Okay, so water heaters can be a real eyesore, especially in the laundry room where you want everything to look sleek and modern. I get it – those pipes and peeled labels just don’t match the vibe. But no worries, there’s an easy DIY fix to cover up that ugly water heater and make it look like a stylish cabinet instead. All you need is some basic supplies and a bit of carpentry know-how. This project takes a little more work than some other House Digest DIYs, but if you’ve got some experience with building stuff, you should be able to knock it out in an afternoon. You’ll need things like fiberboard, trim boards, braces, a nail gun, and paint. Once you’ve got the cabinet frame built, you can just slide it right over the water heater. When you need to access the heater, you can easily lift the whole facade up and out of the way.
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How to construct your faux cabinet
Alright, let’s break down the steps for building this faux cabinet step-by-step. First, when you buy that fiberboard, make sure to ask the store to cut it in half lengthwise for you. Those long, skinny panels will make up the sides of your cabinet.
To get the right measurements, just measure the space next to your water heater and use that to figure out the dimensions. Then it’s just a matter of screwing those side panels together with some metal corner braces – you’ll probably need at least 4 of those.
Now for the front trim pieces. Cut those 1×4 boards to match the height of your cabinet, spread some wood glue on one side, and attach them along the edges. Nail ’em in place for extra reinforcement. Add a few horizontal trim pieces across the top, middle, and bottom to really give it that finished cabinet look.
Once the trim is on, go ahead and paint the whole thing. When the paint dries, just screw on a cabinet handle and you’re all set! This faux cabinet should slide right into place over your water heater. And when you need to access the heater, you can just lift the whole thing up and out of the way.
