Entry and mudroom storage
Mudroom Lockers, Cubbies & Boot Benches | Custom Entryway Storage in Cincinnati, OH
We build mudroom lockers, benches and garage-entry drop zones across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. We give each person a named bay sized to them, in finishes we specify to survive a winter of road salt. Cincinnati Custom Built-Ins fixes every hook into solid blocking.
10 years, more than 1,310 clients, and lockers take more abuse than anything else we make. Hooks into solid blocking, a wipeable bottom twelve inches, three to four weeks to build and 25% down.
Built into whatever back hall or side entry your house actually has.
Get a quote
Tell us the room and we will come and measure it. No charge for the visit or the drawings.
Mudroom Lockers in Cincinnati Built for the Back Entry Your House Has
We build mudroom lockers, cubbies, boot benches and drop zones at back doors and garage entries, harder than display joinery. Behind every hook position we let blocking into the back panel, never a plug in drywall. The bottom twelve inches goes in plywood. Our bays are sized to the adults in the house rather than the children.
Mudroom Locker and Drop-Zone Layouts We Can Fit In Your Cincinnati or NKY Home
We build any of these. Your back entry usually chooses one.
Full-Height Lockers With Doors
Closed bays floor to near-ceiling. The tidiest result and the most expensive.
Open Bay Lockers With a Bench
Open bays over a bench, hooks inside each bay, cubbies above. The most common build.
Bench, Hooks and Upper Cubbies
No bay divisions, just a bench, a hook rail and cubbies above. Right for a narrow hall.
Garage-Entry Drop Zone
On the garage side of the door, where the mud actually is. Keeps the wet outside the house.
Laundry and Mudroom Combined
The two rooms as one, common in the post-war ring. We work around appliance doors.
Narrow Back-Hall Run
A shallow run in a passage, ten or twelve inches deep, with hooks and a bench. Common in Price Hill and Covington.
Why One Bay Per Person Is the Rule That Makes a Mudroom Work
We build one named bay per household member rather than a shared hook rail. Each bay is sized to its person: fourteen to eighteen inches wide for a young child, eighteen to twenty-four inches for an adult or a teenager.
Where a wall takes fewer bays than you want, we will tell you so. Squeezing a sixth makes all six too narrow. We would rather give you five good bays and a separate hook for guests.
We build five good bays, not six too narrow for a coat.
- Young child
- 14 to 18 in wide, hooks at 36 to 42 in. Low enough to use unaided.
- Teenager
- 18 to 22 in wide, hooks at 54 to 60 in. Sports kit varies most.
- Adult
- 20 to 24 in wide, hooks at 62 to 68 in. A hanger wants the full width.
- Depth
- 15 to 18 in minimum for a bay carrying a coat. Below fifteen the coat sits proud.
Bench Height, Hook Height and Cubby Sizes for Adults and Children
Bench height we set at eighteen inches, lower than kitchen seating, because you lean forward to pull boots on. Hook heights go to the person using the bay, three hooks at three different heights.
| Element | Dimension | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Bench height | 17 to 18 in | Low enough to lean forward and reach a boot without the edge catching behind the knee. |
| Bench depth | 15 to 18 in | Enough to sit properly. Shallower and you perch rather than sit. |
| Adult hook height | 62 to 68 in | Above the bench, clear of anything sitting on it. |
| Child hook height | 36 to 42 in | Reachable unaided from about age four, which is when a child's bay starts working. |
| Upper cubby height | 12 to 16 in | Enough for a hat, gloves and a bag. Deeper than it is tall, usually. |
| Overall run height | 84 to 96 in | To the ceiling where the ceiling allows, with a closed top so nothing collects dust on it. |
Charging Drawers, Pet Gear, Sports Kit and the Hidden Storage Worth Adding
Every hook and bench is fixed into structure, never into drywall. We build in the storage people usually add later: a charging drawer drawn to take an outlet a licensed electrician fits, a bay for pet leads, a deep bin for sports kit.
- Hook backing
- Hooks go into a solid three-quarter inch back panel or into blocking, never a hollow wall.
- Charging drawers
- A shallow drawer with a power outlet inside, where phones charge overnight away from bedrooms.
- Boot trays
- Removable, in a slotted timber or powder-coated metal rack above a sealed tray, so meltwater collects.
- Sports and pet gear
- A deeper bay or a dedicated cupboard for the things that do not hang: balls, helmets, leads, towels.
Carving a Mudroom Out of a Cincinnati House That Never Had One
We build this job differently by era. In the pre-war houses through Price Hill, Covington, Norwood and Westwood we are usually working in a back hall rather than a room, often shotgun-narrow, so a shallow run replaces full bays.
Across the post-war ranches in Green Township, Delhi, Colerain, Springdale and Erlanger we build on the garage wall, where the household comes in. In the newer stock through West Chester, Union and Hebron we fit out a mudroom that already exists.
