Suspend loft shelf

[PoorOwner]

I am planning on some kind of loft storage 8x8'. At a couple of corners it is far enough from the bottom supports (4 foot away.. too much cantilever) I would like to "string" it to the ceiling for extra support, well, extra support is the wrong term, it needs it.

I would like something more sophisticated than a piece of 2x4 somehow attached to a ceiling joist then screwed to the loft. (ceiling is drywalled).

Do you have any ideas how I would do or fabricate this, show me pics what you have done. I am going to face the loft's frame with some hardwood.

So I need a piece that can attach to the ceiling to the loft shelf, but not threaded rod or a piece of dimensional lumber, not a garage door bracket.

 

[wssix99]

Generally, ceilings are just strong enough to hold up the sheet rock screwed to the bottom of them.

What are you looking to store?

 

[driftpin]

...not threaded rod or a piece of dimensional lumber, not a garage door bracket.

Well, I'm unsure of why you don't want to use any of this material, as they are probably the items that most people would consider using. Aesthetics?

My suggestion is fasten a cleat to the ceiling joists on-top of the drywall, and use that to fasten something like unistrut or all-thread to it, and have that attached to the framework on-which your plywood shelf sits. I wouldn't look to store heavy things up there. Use it for large, light but bulky items such as suitcases, empty storage bins, 4' flourescent bulbs, your Christmas decorations, or whatever else isn't very weighted.

Actually, you probably would want to remove the drywall where the (for example) ceiling 2 x 4 is fastened to the bottom of a roof rafter or the bottom chord of a roof truss, except that now you're compromising the fire-resistant rating of your ceiling gypsum board construction.

Probably cutting rectangular holes in the ceiling gypsum board at the anchor points, and through-bolting a robust L-angle to the side of the roof joist, and having your structural support descend from that, and patching the ceiling hole is what you need to do. All-thread every other ceiling joist is probably what you need, that should provide a nominal 32" space between vertical support members. You might be able to do it every fourth joist, which would be 48" o.c. approx., if you only use it for really-light loads.

 

[gungatim]

I was at a yard sale last week and a lady had 2 platform lofts like what you are describing. usually I see them just scabbed out of 2x lumber, but these were steel and purpose made. I asked here about them because they looked so stout and easily adjustable. She said she got them off line but they were pretty closely resembling the steel shelving you get at box stores.

hers were white but a little googling and I found these monster racks that look very similar.

http://www.garage-organization.com/...24.aspx?f=gb&gclid=CNuF1ZSxq9MCFd26wAodfh8N4Q

 

[My Old Tools]

Set one end on the top plate and use perforated angle to attach the outboard end to the rafter. I did it by hanging a 2x6x16' first on the angle drops with Simpson 2x4 brackets on 24" centers already in place. The I just dropped in the 2x4 "floor joists" and put a sheet of 1/2" plywood on it. Made a nice 4' wide by 16' long shelf.

 

[matt_i]

I just ran a calculation with a 1/2" dia threaded rod. I just assumed 3/8" of cross section since I was too lazy to look up the actual minor diameter. 1000lb load is around 9ksi which is pretty safe even for the low grade rod. There are better grades like B7.

Things fail at attachments though. How do you propose to connect the vertical to the horizontal, both top and bottom. 3 x 16d nails isn't even close in my opinion. You would be better served to estimate loads of the deck itself and what's going on it. Including you as a person to move stuff around...

 

[Redbeard719]

I have built shelving in my garages that is similar to what you are wanting to do. My requirement was that I didn't want to have any supports for the shelf below the shelf. It had to be unobstructed.

In one of my garages, I built a shelf to store my truck topper. For this one I used threaded rod. In my attic space, I added dimensional lumber across my structure, in the areas I needed to attach the threaded rod. The pieces I added are laid across the structure and secured to prevent any lateral movement, and they were long enough to distribute the load across as many pieces of structure as possible. Holes were drilled into the pieces I added and the rod was attached using two large thick washers under two nuts. From there, it hangs down and supports the shelf. I built a 6'x8' shelf like this, using 4 threaded rods to support it at the middle and front. The rear of the shelf is attached to the wall and resting on a ledger board.

