Cabinet costs?

[grantgoold]

Looking to get a general idea of cabinet costs for an entire bus. I know there are some fantastic craftsman in this group and would like to get just a general idea! I fully realize that the cost is dependent on several variables but would like some idea of the range. Start with a shell with acceptable wall structure and go from there.

Thanks

Grant

[cody]

There is no rule of thumb for a rule of thumb on costs, it varies widely with each bus, but it can be broken down somewhat in some areas, using oak as one possibility, generally a faceframe is made out of strips of wood doweled or kleg screwed together, an oak 1x12x8ft will cost in the area of 50 bucks but it will produce several 8ft strips for a faceframe, the strips are often in the area of an inch and 3/4 in width, the interior of the cabinet can be a decent grade of oak veneered plywood, a 3/4 inch sheet would run up to around 75 dollars but will do a several cabinet interior partitians. Often I'll use a good grade of plywood and cover it on both sides with a laminate to make the interiors easier to clean, the cost is very much the same for a sheet of plywood and the laminate as it would be for the oak veneered plywood, the difference is the ease of cleaning.  If you plan your front you can use ready made but unfinished cabinet doors, these will cost around 20 to 30 dollars each depending on the style, hardware will run around 10 bucks per door for handle and hinges. the drawer boxes can be made out of standard white wood like pine or fir, then a oak front attached, with slides the cost is around 15 to 25 per drawer.  The countertop can range widely from around 65 bucks for an 8ft standard to several hundred for corian or even several thousand for granite or exotics.  These cost figures are just a rough idea and can vary widely due to reginal price diffences, and material variations due to grade or style.

[BG6]

Looking to get a general idea of cabinet costs for an entire bus.

Twice as much as you planned. 

Seriously, there are so many different options that it's like asking what dinner costs.  You can hire someone to build them, you can build from scratch, you can buy take-outs from RVs or from homes being remodeled or demolished or kits from someplace like Home Despot and modify them to fit.  You might even buy an older RV with a junk engine or transmission, strip it out for windows and interior, and come away spending pretty much nothing.

The next question is what you want.  High quality or just something that will work?  Oak, Mahocony <g> or just paneling glued to a wood frame?  Hinged doors or sliders?

If you look at it right, making these decisions is really one of the most enjoyable parts of doing a conversion.  You get to sit there and look at it in your mind's eye, then figure out what you're seeing and figure out how to make that happen.

One thing that I would add is that ALL of your cabinets and drawers need a POSITIVE method of keeping them closed, and any cabinet which is mounted above a seat which will be occupied when the coach is moving must be anchored THROUGH the shell (or the shell support structure) -- anchoring only to your inner walls makes them likely to come down in an accident or even if you hit a deep hole (this is one of the most common ways that people in sticks-n-staples rigs are injured or killed).

[dkhersh]

Grant,

     There are way to many variables to even guess for you.  If you could give us an ideal as to what you want to end up with and whether you will be home building them or contracting it out it would help us to narrow the numbers down for you.  Do you have certain look in mind?  Some more info is needed here.  Laminate vs wood, rasied panels vs flat doors, face frames vs euro style, stained and finished vs raw, countertop preferences, knock down vs ready built, home built vs pro built, installed or just delivered, new vs 2nd hand,.........the list of variables could go on and on here.

    On the other hand pro built cabinets, roughly run in the neighborhood of 300.00 per running foot including both wall and base combined.  And this number changes depending on the area of the country you are in.  Again that number will vary up or down depending on what you want in the quality and style of the cabinet and completed project to look and feel like.

[FloridaCliff]

Grant,

I think you are asking the impossible because we really don't know what YOU want in the coach.

IE ...material, amount of cabinets, how many with drawers...and even then it would be hard.

But if you had a gun to my head and made me guess, This is how I would formulate my guess.

Take your linear footage of base and overhead cabinets, go to the big box store and find the smallest cabinet in the material you like.

Exterior and interior finish, multiply for liner footage by the smallest (usually 12" or 18") by the way, I say the smallest because they usually charge more per foot for the smaller ones.

Remember to figure drawer units separate from door units, then multiply by two.

Each cabinet installed or built in your coach will have to be custom built and fit.

That's my guess............

I have built about half of mine so far. one advantage is making changes, which I do, doesn't cost much.

Fitting cabinets in a non square environment has its challenges.

Cliff

[grantgoold]

I realized when I asked the question that it would be very difficult to get an answer that was super specific. With all the options it really can vary widely. What I was looking for was folks that have built their own, purchased box store or had custom built and the cost of each.

I love the number of variables and the ideas presented so far.

How about what your cabinets cost you and what part of the country you are in!

Thanks

[Jriddle]

I have to admit I am leaning towards the BIG BOX STORE. Cliff brings up a good point. I have yet to find or build anything that is square in my bus. If one were to build them you could compensate for this condition more easily. I have not been known for my cabinet building SKILL! I guess if you take your time you might find it rewarding and might even learn a new skill. It just looks a lot easier to walk down the isle and point at what you want then bring them home and figure out how it is going to fit.