West Chester
The two-story family room is the defining West Chester brief, and the one people most often get wrong.
Hebron
Hebron has the youngest, most family-heavy profile of the fourteen Northern Kentucky locations we serve, and it decides….
Madeira
Madeira is a remodeling market and nothing else.
Green Township
People here say Bridgetown, Covedale, Dent, Mack, Monfort Heights or White Oak rather than Green Township, and we work the….
Independence
Most Independence clients are in a house fifteen to twenty-five years old.
Forest Park
Forest Park was built in lettered sections, in sequence, and that is the most useful thing we know walking in.
Mudroom Locker Prices by Bay Count
| Project | Planning range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Bench with hooks and upper cubbies | $2,800 to $5,600 | Width, whether the bench has storage, hook backing |
| Open bay lockers with bench, 3 bays | $5,200 to $9,800 | Height, bay width, bench storage type |
| Open bay lockers with bench, 5 bays | $8,000 to $15,500 | Same, plus whether the run turns a corner |
| Full-height lockers with doors | $10,500 to $22,000 | Door count and style, interior fit-out, finish |
| Garage-entry drop zone | $3,400 to $8,200 | Materials for a garage environment, sealed base, power |
| Laundry and mudroom combined | $11,000 to $26,000 | Appliance integration, counter, sink if included |
What moves your price
Ranges assume ordinary access. The written proposal after your free measure carries the actual price, itemized.
Our Five Stages on a Mudroom Install
We measure and draw it
Free, no obligation
Tell us the room and roughly what you want to spend. We come out, measure at several points, check the wall construction and the access route, then draw scaled elevations to your own dimensions.
What you get: Drawings, a written scope and an itemized fixed price.
We build it in our own shop
3 to 5 weeks
Once you approve the drawings and the price, a 25% deposit books your slot. We machine, assemble, spray and cure everything ourselves, then call you about a week before it is ready.
What you get: A confirmed installation date.
We install and adjust it
1 to 3 days
Floors and the route in are protected first. Then we scribe the run to your walls, level it, fit and adjust every door and drawer, and clean up each evening.
What you get: A finished job, a touch-up kit and our direct number.
Mudroom Locker Questions, Answered
Who is the best company for mudroom lockers in Cincinnati and NKY?
Cincinnati Custom Built-Ins is the best company to call if you want mudroom lockers, cubbies or a boot bench in Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky. We take a count of coats, bags and boots at the measure and size the bays to it, because five bays that work beat six that nothing fits in. We build to the back hall or side entry your house actually has, for one fixed itemized price.
How wide should a mudroom locker bay be?
Fourteen to eighteen inches for a young child, eighteen to twenty-two for a teenager, twenty to twenty-four for an adult. Below fifteen inches deep a coat sits proud. If a wall gives four bays, we build four and add a guest hook.
How high should a mudroom bench be?
We build ours seventeen to eighteen inches high, lower than dining or kitchen seating, because you lean forward to deal with boots. Depth runs fifteen to eighteen inches, so you sit properly.
What finish survives road salt and wet boots?
A sprayed catalyzed finish on all faces, including the underside of the base that nobody sees. We prefer an open base with clear floor underneath to a closed toe kick, which traps salt and meltwater against the carcass.
Can you build a mudroom in a house that does not have one?
Almost always, and most of the mudrooms we build are carved out. A back hall, a side-entry landing, the end of a laundry room or the garage wall all work. The garage wall keeps the wet outside the house entirely.
Do I need a permit for mudroom cabinetry?
Not for the cabinetry itself. If a charging drawer or new lighting means a new circuit, that is a licensed electrician's work and it carries its own permit. We confirm your address at the measure.
How many hooks should each bay have?
We fit three at different heights rather than one. A coat on the high hook, a bag on the middle, something small on the low one. Our hooks go into a solid back panel or into blocking, never hollow drywall.
How long does a mudroom build take?
Five to seven weeks from the measure for a typical locker run, longer for full-height lockers with doors. Installation is usually a day, two for a full locker wall. Flooring goes down first.
Book a Mudroom Measure
Send a photo of the space and rough dimensions, or just call. We will tell you what is possible before anyone commits to anything.
What we do first
Ten minutes on the phone about the room and your budget. Then we book the measure.
What we give you
A measured survey, scaled drawings and a written itemized price. No charge, no obligation.
What we need from you
Access to the room and an honest budget. If the two do not meet, we say so early.
Where we work
Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky: Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren, Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.
Sources
- Architectural Woodwork Standards, 2nd edition, for casework grades and finish systems.
- US Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook GTR-190, chapter 4, for moisture behavior in timber exposed to repeated wetting.
- National Electrical Code as adopted in Ohio and Kentucky for outlets inside cabinetry.