hercke cabinets Archives - Garage Tailors

Onex Cabinets

November 6, 2012 by Rick Scully

Any home renovation, no matter how big or small, requires a myriad of decisions. A great way to ease your mind is to hire a professional with specialized expertise. At Garage Tailors Garage, we’re experts in garage renovations that provide efficient organization, innovative storage and also look terrific. One of the main components of a successful garage transformation is the cabinetry so to that end, we only use products and suppliers with a great track record.

Last month, I talked about the family-owned Hercke cabinets and garage organization systems and next month, I’ll be discussing Ctech, a very sleek, high-tech system popular with high-performance car aficionados. The focus this time is Onex™, a sturdy, mid-range system constructed from steel that’s completely customizable and the ideal garage storage system for design conscious homeowners.

One of the most appealing features of Onex High Performance Steel cabinets is the expansive range of colours. The company offers 21 different colours that are easily coordinated with your car, mudroom or to complement the wall paint and floor. The Onex catalogue boasts 50 different cabinet options that can be configured in a wide range of ways to maximize the space and storage capacity in any garage. This includes base and wall cabinets, tall floor cabinets, tables and suspended cabinets.

Constructed from cold-rolled steel, the components have a barrier coating against moisture and corrosion, an ideal feature given the swings in the Canadian climate and our extremely cold winters and humid summers. Additionally, the customized colour coatings are produced on a thermosetting powder-coating system, a high temperature process, which irreversible cures polymers ensuring a high-quality finish with excellent scratch and chemical resistance. This finish is an important feature given the sometimes rough and tumble uses of your garage and means that the cabinets will look great for a very long time.

Another notable feature of Onex components is their consistency. The company is registered under the Switzerland-based ISO standard (International Organization for Standardization). ISO is a quality management system that measures the ongoing performance of products.

When we take on a garage transformation, we like to work from the outside in and blend the look so that it’s an extension of the house. Some clients like a serene, unified look and choose paint colours that blend and disappear. Other clients want something that really stands out and are more drawn to bold, vibrant colours. With the wide selection of colour options and configurations offered for Onex High Performance Steel Cabinets, it’s easy to create the customized garage storage system that suits your specific needs, tastes and style. Fully adaptable and flexible for any surface, the steel cabinets also have optional locks so you can safely secure dangerous chemicals or valuable tools and equipment.

Onex can produce a customized storage cabinet solution in about six weeks and Garage Tailors Garage renovations can be completed in as few as two days to ensure minimal disruption. I’d be happy to come over and give you an estimate.

Hercke Cabinets

October 9, 2012 by Rick Scully

Designs That Let You Put Things Away in Style

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention. Consequently some of the most useful products are designed for very specific situations and requirements. But that doesn’t mean these solutions can’t look terrific too, which is why when people are interested in efficient and great-looking garage organization solutions, I’m happy to suggest three different lines of cabinets – Hercke, Onex and Ctech. All of the products that Garage Tailors Garage carries and recommends for garage transformations are highly functional and have specialized features that will appeal to various needs, priorities and budgets. Over the next few months, I’ll get into more specific details about the unique features of each product, but this month I’m going to focus on Hercke.

As the operator of an independent business, I have the luxury of choosing the suppliers and products I believe in and Hercke’s modular system is durable, functional and attractive. It’s one of my favourite storage solution systems because in addition to good design and adaptability, dollar for dollar it’s a sturdier, higher quality product than similar systems offered by home improvement retailers.

Is there a gauge distinction between big box cabinets and these?
The fully lockable system includes 30-inch wide steel cabinets with black cases and black shelves. They can be personalized with stainless steel or powder grey fronts that work extremely well in a garage storage setting and can also be utilized in other areas of your home for storage system continuity. Another key feature is they have scalable legs, which ensure that the cabinets can be levelly installed to retain their integrity even with the 5% grade slant on garage floors, a building code requirement that ensures proper water run-off.

Hercke cabinets work effectively because their storage and organization system was created by homeowners with needs that are likely quite similar to yours. The company was founded by the husband and wife team of Tom and Katy Van Hercke when they were unable to find adequate storage solutions to keep power tools out of the reach of their two young children and Katy wanted to store some over-sized platters and trays in the kitchen. Their breakthrough was developing a system that was functional in the garage or basement, but also flexible and attractive for other areas of the home including the kitchen, laundry room, office or playroom. The other important component was they wanted the design to be appealing for both men and women. It is. And that kind of aesthetic appeal and continuity is handy to get consensus on a project like transforming the chaos of your garage into an attractive place of highly organized storage, safety and efficiency.

