Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Cold Cactus Garage

[icecactus]

The last upright and the 4 12' beams were painted last weekend.

That's 5 weekends of painting. If I ever mention painting something of this magnitude again someone needs to come ************ me in the face. Seriously. I am so glad to be done painting. Now I just have to clean up the over spray all over the back yard.


But...I couldn't resist up righting a couple sections first.

There is quite a slope to my floor with the high point in the middle of the garage. You can already see I cut some shims and will be leveling and plumbing the first sections this weekend.

 

[icecactus]

Got the first two sections put up with the help of a buddy.

The rest of the rack was sitting in the backyard. We got an all day rain and this happened.

The last painting I did was 9 days prior. Apparently 9 days was not enough time for the paint to cure. Some of them were painted over 21 days ago and they still bubbled but not as bad. Super disappointed. I noticed it at about 11 pm while it was raining, so I brought all the beams in and covered the uprights in a tarp. I cant move the uprights myself so I did the best I could with the tarps. The next day a neighbor came over and helped me bring in the uprights. Luckily, just as the moisture went in, it came out and you cant really tell anything happened except for in the worse spots. Very frustrating to say the least.

So after letting them dry out, section #3, the 12' section went up and I put my first object on the rack with the forklift. The kids got a kick out of walking out the next morning and they couldn't find their car.

Section #4, required taking down the dust collector that had been there for 8 years.

Had a heck of a time getting it off those boards. The paint glued it on and we had to pry the dust collector off the painted black boards. Pretty crazy the paint was holding it up for a bit after loosed the bolts. Took the wood with it.

With that down and the guide rail holder down, its time to start on the last section.

 

[rattle_snake]

As frustrating as the paint issues are, the shelving system will work the same. Coming along nicely.

 

[turbowoodworker]

I had complimented you on your cool DC mounting a long time ago. And then you go and take it down!
I'm sure you'll find a better place for it.
Great progress.
Did you let your child drive the forklift to get the toy off the shelf?

Rick

 

[stl_commuter]

This is great work!

I just posted an update on my build an hour ago. I have the standard orange and green pallet system - two eight-foot sections running down the interior walls in my shop. I was wondering about the shelving color in my latest update.



I’m a little OCD - the different size and color totes are difficult for me to handle but the orange and green are driving me insane. Now that I see what you’ve accomplished, I’m going to have to figure out how to paint mine as well.

Great job overall - keep the updates coming!

 

[icecactus]

As frustrating as the paint issues are, the shelving system will work the same. Coming along nicely.

Thanks! Your truck is coming along nicely too.

I had complimented you on your cool DC mounting a long time ago. And then you go and take it down!
I'm sure you'll find a better place for it.
Great progress.
Did you let your child drive the forklift to get the toy off the shelf?

Rick

Haha, It was bittersweet taking it down. Grizzly sells a stand for it. I am going to make something similar that will allow me to lift it with the forklift and place it in same spot, but rest on the beams and not be attached to the wall. This will give me the entire floor space below it.

I did let her hit the button to lower it

This is great work!

I just posted an update on my build an hour ago. I have the standard orange and green pallet system - two eight-foot sections running down the interior walls in my shop. I was wondering about the shelving color in my latest update.



I’m a little OCD - the different size and color totes are difficult for me to handle but the orange and green are driving me insane. Now that I see what you’ve accomplished, I’m going to have to figure out how to paint mine as well.

Great job overall - keep the updates coming!

Thanks!

It was worth the effort to paint them. Every time I walk out into the garage I am glad I painted them. They just look so much better then the 50 shades of orange.

Its funny you mention the different color totes. The top 2 feet will be for hand stack stuff. Things that I don't use very often or at all, but I don't want to get rid of. I've been trying to figure out how to make it look nice and consistent and not just a bunch of **** thrown up there. Maybe I will put the stuff that wont fit in a tote toward the back wall and line the front with same color totes so it looks pleasing.

 

[icecactus]

Quick update. Finished the last section and got the top beams put on. Next step is to tie it to the wall. I am somewhat hesitant of doing that, as I'm tying the two structures together and I am not sure that's a good idea or not. However, I cannot anchor them to the concrete floor like designed since I have a post tension slab and I don't feel like having it x-rayed nor drill a bunch of holes in the concrete. And we all know, each one of the feet would land right on a cable.


So I came up with using Unistrut and some strut L brackets to attach them. This would give me consistent spacing off the wall and I could plumb the upright then bolt together.

I tied them to the wall at the bottom and the top.

All finished up.

I probably didn't need to do this,however since I couldn't anchor them i was concerned about catching the rack with the forklift or something and pulling it over. I doubt that the pallet stacker has enough power to do that but you never know. It's for my peace of mind.

It also acts like a shear wall and there is zero racking now. It didn't rack much but if you really pushed on an upright you could get it to rack a bit. Now its rigid and I feel better about bolting EMT and air lines to it. There is a large span from the ground to the first set of beams too. That bottom tie keeps the legs in a plumb position and wont allow the rack to walk at all when putting on and taking off stuff.