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Building storage shelves

Toolhorder

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Nov 9, 2009
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Montana
Really need more storage in the garage. Its a complete mess. I wanted to buy the biggest metal storage racks Costco sells but I can't afford $159 ea. for them right now. I was thinking about making some wood ones. Anyone do this?
 
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deckmonkey

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Oct 18, 2015
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Thunder Bay
Nothing is supposed to be stored in your garage. Move it all back to the wife's.

I built a basic one with 3 shelves for my basement and tool storage in my garage with a sheet of plywood and 8- 2x4's. We made some angle brackets out of a bed frame and use some scrap 2x8's in my buddy's garage for small storage. I usually try to find scrap stuff and save it for things like that. Jumped in a dumpster at work to pull out maple plywood they were throwing out and had enough to build some cabinets.
 

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MichaelBikel

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Apr 11, 2015
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379
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CT
Really need more storage in the garage. Its a complete mess. I wanted to buy the biggest metal storage racks Costco sells but I can't afford $159 ea. for them right now. I was thinking about making some wood ones. Anyone do this?

What do you need to store? If you can build a few cabinets I would suggest that as it will give you more floor space (always needed). And If you really want to build a rack out of wood I know there are some built-in threads on here you just have to poke around. PS be sure you get all the clutter and junk out!
 

theoldwizard1

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Feb 22, 2011
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SE MI
Assuming you have a typical 20x20 garage with nothing on the back wall. The best storage solution is what came with my house when I bought it almost 40 years ago. A high, wide shelf/mini-mezzanine across the back.

First, the interior of my garage is unfinished and uninsulated. Like I said, it is more like a mini-mezzanine because it is plenty high enough (about 60") to get the nose of a car underneath it or store other things under neat it (bicycles, grill, etc). Very heavy duty. The joist are 2x6 that run run across the width of the garage and are attached to the studs on the side (16" O.C.). The decking is actually 1x6 boards, but 3/4" plywood could be used. There is a center support that runs from the front joist down, at an angle, back to the bottom plate.

Because I am storing mostly heavy items on this, they are not very tall. I actually put another smaller shelf about 12-18" below the top plate that runs the width of the garage, I used HD metal shelf brackets with built in braces, the biggest ones I could find (16" ?) and then bolted on about a 20" piece of plywood. (Picture below is from HD.) I used the lags into the studs.

bce0180b-cb85-4f8d-bb51-32dc2b4eaca3_400.jpg


This gave me a HUGE amount of storage, admittedly some of it is not easy to acess. The down side is, especially if you do the 2 tiers, you will be spending more than $150

You could always start with just the shelf about 18-24" below the top plate/ceiling. Depending on what you plan on storing, you probably could space the bracket (about $10 each) to every other joist.

If your budget is super tight, look for used/recycled kitchen cabinets. The fast and easy way to hang them is on a French cleat system.
 

rayra

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For $160 in materials you could fill an entire wall with shelving.

here's a layout I helped a friend build about a year and a half ago.

leonshelves_zpsept1e7zz.jpg


Simple 2x4 framing. Measure the drop / slope of the floor. Cut your face legs / vertical supports to lengths to match the slope. Lay them on the floor in proper order. Build the box frames for the shelf supports. Stand them on your supports, spaced to suit whatever you'll be putting on the shelves. Doubled totes is a good standard, helps to have your totes first / measured. Screw the frames to the vertical supports. Then lift the whole thing up against the wall. Use a level to square and level the shelves, screwing them to the wall studs. If you got your floor slope and leg heights right, adn remembered to space the frames down from the top of the vertical supports, all should be level.
Size your shelf width to 2' or 16" deep. no waste from ripping 4x8 sheets for shelves. Or jsut make the top shelf 2' wide for a bit extra room, while keeping all teh frames 16" wide. Put light / bulky / large items up top, won't hurt to have 8" of 3/4 ply overhang
 

rayra

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added benefit, if you have a lot of pipes or stick lumber / moulding to store, this setup is sturdy enough to bore holes thru the 2x4 shelf frames and insert sections of EMT conduit as extensions sticking out like a lumber / pipe rack.
 

JettaGetUpandGo

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Jun 3, 2015
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685
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Pewaukee, WI
I built these for ~$250 in materials. If I used 2x4 uprights instead of anchor bolts into the concrete I probably could have done it for $200. The shelves are 2' deep to maximize a 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" OSB. 16" would work too and you could get three shelves out of each board.

You could do something very similar except you would be able to screw the back of each shelf into studs instead of anchoring it in concrete. My goal was to eliminate as many uprights as possible.

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theoldwizard1

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Feb 22, 2011
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SE MI
If you are going to do simple 2x4 shelving remember one thing. Screwing into end grain is very weak ! If you have to do it, insert 1 screw to hold everything and then drill a 1/2" hole and insert a 1/2" hardwood dowel. Remove the first screw and replace it with a hole and dowel.

MUCH stronger !
 

jonw9

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Nov 9, 2015
Messages
23
Mine had 2x4 shelves when I bought the place. My struggle now is to be more efficient in the use, as it seems I still have **** all over.

3dc174ee47dcd305e849d2e13ca1e84e.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jimgood

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Aug 4, 2014
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Location
Marshall, VA
2 x 4s work great but, if you have a welder and can get 1" square tube, you might want to consider this:
 
OP
T

Toolhorder

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Montana
Got some free OSB sheets today. Hoping for some free 2x4's soon. I do have some 1 or 2" angle iron too. Just have to grind/cut it up it's sort of in a ladder formation right now.
 

stage20

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pcola FL
post #7 for sure, although id like to see another support in the corner where they meet. i load my stuff down so needs to be strong, IMO
 

JettaGetUpandGo

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Jun 3, 2015
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Pewaukee, WI
post #7 for sure, although id like to see another support in the corner where they meet. i load my stuff down so needs to be strong, IMO


The shelves back in that corner are just used for storage of general house **** (Christmas decorations, empty suitcases, etc.). That being said, those corners are plenty strong. I sacrificed my younger brother for testing:

D50DF5F7-EBC7-4A09-9899-6CFBAB8B709F_zpsgiq69kqz.jpg
 
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