Storage Racks Recommendations

[mishmish]

Hi all,

New to the forum!

Recently moved to a new construction home with a 3-car garage. Right now it's a bit of a mess with all the boxes and everything, but I was hoping to get some storage racks in.

I've seen some recommendations to just build, would anyone recommend that approach? I'm reasonably handy but not that much (that's what I'm here for!).

Would also be OK with just getting something temporary set up while I figure things out.

Thanks for any advice/recommendation!

 

[LeeG]

For fast, cheap, and easy, I'd build some shelves out of 8' 2x4's and 1/2' OSB. Have wherever you are buying the lumber rip the OSB into 2' x 8' pieces, and make a shelf from each piece of OSB with a 2x4 at the front and back. Use another pair 2x4 for the uprights on each side. Make the shelve spacing to hold whichever size of box you have.

$10 per shelving set + $10/shelf for materials. You can build with just a hammer and nails or impact driver and screws. It will get your area cleaned up while you determine what you want to do for a long term fix.

 

[Stuart in MN]

It depends on what you want to store and how heavy. If you have the space, pallet racking may be worth considering, and it can be bought used in many locations.

 

[Jackfre]

I used 1x3 to make a box. Depth of your choice but some were as much as 3'deep and the shallowest was 12". Skin it with 1/4" tempered hardboard. I only did the top, but if you chose, you could actually turn it into a torsion box by skinning the bottom. For the Vertical supports for the shallow stuff i used 2x4" and screwed the shelf to the riser from the inside. If the load is heavy cut a piece to go on the inside of the riser. When I moved out of that space and the shelves were empty I removed the screws and the whole deal came down in a about 15 minutes. Short money, easy, strong and mobile.

 

[Moosefire]

Building new steel shelves would be cool... time consuming but cool. If you do build something let us know. In my basement I have chrome bakers racks I got from costco years ago that I use for storage. Works out well

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[electroman187]

I cheated. Bought two sets of these, used one shelf from each between the uprights to make a triple wide set. Makes for a 19' of linear storage. They're rugged, look nice and can be taken down in the future. The Dewalt ones are even better but of course more $$.

I picked them up in the holiday season for cheap. I think it was about $110 each.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gladiator-72-in-H-x-77-in-W-x-24-in-D-4-Shelf-Welded-Steel-Garage-Shelving-Unit-GARS774XEG/206727800

 

[BajaScout]

Costco has a similar rack on sale:

https://www.costco.com/.product.100341995.html?&EMID=B2C_2019_0726_HABA_BMS


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[dshop]

I too recommend used steel pallet racks from a local office/ storage vendor.
Available in any size and weight load, these are usually very economical, very strong, and you can reconfigure them if needs change in the future.
With all the office buildings being sold and bought there are tons of these units available cheaply at a location near you. check it out.

search for "used shelving, used pallet racks, used industrial shelving"

 

[foodie]

If you don't want to build them Google Nexel Storage Racks. I have them in my garage and in my basement. Super, super strong, fits together perfectly holds a ton of stuff, and you can get them in different sizes. Customize them to your needs. I wanted something that looked sleek and aesthetically pleasing for my garage and basement. Of course I am a women LOL so the way it looked was important to me instead of a pallet rack. It compliments my finished, tiled garage "she shed".

 

[kd3pc]

don't waste your time money and efforts on anything by Edsal. I bought 8 of their "Muscle Racks" ($129 each) for some light storage...packaging says 100's of pounds per shelf and you would be lucky to get them to hold 30 pounds. Lowes has tried to get the manufacturer to make good on them, to no avail and that has been 3 months.

Even the large frame units are not able to hold but a fraction of what the package says.

I ended up cutting 1" square hardwood the width of the "shelf" and screwing the two sides together in two places and then cut 1/2" plywood for a shelf.

 

[cvairwerks]

I've got a dozen or so sets of the Husky units. I only use two shelves per bay and get three bays with two sets of racks. Makes about 400 linear feet of shelving over in the storage units.

I've also got a set in the garage and a couple in the office. The office ones are setup as desks with some overhead storage.

Actually need to go buy a couple more sets soon.

 

[jon72vega]

I cheated. Bought two sets of these, used one shelf from each between the uprights to make a triple wide set. Makes for a 19' of linear storage. They're rugged, look nice and can be taken down in the future. The Dewalt ones are even better but of course more $$.

I picked them up in the holiday season for cheap. I think it was about $110 each.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gladiator-72-in-H-x-77-in-W-x-24-in-D-4-Shelf-Welded-Steel-Garage-Shelving-Unit-GARS774XEG/206727800

I bought a similar rack from Lowes.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gladiator-...rtified-Freestanding-Shelving-Unit/1000040591

 

[signcrafter]

I've got a bunch of these, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-7...ith-Wire-Deck-in-Black-ERZ782478W-4/202251082. Probably a dozen sets if I counted them all up. As mentioned you if you buy two sets you get four uprights. So you can really get 3 sections out of two sets. You can also buy extra cross beams from lowes in 6' and 8' lengths. I've also cut 1/2" plywood to use instead of the wire shelves so I can put things like spray cans on them without them tipping over.