The other option I built in my side 1 car garage. The garage is about 14' wide. I framed out a 36" shelf across the back wall by attaching a ledger to the wall, and another joist across the 14' span. The shelf is then framed out with joist hangers and lag bolts. On the two side walls, I added additional shelving 30" deep, connected/tied into the main shelf across the back wall. The side shelves were also anchored into the side walls, again, with a ledger board and framed out with joist hangers and lag bolts.

To support this shelf, I attached eye-lagbolts into my structure and eye-lagbolts into the shelving framing. Each eye-lagbolt is connected to the one directly above it with chain to support the load. There are 4 chains total.

I'm a big guy and it has supported me without any issue. I tend to over build stuff, and I'm sure these shelves I've described are no exception.

 

[PoorOwner]

Can you please tell me how or what fitting do you use to adjusted the chain so it is exactly tight?

I am thinking of just welding tabs to a square tubing and lag the ends to the correct spots. if I paint this tubing it should look pretty good.

It's going to be 2.5' high, so unlikely I will need to climb on there. I can access the sides, the first 4x8 feet is supported by ledger on 2 sides and then a false wall under. it's only the other 4x8 that only has ledger on one end needs the stringing.

I have some luggage and soft shell cases, roof box for a car. I would not overload it with my use. (no engine blocks, lawn mowers etc).

 

[Redbeard719]

Can you please tell me how or what fitting do you use to adjusted the chain so it is exactly tight?

I am thinking of just welding tabs to a square tubing and lag the ends to the correct spots. if I paint this tubing it should look pretty good.

It's going to be 2.5' high, so unlikely I will need to climb on there. I can access the sides, the first 4x8 feet is supported by ledger on 2 sides and then a false wall under. it's only the other 4x8 that only has ledger on one end needs the stringing.

I have some luggage and soft shell cases, roof box for a car. I would not overload it with my use. (no engine blocks, lawn mowers etc).

I actually used open chain links on the ends (the kinds that have the threaded closure part), which was really the only thing I would change if I did it again. I would have used something like a turnbuckle to adjust the chains.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...-Steel-Eye-to-Eye-Turnbuckle-807046/204273926

 

[wssix99]

CI have some luggage and soft shell cases, roof box for a car. I would not overload it with my use. (no engine blocks, lawn mowers etc).

This should be fine. Have you seen the pre-made "ceiling shelving" kits for this sort of thing? If you search for "ceiling shelving", a ton of options will come up. I'm a fan of these pre-made kits because they are typically going to be lighter than what most of us can comfortably/economically fabricate at home. (The weight of the shelving could exceed the weight of the materials being stored.)

 

[Mike.VA]

I plan to add this above my house garage door for that extra storage for items I don't need often.

 

[Garagetime]

Here is some pics of what I built in my garage. It is 4 feet wide 32 feet long it is tied to top and bottom cord of trusses.The front support of shelf is built like a header to help hold load.

 

[bastage]

OP Its showing out of stock now, but you may wanna keep an eye on this to see if it comes back in stock at this price.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/NewAge-P...&SID=V1BTN0ZBb0xNb0lBQVVnd0BGb0FBQUFz&cj=true

Could be done cheaper with wood for sure, but that makes for a pretty damn clean install.


Edit: Oh it looks like the white is still in stock at the same cost. http://www.homedepot.com/p/NewAge-P...Ceiling-Storage-Rack-in-White-40152/205003292

 

[PugetDude]

I built some of these a few years ago, used 2x framing; used 2x2's around the perimeter screwed into the studs to support 16" wide 1/2" plywood shelves that had 2x3 edging under them (used the 2x2's at the wall so I could screw through them into the studs) I sized and spaced the shelves for a double stack of 16" long x 12" high x 12" wide clear flip-top totes from HD/Lowes; mostly for stuff that didn't need to be accessed that often.

Used Lag eyes into the trusses on the outboard ends, 3" long eyebolts through the shelves. Used chain between the lag eyes and the eyebolts, connected the chain to them with 1/4" S-hooks.

The chain gave me coarse adjustment, the eyebolt allowed for fine adjustment to level everything up.


Put hundreds of pounds up there, never a problem. YMMV.

Almost identical to Mike.VA's picture, but with chain instead of 2x vertical supports.