Ameisen
Member
Hello,
A few nights ago, I awoke to a loud crash - the track shelving in our basement (not quite our garage, but that part of the basement is largely used as a workshop for me as well) collapsed. I'd been storing scrap lumber, long pieces of oak/fir that I hadn't had a chance to work with yet, and some EMT and copper pipe on it. So, a lot of weight, but not a lot of weight.
I'd assumed that the previous owners had installed these shelves well - a poor assumption given prior issues. In reality, they'd set up ClosetMaid 'ShelfTrack's, with three 75" tracks and a hanger. The hang rail was poorly installed (though didn't fail... they used even shorter screws on it), the tracks were each installed with 3 1¼" #10 zinc wood screws each - with the track, that gave them about ⅝" of actual engagement into the studs. The shelves failed due to pullout - the screws pulled out of the stud, and the two nearer tracks buckled (the third was intact, probably because the shelves fell to the side of the buckling ones). This surprisingly had lasted about 2 years with the load that it had had.
Since I needed to clear the mess, but am both recovering from shoulder surgery and also needed to clean it up quickly (our utility room was effectively inaccessible), we set up what we could on short notice. We got John Sterling 'HEAVYWEIGHT' tracks, and installed three of them (the shelves span 4 studs). We also added a new hanger. We used GRK #10 2½" cabinet screws, and added screws at all pre-drilled locations - I believe 9 per track. They engage the studs to a depth of 1¾". I'd have gone with longer R4 screws, but I wasn't sure what screws were compatible with the galvanized steel of the track, and at this point I cannot just remove the screws and replace them easily as the wood has already been screwed into.
The screws that the manufacturer recommends are their #10 2½" flat-head zinc wood screws.
My issue is that since we've already had a collapse, I'm very wary of it. I still want to move the longest lumber on the top shelf - out of the way of me running into it - but that's also going to put the most load onto the system. I'm awful at estimating weight, but I have to assume that there will be no more than 100-300lbs.
My main concern is that there's going to be another pull-out. I have little concern that the screws will shear, and it's all within the weight restrictions of the tracks/shelves themselves. I'm mostly concerned with the studs and the screws anchoring into them. Especially a potential collapse while we're near it.
In terms of conditions/locations, the utility room is mostly conditioned - it is where the furnace is. It's just usually cooler than the rest of the house, but doesn't usually have significantly higher moisture. It's basically the unfinished half of the concrete basement. The shelves are on studs that the previous owners had installed, with a single 2×4 top plate connected to the main floor joists above, for part of the walls of an outset part of the finished half. They should probably also be reinforced.
I'm pretty confident that this is set up significantly better than what they'd had, but I'm still neurotic and anxious about it, and just looking for some advice as to what I should do (or advice that everything's fine and I should just be OK with it).
A few nights ago, I awoke to a loud crash - the track shelving in our basement (not quite our garage, but that part of the basement is largely used as a workshop for me as well) collapsed. I'd been storing scrap lumber, long pieces of oak/fir that I hadn't had a chance to work with yet, and some EMT and copper pipe on it. So, a lot of weight, but not a lot of weight.
I'd assumed that the previous owners had installed these shelves well - a poor assumption given prior issues. In reality, they'd set up ClosetMaid 'ShelfTrack's, with three 75" tracks and a hanger. The hang rail was poorly installed (though didn't fail... they used even shorter screws on it), the tracks were each installed with 3 1¼" #10 zinc wood screws each - with the track, that gave them about ⅝" of actual engagement into the studs. The shelves failed due to pullout - the screws pulled out of the stud, and the two nearer tracks buckled (the third was intact, probably because the shelves fell to the side of the buckling ones). This surprisingly had lasted about 2 years with the load that it had had.
Since I needed to clear the mess, but am both recovering from shoulder surgery and also needed to clean it up quickly (our utility room was effectively inaccessible), we set up what we could on short notice. We got John Sterling 'HEAVYWEIGHT' tracks, and installed three of them (the shelves span 4 studs). We also added a new hanger. We used GRK #10 2½" cabinet screws, and added screws at all pre-drilled locations - I believe 9 per track. They engage the studs to a depth of 1¾". I'd have gone with longer R4 screws, but I wasn't sure what screws were compatible with the galvanized steel of the track, and at this point I cannot just remove the screws and replace them easily as the wood has already been screwed into.
The screws that the manufacturer recommends are their #10 2½" flat-head zinc wood screws.
My issue is that since we've already had a collapse, I'm very wary of it. I still want to move the longest lumber on the top shelf - out of the way of me running into it - but that's also going to put the most load onto the system. I'm awful at estimating weight, but I have to assume that there will be no more than 100-300lbs.
My main concern is that there's going to be another pull-out. I have little concern that the screws will shear, and it's all within the weight restrictions of the tracks/shelves themselves. I'm mostly concerned with the studs and the screws anchoring into them. Especially a potential collapse while we're near it.
In terms of conditions/locations, the utility room is mostly conditioned - it is where the furnace is. It's just usually cooler than the rest of the house, but doesn't usually have significantly higher moisture. It's basically the unfinished half of the concrete basement. The shelves are on studs that the previous owners had installed, with a single 2×4 top plate connected to the main floor joists above, for part of the walls of an outset part of the finished half. They should probably also be reinforced.
I'm pretty confident that this is set up significantly better than what they'd had, but I'm still neurotic and anxious about it, and just looking for some advice as to what I should do (or advice that everything's fine and I should just be OK with it).
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