Shelf height and width on shop walls?

[tlmartin84]

Getting ready to build some shelves that run the full length of my shop walls (30')

I was just curious what heights, and widths you have used in yours?

I am debating on 16" vs 24" wide. 16" will let a tote sit sideways, and not project out to far into the work space.

Height is also a concern. I think 78" would be good, it will allow a cabinet to sit under them, and still above head height. Yet I could still reach something without having to get a ladder.

Thoughts?

 

[cjcocn]

Depends on your use.

Figure out what you are most likely to store and measure to fit.

Also consider different heights for your bottom shelf if you have one or two items that are taller. For example, my battery booster is taller than most of my other floor level stuff, so building a stepped-up bottom shelf allowed me to store the booster on the floor without losing storage space along the whole length.

Storing your totes sideways is a good way to keep floor space. I think I went 20" for a 16" high tote - that way I can still have room to get my hands in there while pulling the tote out.

My garage walls have a 1x4 baseboard so I needed to install 1x4 spacers for every level. That allowed the shelving to sit solid against the wall.

If you will be storing smaller items (like paint cans, etc.) figure out how much space you need for them and build shelving to fit - that way you make more efficient use of your wall space.

 

[evildky]

I have found there are three key heights and a less important fourth height, they will vary from person to person. The first is work height, lots of opinions on this one and the answer is whatever you find the most comfortable heights for you and your projects. Next is Eye height, again it varies from person to person but having stuff on a shelf you can see to the back of can be important. The third Height is hand height, as high as you can comfortably reach to put stuff up and take stuff down without climbing on or stepping on things. The Fourth is the optional deep storage height, generally this one is made relative to your ceiling height to fit whatever you want to store but use infrequently enough you don't mind using a ladder to access them.

Depth is again a personal preference and dependant on what you plan to store on said shelves. I lined both sides of my garage with folding tire racks, they hold wheel and tires or just totes and if I ever wanted to I can fold them up for added clearance, I mounted them at a heights I could get things off and on without the aid of a ladder or standing on things.

Not a great picture but you can see the racks down the sides if you look closely.

 

[Bunk]

When I built my shelves, I put them up as high as possible to clear wall place for other cabinets. I consider these shelves to be for longer term storage. The lower cabinets (not built yet) will be within reach without a ladder and for the more everyday items.
I have a 10ft ceiling in my 21x20, I was limited on shelf depth by the garage door tracks. It worked out to be ~17" deep. By placing the front rail of the shelf alongside the door track it gave me a height close to 21" from the ceiling - enough to stack two cardboard office storage boxes on top of each other.

I ran one shelf down each side of the garage giving me 40' of shelving.

View media item 69514
View media item 69515
Pardon the panorama distortion. Everything else is very much a work in progress.

 

[kbs2244]

I like to keep them shallow.
Otherwise stuff get hidden behind stuff.

 

[38Chevy454]

16 inch shelves are nice because you can rip as piece of plywood and get three shelves 16 x 96 inches out of it. Deep enough to store stuff, not so deep that you can't see what is on the shelf.

 

[Dave Nelson]

When I built my shelves, I put them up as high as possible to clear wall place for other cabinets. I consider these shelves to be for longer term storage. The lower cabinets (not built yet) will be within reach without a ladder and for the more everyday items.
I have a 10ft ceiling in my 21x20, I was limited on shelf depth by the garage door tracks. It worked out to be ~17" deep. By placing the front rail of the shelf alongside the door track it gave me a height close to 21" from the ceiling - enough to stack two cardboard office storage boxes on top of each other.

I ran one shelf down each side of the garage giving me 40' of shelving.

View media item 69514
View media item 69515
Pardon the panorama distortion. Everything else is very much a work in progress.

Very nice install, could you provide what was the material used and the type of brackets to secure to ceiling.

 

[ducksface]

View media item 69514

Same as mine except I went over the door also.

 

[rburke65]

i have a pole barn with 8' side walls and my shelves are 24" and 48" in depth. I store plastic tubes on the 24" and lots of lumber on the 48" deep shelves.

 

[ducksface]

70 feet of shelf at 18 inches deep is 105sqft.
That's more floor space than a 10x10 bedroom.

 

[Bunk]

Dave Nelson, I thought had some more pictures around, I think they're on my old laptop. I will describe the basic construction for you instead:
Frame of the shelf is bolted together unistrut with cross members on the ends of each 10ft length and one in the midpoint to support the seam of the melamine shelf.
The frame is hung from the ceiling using a 1/2" threaded rod, a 1/2"x2" threaded Sammy and a large fender washer.
The threaded rod is attached to the unistrut frame using a short 90deg bracket, bolts, unistrut nuts and washers.
The threaded rod is covered in a split plastic material that is used on sail boats to cover the cabling that supports the mast. Keeps my arms and hands from getting ripped up when trying to retrieve something from up there.
The frame is also bolted into every wall stud with a Spax self tapping lag bolt.
It is all topped off with double sided melamine. I even got fancy and tacked on a trim strip of white screen molding on the unfinished exposed edge of the melamine for looks.

 

[Dave Nelson]

Bunk, thanks for the info, being a retired electrician the unistrut seems like a great idea. I will use this method when setting up new garage.