66 > For Sweden
07/11/2019 at 18:19

I might be wrong - all I am going with is what I’ve read on that sub, but people seem to be pretty knowledgeable so I sort of trust them.

MUSASHI66 > Chariotoflove
07/11/2019 at 18:20

I wanted this forever. Current set-up with open shelves, a dog kennel in the garage with copious amounts of hair on everything is not doing anything for my OCD.

MUSASHI66 > Sovande
07/11/2019 at 18:22

For how I will use them, I’ll never be able to tell a difference. If Milwaukee had the same warranty, or DeWalt, I’d go that route. But with this warranty go team Orange.

Brickman > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:24

bamboo top.... oh lala M r. fancy pants over here. :P

MUSASHI66 > 7:07
07/11/2019 at 18:26

Here is their exact words - Makita is in the best category.

“The general consensus is that Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Makita 18v and 20v are the best big box store drills you can get for professional and heavy duty usage. These tools are made tough, have full lines of compatible tools, radios and flashlights and are definitely reliable workhorses. Of course there are other lesser known premium drills available as well, such as Metabo, Bosch (blue line), Hilti and Fein. Any 18v, 20v or 28v drill/driver you buy from one of these companies is what you need to handle professional projects and heavy-duty, continuous usage. EDIT: u/m1stertim has pointed out that 18V and 20V are the same - the 20V systems are 20V max, 18V nominal. But 20V is bigger so it sounds better. Basically meaning that Dewalt is at 20v until you pull the trigger and then it drops to 18v.

Some second-tier drills are Ridgid, Porter Cable and Hitachi. Keep in mind that Ridgid owners LOVE the lifetime warranty it comes with and would argue that it is a top-tier tool. The brands listed here are great for the weekend warrior, home shops and do-it-yourself projects. They aren’t as powerful, tough and reliable as the top-tier drills (sorry Ridgid fans!) but they definitely get the job done and should last many years. Your other choice here is to buy a top-tier kit in 12v. You get the same great quality at a lower price point but you will sacrifice power and battery life.

Lastly, we have third-tier tools. These are Black & Decker, Craftsman, Skil and Ryobi among others. Personally, I avoid these like the plague due to quality and performance issues. I actually bought a 12v Black & Decker for my home shop as a spare tool because it was on clearance for $30. The bits/chuck wobble, it has very little power and it’s basically junk.”

MUSASHI66 > Brickman
07/11/2019 at 18:30

To be honest, if Costco offered the stainless option, I would have gone for that, but bamboo will do.

Sovande > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:35

If you want to further muddy the waters, take a look at the Hitachi 18v tools. My father is a professional carpenter and he swears by their drills and drivers. I have used them plenty and they are nice. I also used to own a Hitachi chop saw that was really nice. He also claims Hilti makes the worst cordless tools.

MUSASHI66 > Sovande
07/11/2019 at 18:37

I have a Hitachi corded hammer drill and I love it. I think I have a corded Hitachi skill saw as well and it’s been great. I never used any Hitachi cordless though. I think it comes down to preferences and experiences.

7:07 > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:43

Thanks for that. It matches what I’ve read as well. Coincidentally, I’m in the market for some power tools and garage cabinets, as we are building a house soon. I have an older 10v Makita that has been a champ, so I’ll probably stick with the brand. I’m going for the 18v sub compact line. That should be powerful enough while being light. Plus, I can borrow tools from my dad, as he bought into the Makita 18v line a while back and has a pretty good selection.

Those cabinets look great! I’m researching them and want to add them into my garage plan. I hadn’t thought of using pre built cabinets, but I like what I’m seeing so far. I don't really have a great storage plan for the garage yet anyway.

Chariotoflove > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 18:48

Oh man. Our cat has been shedding her winter coat for months now. Typically she’ll be done about when it’s time to start growing the new one for winter. Tufts of cat hair get wafted into the house through the garage door, which is great for my wife’s allergies.