As a consumer, you have a is a range of options, but I believe that customized Hercke cabinets are a far better value and long-term investment than a lot of lower priced, and consequently lower quality substitutes out there. Plus, Garage Tailors Garage offers full-service transformations from the design and sourcing through installation that can be completed in a few days once specialty orders have been placed. For a consultation and estimate, give me a call.

How To Choose Garage Cabinets For Your Storage Needs

July 24, 2012 by Rick Scully

When it comes to recommending cabinets for people, we recommend three different suppliers: Hercke, Onex and Ctech. All three will do the job and choosing one depends on a number of factors that are personal and garage specific. Take into consideration the space available, budget and aesthetic preferences.

We don’t offer wood cabinets because in this climate, the materials need to be water resistant. I’ve labelled the brands ‘good’, ‘better’ and ‘best’ because all three companies build solid products that will offer similar storage solutions.

The difference is in the details:

Construction
Hercke and Onex are both made of steel, but Onex offers a lower gauge, which is stronger. Ctech uses aluminum and offers a strength between the other two, but again, all three are very durable and made for heavy residential use. Car enthusiasts would likely see the Ctech in racing trailers.

Cabinet Type
The space you have available is the key to which kind of cabinets will fit you best. Hercke cabinets are modular and the lower units come in 30 inch widths. If your garage accommodates this modular width, Hercke can be a good option. I’d also recommend it if you have a lot of space, because you don’t need to maximize every square inch of your garage. The upper units are also 30 inches wide, but they offer depths of 12 and 24 inches. Unfortunately, if they don’t fit into the space available, there’s not a lot of opportunity to customize the cabinets.

Both Onex and Ctech provide completely custom cabinets with neither company carrying any inventory. These cabinets can be ordered to fit your garage precisely which is important when you need to optimize the use of space available.

Colours
Hercke cabinets come with black cases (sides, top, bottom and shelves) and offer either stainless steel or brushed silver doors.

Onex offers 21 basic colours and Ctech offers 9 basic colours. Both companies can create a custom colour for you, for an additional cost. Depending on your priorities and budget, it can make a significant difference. One of our clients had a Ferrari and wanted his cabinets to be Ferrari red as well. The results were phenomenal.

Flexibility
Hercke cabinets aren’t very flexible in terms of finishes, measurements or hardware. Both Onex and Ctech offer full customization and are built to order, which means that we can customize the cabinets to fit your unique needs, whether it’s lockers for specialized equipment, a work station or anything else you may want.

Cost and Design
Hercke cabinets are the lowest price because they are modular and can be manufactured in bulk. Onex cabinets cost 25% more than Hercke, and Ctech cost 25% more than Onex . Some people prefer the Ctech cabinet style over the Onex cabinet style and vice versa.

Both Hercke and Onex are a basic square shape, but Ctech offers a little more flair with the rounded edges. Ctech also come with MotionLatch™ doors, which operate in a similar fashion to self-closing cabinets. It’s not a necessity, but it’s a good feature to have in order to prevent your own and other unwanted small critters from accidentally entering the cabinets as well as for safety.

Options
All three companies make cabinets with adjustable legs or castors. You can also choose different kinds of handles for the Hercke cabinets but that’s where the options end.

The Onex steel cabinets offer custom the hardware options, finish and colour to complement the other aspects of your garage. Finally, the Ctech cabinet options are even more upscale with radius edging on the closets, along the bottom, and MotionLatch™ doors.

There are situations where I would recommend Onex over Hercke when placing garage cabinets along a side wall. Onex provides cabinet legs at any length because we have to ensure the cabinets are level. Hercke may be a good option where there are other ways to level the unit because the legs adjust only a small amount. However, these other solutions may not be as aesthetically pleasing a solution.

Lockable
All Hercke cabinets lock while Onex and Ctech offer locks as options. Depending on what you are storing, you may not want or need locks on all your cabinets. Locks can provide security against vandalism and can protect dangerous items from children.

Paint
All three brands of cabinets have a powder-coated finish which makes them scratch resistant and easier to clean.

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Onex Cabinets

Hercke Cabinets

Designs That Let You Put Things Away in Style

How To Choose Garage Cabinets For Your Storage Needs

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