John

[cody]

The numbers I gave were basic material cost for only one example, oak. The cost can reach the sky or be very reasonable, what I outlined would be a basic unit cost for some of the components and on the low side at that, I built mine and for many others and I shy away from giving a hard number because of the vast number of possibilites. 

[Ncbob]

Cost, I can't speak to that because truthfully I never added up all the costs for the material I laid out for my cabinets. There aren't many things I can tell you how to do right but I sure am an expert on how to do them wrong is hindsight is truly 20/20. Here's a problem I didn't think I would encounter and I'm only posting it for those of you who are still building and for our cabinet makers who have the knowledge I didn't have when I started this project in the hope they might have a solution up their collective sleeves for me......

My cabinets are made of poplar plywood faced with birch veneer and trimmed with solid 3/4 mahogany. I used the cutouts for the door openings, trimmed them with mahogany and used them for the upward swinging doors. I used 3 hinges on each door. The hinges are set into the cross grain of the doors (pocketed) and the other side of the hinges are screwed into the side grain, if you will, of the plywood. Now after 3 years of full timing the #6X1/2" wood screws are pulling out and causing me a problem.

Now, a good, knowledgeable cabinet maker might have glued and fastened a piece of solid wood at the top of the cabinets for a cross grain header to screw the butt edge of the hinges to...but, of course, not me! I didn't want to use solid wood for the cabinets in the hope of keeping the weight down. I'd have loved to build them out of oak...but I didn't want to haul that around for the rest of my life.

So, here's my quandary. At this point where might I find some plastic screw inserts that I can use to anchor the edge screws? I'd probably use yellow glue on them after drilling the pocket with a brad point drill.

It's probably been done before by someone as dumb as me so I hope there's a solution.

NCbob

[Skykingrob]

Grant
I am just finishing up this project in my bus so I have numbers that might be helpful. The door and drawer fronts are solid birch custom milled at $1400 for 52 of them including hinges. I have $900 in 3/4" birch plywood, $500 for solid birch for rales and stiles (cabinet fronts), $200 for 1/2" birch for drawers, $130 for drawer slides and $300 for pull/handle hardware. I have another $400 in various plywood for things like bed support, bed box, drawer bottoms. etc. I have planned to put in a synthetic granite at $4200. The above does not include some necessary tools that I purchased like a Kreg jig ($85), HVLP finishing tool ($110), several cabinet blades for my tablesaw ($250) and Kreg screws ($80). I custom built our bedroom headboard by buying several different components and putting them together with a biscuit jointer and kreg jig that was $200.
So you see it is not for the faint of heart but then I planned and will have a high end look without laminate anywhere. I would guess this is likely the high end of the price range so if you choose something more moderate you can figure your price accordingly.
Hope this helps

Rob
91 LeMirage XL
Missouri

[Jerry Liebler]

NCbob,
     Rather than plastic screw inserts, I'd recommend hardwood dowels, either 1/4" or 3/8" glued in with Gorilla glue after moistening the dowel.  The dowels are usually birch or maple and really hold screws well in the end grain. 
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120

[Dreamscape]

I"m one of the guys who bought cabinets from HD! Don't have the proper tools and time to "Do It Yourself"! Not sure if I could have made them as nice as cody's either!

We purchased just the base cabinets, one 36" Sink Base, one 30" STD Base, one 36" STD Base,one 12" STD Base, one 18" Drawer Base, two end panels, two toe kick panels, 2 preformed countertops, 4 end splash kits. $950 delivered.

Not including stain, clear finish and my labor was FREE!

Paul

[bobofthenorth]

NCBOB I'm a big fan of West System epoxy.  My fix in your situation would be some resin sucked up into a syringe and injected into the edge grain of the plywood.  Once that cures up you can run the screws back in with no worries about them coming loose again.  If you work in warm conditions with warm resin it becomes very fluid and easy to inject.  I go to the farm supply store and get the fattest needle I can find.  If you want to get really fancy you could fill the existing screw holes after injecting the wood.  In that case I'd probably just mix some sanding dust into the epoxy to thicken it. 

[Don4107]

NCbob,

Another way to fix this is super glue, ie cyanoacrylate.  Not the cheap stuff you find anyplace.  If you go to a hobby shop that deals in Radio Control airplanes you will find several types of super glue.  You want the thinnest version and in the larger sizes.  It will wick into wood very well.  They will also have applicators that help. 

Once you have reinforced the wood I would drill out and fill the holes with dowel also glued in with super glue, one of the thicker versions or as someone else said, Gorilla Glue.  If you have any gaps to fill a little fine sawdust will fill them.  It will make the joint very tough.  I have repaired completely shattered fuselages by just fitting the pieces back together and soaking the breaks with super glue.

If you have not worked with it you need to practice a bit.  IF you drip on ANYTHING, you have trouble.  It WILL glue your fingers together or to anything.   It can get very hot when setting up.

Good luck
Don 4107

[Blacksheep]

To add to what Don stated about the super glue, the thinner sets up quicker and runs like water. The thicker sets up slower and runs like syrup but, the hobby shops will also sell an accelerator that will make the SG very hot and dry VERY QUICKLY! The problem I had when using it is that it crystalizes when dry!

Ace