Remember my sliding wall thread? It's done!

[ScottsGT]

Month or so back I asked about building a sliding wall in front of a shelf I have in my garage. I want a place to hang my yard tools so I don't have to shuffle them all around when I need something off the shelf.

This Saturday I took this project on and got the wall up and in place and learned a few things along the way I'll share.

First was mounting the Unistrut. The bearing trolleys leave no room inside the Unistrut for the bolt heads. So I could only use a Lag Bolt on each end. I located the center of my ceiling joist and drove the first on end and used it as an anchor to tie the Unistrut in place while I bolted the other end in place.

I now have to notch my cabinet doors at the tip tops to clear the rail.

On the base of the sliding wall I built it with 4 casters from Harbor Freight.

[/URL][/IMG]

I placed a 2X4 across the top for two reasons. One, keep the ply board from bowing. second, I needed to space it out so it would clear my work bench.

[/URL][/IMG]

Here it is in the closed position where it will be 99% of the time.

[/URL][/IMG]

Open...


I've still got to paint it all and build out all the holders and brackets for my yard tools. I'll follow up later with that.
One important factor I did not take into account. There is ZERO play in the rollers from Unistrut. If your floor drops any at all, the casters will come off the ground or the wall will bind if you measure from a low point. Mine came off the ground when closed (to the right, in front of the shelf) I simply used a longer Lag bold and some thick washers between the Unistrut and the ceiling. It gets a little tight on the far left, but I never will need to open it that far.
Another option would be to slot the wood at the top and use aircraft nuts that hold their place and allow the trolleys to float. The top is only used as a guide to hold the wall up and in place. I built it with the weight designed to be on the bottom casters.

And yes, my work area is a disaster since it is a working garage and not some pretty showplace!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Images aren't showing up for me...


edit: OK, I can see them now.

 

[ScottsGT]

Interesting. I'm seeing them. Posted from Image Shack.

I just redid the first image with a different link. See it now?

 

[Oldgloryfirearms]

Interesting. I'm seeing them. Posted from Image Shack.

I just redid the first image with a different link. See it now?

yes just first image

 

[ScottsGT]

How about the second? Did something else different.

 

[ARFLY]

I see the pictures. Looks cool. So you will be hanging stuff on it is that correct?

 

[ScottsGT]

Yes, M18 string trimmer, blower and hedge trimmer along with the old gas string trimmer I still use for attachments and extensions. Also going to hang extension cords, small garden tools and what ever else I can fit on it.

 

[larry_g]

They make specific hangers for trolley tracks. You could also use the deep profile strut if you wand a bit if wiggle room inside the strut and room for bolt heads. I also believe your going to have an issue with the door hanging at an angle when the door gets loaded with tools. It is going to swing until the CG of the load is under the hangers.

Great idea and your off to a good start.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ScottsGT]

Larry, the weight is on the 4 casters at the bottom. Top is only a guide to keep it from falling over.

 

[PugetDude]

First two pics look interesting... the rest are just black holes...

 

[ScottsGT]

First two pics look interesting... the rest are just black holes...

How about now?

 

[PugetDude]

How about now?

 

[verbalkint99]

"

"

This is all I see still...

 

[ScottsGT]

Any tutorials here on using ImageShack on these forums?

 

[rcktpwrd]

pretty slick!

 

[darrenleecannon]

Hi SCOTTSGT

Don’t want to hijack your thread but I’m looking to do something similar. I’m using a silimilar method to construct a really slim outdoor shed against a wall, 8 meters long.

I’ll be using both a top and bottom unistrut rail, Most likely P5500 with the trolleys. The top rail will be supported by the 450mm unistrut cantilevers which will act as the roof. Using marine ply as the sliding doors.

I’m not sure how the trolley would work on the bottom rail as gravity seems to keep the wheels against the strut where the opening is. I assume I’d need to ensure the wheels on the bottom are bolted to the wood so that the wheels are tight against the upper most part of the strut/where the opening is.

Anyone come across this or have any thoughts on it?

Darren

 

[ScottsGT]

I wouldn’t use trolleys on the bottom. They run very tight in the unistrut track and any dirt will cause it to jamb. It’s also bearing they use and moisture could cause these to rust easily. Protect the top rail from rain and moisture and oil regularly.

 

[darrenleecannon]

Sounds right, thanks ScottsGT

The ground is somewhat sloped too, 5cm in difference between where the wood would slide, start to finish.

Perhaps I could still use the deep p5500 unistrut channel on the bottom without the trolleys and sit the bottom of the wooden sliding door into it as a guide. The height of this deep strut would hide the fact that the wooden door would not cut to a perfect rectangle because of the slope. I want to make sure here are no gaps.

 

[matt_i]

Just an idea...if you milled a solid wood piece or spaced the panel top out with thin strips (maybe HDPE) the panel could just ride inside the unistrut as a slip-fit...no trolley required. Give it a 1/16" clearance and it will ride out all kinds of dips and slopes without a bind before the panel edge pulled completely out of the strut.

 

[darrenleecannon]

Hi Matt_i

Can I get more info on this. I’m not exactly sure what you mean. Are you referring to filling the unistrut at the top with strips of hdpe?

Sorry I’m not getting it.

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

If I can jump in. Build your wall with directional floor castors, and leave the plywood tall enough to ride in the channel, no need for trolley. If plywood is sloppy in the channel, shim sides with plastic to eliminate rattle and let it slide smoothly. If I understand correctly.

 

[tbob]

I built my sliding wall using pegboard on both sides. I only used 2 casters on the bottom. I had to put a wooden runner on the floor to keep it from sliding off center. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

I used HDPE(smooth cutting board material) and slipped into unistrut to guide the top. Works good. Lots of storage. This spring I'm going to spruce it up to look more professional.

TBob

 

[glentre]

I had the same problem on my attic elevator with the trolleys hitting the heads of the lag bolts. Just ground off a little on the bolt heads and they now clear nicely.

Glen

 

[D45]

I too have a sliding wall, that separates the main garage from the back 15x15 section (that is stepped up)

I did not need any bottom castors, just the top guide and a bottom catch guide to keep the door tight up against the wall

It is over built, but its solid and not going anywhere

 

[ScottsGT]

I hung a lot of heavy tools on mine, so I had to double up on bottom casters. But with all the weight on one side, it works its way back towards the shelf it hides the more you use it.

I plan on fixing this by mounting one of the fixed casters off my HF 44" bottom box on the shelf edge holding the sliding wall out and away from the shelf.

 

[darrenleecannon]

I built my sliding wall using pegboard on both sides. I only used 2 casters on the bottom. I had to put a wooden runner on the floor to keep it from sliding off center. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

I used HDPE(smooth cutting board material) and slipped into unistrut to guide the top. Works good. Lots of storage. This spring I'm going to spruce it up to look more professional.

TBob

Hi tbob

Would you have a picture of how the hdpe looks in the unistrut channel?

 

[GypsyR]

A neat idea. I read Scott's posts and thought to myself "I need one of those. But why?" Then along came D45's post and the lightbulb came fully on. I'm adding a third bay to my garage and was just going to frame in a walk through door, but didn't want to deal with the "swing" space plus it might be a little cramped carrying big stuff through. Combining the ideas I can make a plywood "door" rather wider and then hang stuff on it to regain a bit of the lost wall storage. Now that I think of it, if I really wanted to get fancy I could do a "pocket door" but it's just a shop and I don't want to rebuild the wall or need the complexity. I'm just after some separation between the two spaces.