I have a fair amount of money into them but without them my garage would be a total mess.

 

[Strouty]

The metal racks with the wire decking are awesome, I too have enough of them that I should probably own stock in the companies. They are not all the same, so stick with one brand and the become interchangeable. Buy two sets and you can end up with three racks, just fewer shelves, basically connect the two units together with some horizontal braces. I hate the wire mesh though, so I will cut 3/8" plywood and install it on top of the wire, works so much better, distributes the weight, lets you slide boxes, and small things don't fall through.

 

[kbs2244]

My only comment is to go with 16 inch deep shelves vs. 24
16 will take a 5 gal pail but not be so deep as to let stuff get buried in the back.

(You can get 3 16 inch shelves vs. 2 24 from your 4x8 sheet of OSB)

 

[stickshift]

For fast, cheap, and easy, I'd build some shelves out of 8' 2x4's and 1/2' OSB. Have wherever you are buying the lumber rip the OSB into 2' x 8' pieces, and make a shelf from each piece of OSB with a 2x4 at the front and back. Use another pair 2x4 for the uprights on each side. Make the shelve spacing to hold whichever size of box you have.

$10 per shelving set + $10/shelf for materials. You can build with just a hammer and nails or impact driver and screws. It will get your area cleaned up while you determine what you want to do for a long term fix.

Why wouldn't that be a long-term solution? If he's going to all the work of building the shelving (and your approach is efficient), it should probably be done with the intention of keeping them a long time. Otherwise just go buy some shelving - that will assemble much quicker than cutting/gluing/screwing (and if using jack studs instead of relying on shear strength of screws as many youtube videos on garage shelving do, it will take even longer).

I'm planning on building my own once I'm done with some nearer-term projects around the house. I can get more and stronger storage for less money than buying manufactured shelving, and I can customize it to fit my garage (e.g., lower where my garage door rails run) and my stuff (one 4ft section of shelf with high bottom shelf so I can lean/hang taller items; maybe another 4ft section with 4ft high bottom shelf so I can store stuff like shop vac, folding worktables, etc. - basically get a lot of the stuff that would otherwise clutter the floor space into the shelving unit).

My only comment is to go with 16 inch deep shelves vs. 24
16 will take a 5 gal pail but not be so deep as to let stuff get buried in the back.

I think a lot of people go with 24" (which seems to be the standard depth of the heavy duty shelving at the big box stores) because you're getting 50% more storage space in exchange for giving up relatively little in practically usable floor space (a 8" strip in front of a 16" depth shelf).

Also, with 16" depth, most storage bins are only going to fit sideways (which means fewer storage bins). And if you're using storage bins, then stuff getting buried in the back of the shelf isn't a concern - because the stuff will be buried in the bins!

 

[NUTTSGT]

It depends on what you want to store and how heavy. If you have the space, pallet racking may be worth considering, and it can be bought used in many locations.

I'd agree. You can also work one shelf into being a workbench.

 

[mishmish]

Thanks so much for the responses, everyone! I never would have expected so much advice! Very appreciated.

I think I will probably end up with buying 2 racks and making them into 3 racks as you fine folks have mentioned, and revisit it at a later date, as there are more urgent things to deal with around the house right now.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Ej63090]

I made my own shelving from unistrut and threaded rod. I was able to make two 20" tall shelves which should accommodate any type of bin. The only thing I wish was that I used wire decking instead of plywood, but had trouble finding a reasonable supplier from a cost standpoint.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I found several used racking companies in this area. The lighter duty racking I prefer is E-Z-RECT shelving. It is made in British Columbia Canada. The original company was in North Vancouver near the Lynnwood Hotel.
E-Z-RECT is a hook and slot system and is assembled and taken apart with only a hammer. The components are available in different lengths so the distance between uprights can be varied for width and depth.
I bought a truck load of odd government sized E-Z-RECT uprights and connectors. I kept what I needed and put the remainder on CL. It was all sold in 48 holurs and at a small profit.
New or used, E-Z-RECT may be the most economical racking.
E-Z-RECT can be a good base for a workbench. Check the internet.
https://get.hicube.com/ezrectshelvi...ZI9jc_NZ3UWtUjluLV2L0qVv-Kro83noaAlWXEALw_wcB
I have about 100 feet of E-Z-RECT racking in my shop and my storage area.

 

[tonyciambrone]

don't waste your time money and efforts on anything by Edsal.

oh stop. I have 3 77x24x72 welded racks by edsal and they are great. and $120. I also have 2 1/8" bent steel table tops by edsal that are great. Yes snap together shelving purchased at a big box ***** across the board

If you want clip style shelving, u-line or global industrial, maybe zoro is where to get it, but it more money to get the same quality as welded rack.