We love our house. We built it, but it was part of a development with a certain choice of plans, and none of them included the three-car we would love to have had. One half gets a car. The other half is storage, bikes, etc. We do have shelves along some wall, but no room for the work bench like what you’re getting.

MUSASHI66 > 7:07
07/11/2019 at 18:59

Thank you! You can visit Garage Forums if you want you mind to spin from options, posts, reviews and photos. Short and dirty version or my research - for the look that I wanted (from the image), you can pay around $1000 for all black Husky pre-assembled 24 gauge 18" deep cabinets , $1100-1300 for NewAge Bold 24 gauge 18" deep depending on where you buy, closer to $2000 for New Age Pro 18 gauge 24" deep cabinets, and Gladiator is in the fight as well with a few lines of theirs. I was tempted to spend $820 on Husky at home depot, but this set gave me a top, extra cabinet and casters on one of the bottom cabinets which is what I wanted, and I think it is prettier than all-black Husky line.

Tool sharing is awesome - my dad lives across the street but they won’t move up north for 2 or so years, so I need a few tools which he has and I don’t - miter saw, compressor, sawzall - and this gives me an excuse for my wife to actually buy more tools :)

MUSASHI66 > Chariotoflove
07/11/2019 at 19:03

Our neighborhood house options included 2 car, 2+1 car tandem (which was base model option for our exact model) or an extra bay tacked on to the side. It was $14000 extra I think, but well worth it in my mind. We also get a fully excavated 1200 or so sq ft basement with 9' ceilings which I love, but that cost us another $14000 or so. We had to do it because the base model was tiny room in the basement with crawl spaces and 8' ceilings.

If I wanted to gross everyone out, I would show you the bag of dog hair after maybe 10 days of not vacuuming. I went over the upper level 4 times with our Bissell Pro Pet vacuum and hair kept coming up. My pups are lucky I love them :)

Chariotoflove > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 19:06

Oh man, a basement. How nice that would be. No one here does basements at all. They all whine about the terrible clay they have to dig through and say it’s impractical if not impossible. I call bullshit. Especially when they build on small lots, a basement would dramatically increase usable space, if only for storage.

MUSASHI66 > Chariotoflove
07/11/2019 at 19:18

Basements are awesome. We’ll have room for a bedroom, bathroom, heater room, and another large bedroom/living room. They also stay super cool in summer.

For now though, it’ll be extra storage. Don’t quite have the $40-50k required to finish it right now.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 20:48

Nicely done. I’m actually outfitting my garage as we speak. Not as much cabinet space as I would like though. But at least this time around it all matches. That’s a nice set. As for the ridgid tools. They are okay. I swapped mine out for Milwaukee over 3 years ago and haven’t looked back. Still haven’t had a battery or tool go bad. My old ridgid stuff went to the volunteer shop and I just had to buy new batteries. But the tools are still kicking. The first sets of all the ridgid batteries were junk after a couple years. But the new stuff looks to be on par with Milwaukee, so they should serve you well. As long as you’re going brushless, you’ll be happy. So much more power than the brushed motors.

MUSASHI66 > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
07/11/2019 at 21:53

Brushless and lithium ion, plus lifetime warranty on batteries. I should be set.

glemon > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 21:56

That looks really nice, I bought a more rustic bench and drawer option, but yours looks like it has more storage (I dont have overhead cabinets) .

I would get the cordless skil-saw, just because I have used those things all over the place, roots in the yard, tree branches, demo projects. The grinder is usually limited to cars and car parts in the garage, where power is really handy. I have a cheap Harbor Freight grinder I don’t know if it even cost $20 bucks, works fine.

Does the set come with two batteries? I actually have cheapo black and Decker stuff but have two chargers and four batteries. Never without juice, which is a true joy.

MUSASHI66 > glemon
07/11/2019 at 22:53

I love the cabinets. I didn’t see them in person, and I hope they are as nice.

The set does come with two batteries. I’ll never have a cordless set without at least two batteries. Preferably 3 or more with 4 tools total.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > MUSASHI66
07/11/2019 at 22:57

That’s nice stuff.