More On Shelving… Ikea?

Posted by 141drew Posted onMar 7, 2011 at 5:36 PM and filed under Reviews & Features


So I was at Ikea this weekend with the better half. Oh, how I loathe such trips to hell. Not only do you end up spending money, but you go home with a flat box full of particle board and really bad hardware. To be frank, I can’t stand Ikea. I like substance over style and have always felt that function creates form.

The above disclaimer in mind, I stumbled upon the Broder series of shelves and was pleasantly really damned surprised at their stability. They are made of galvanized steel and are available with expanded metal shelves. You can configure them to be free standing or to be wall anchored. The set I messed with was anchored to the wall and seemed to be as steady as a Gorilla rack. I was cautiously impressed.

I say “cautiously” as I know Ikea’s reputation. Even so, they are pretty nice looking and if you are looking for decent shelving for a “showroom” garage, these might be worth testing out.

You can get all the details and pricing here.


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danski0224

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As long as you understand that you are getting cheap stuff made in China with cute foreign names & symbols, it can get the job done.

The stuff I have assembled goes together pretty easily and the boxes seem to be packed in reverse order- the pieces come out as you need them.

From a manufacturing standpoint, getting all of those little holes to align, especially with a desktop and separate metal frame assembly is pretty impressive.

That said, I do not own any of their stuff... but other family members do. I get to pick it up and assemble it. Yay.
 
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Pavement SuX

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I recently put these into my shop, and am very happy with them.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_319477-1281-7224PRBWWD3_4294857717+5003700_4294937087_?productId=3172913&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Free%2BStanding%2BShelving_4294857717%2B5003700_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_quantity_sold%7C1&facetInfo=$100 - $200

They are made in the USA, easy to assemble and can hold 2000 lbs per shelf. I am going to put castors on the bottom of mine to make it protable so I can move it around the shop.
 
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trythis

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We recently bought our kitchen cabinets from IKEA. All the cabinets parts are Made in USA. Damn fine BLUM drawer slides and hinges. No way I could get this kitchen made in China this quality.
 
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TxAgs

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Ikea used to have some very nice solid wood shelving for around $25 a set. Each set was 4'x6'x18". They have since changed the quality and raised the price. I do have to say that we have bought quite a bit of stuff there over the years. Some good and some not so much.
 
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Greatbear

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I find IKEA the same as any other big box (other than being able to have a meal of Swedish meatballs while there :lol:), you have to shop wisely and be selective among the merchandise. Not all of it is Chinese in origin by a longshot, and that which is tends to be a better quality than what is found at MallWart. I've found IKEA to be a place to look for odd bits of furniture or accessories that you tend not to find elsewhere. I had some small spaces in need of cabinets, and I found the perfect solutions there, as if it were something I would build from scratch. Solid wood, nice hardware, decent finish. Those wall shelves look like something I can use in my basement shop.
 
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A1an

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Greatbear speaks the truth. IKEA has some great stuff and some really cheap/**** stuff. Key is determining which is which. Lots of their real wood furniture is pretty good quality. We have a wood entertainment center with matching coffee table...both are built like tanks and I expect them to last quite a while.


To the OP...thanks for the review. These seem like great lighter duty shelves.
 
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milner351

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We have plates and glasses from IKEA - I like drinking from a glass and not reading made in China on the bottom - ours are from Bulgaria.
 
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A1an

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milner351 said:
We have plates and glasses from IKEA - I like drinking from a glass and not reading made in China on the bottom - ours are from Bulgaria.
Click to expand...

Good point. We have a set of glasses from IKEA that are made in Italy. Best part is it was only $2 for a set of 6 or 8 (can't remember which)!
 
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formek

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I have a set in my garage that are similar to the shelves you go from Ikea. I love them.
 
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magnusk750

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IKEAs reputation I think is very different in different parts of the world. I'm swede myself, here IKEA have 50% of the market and is considered decent quality at cheap to middle range prices. I guess that here no others can deliver the same price/quality range in that segment, all the serious concurents are in a higher price/quality range. On the other way, it's not too exciting that you know that if you buy something you can be sure that soon will all the neighbourhood have the same stuff. In southern Europe quality of furniture is most often quite crappy and IKEA stands for quality, not to mention China or Russia where it is the sign of taste and luxury.
 
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servicerabbit

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...Oh, how I loathe such trips to hell...

I know the feeling, shopping with the wife. Fortunately my wife went with her sister and did not take my pickup truck with them. They were there about 5 hours. It was their first time even though the store had been there a few years. They didn't buy anything, it was a surveillance trip.
 
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reinhardt

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Maybe I'm weird, I actually enjoyed walking around the IKEA store with the wife. It is a 3 hour drive away tho, so trips are few and far between. They have some interesting storage ideas.

As far as the shelves pictured in the first post, my house came with a similar setup on the wall in the garage. I keep my 02 camaro w/ 32k miles on the clock in the garage. I went out for a ride w/ the wife and came home to one of the shelves on the floor. All of the shelf contents scattered across the floor. Garage was closed w/ no animal traffic, the shelf simply failed. I was very pleased this happened while I was out because otherwise it would've dented/ scratched my camaro. Needless to say, I ripped those out quick. No thank you.

Ben
 
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mmhouse

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I build my own shelving that would look very similar to what is shown (wall mounted so nothing on the floor) but probably capable of carrying a much greater load.

I use extra heavy duty commercial type standards, matching 24" brackets and 24" wide particleboard shelving. I've never been able to find this extra heavy hard-duty hardware at a home center or hardware store. Last time I purchased it online at this place...

http://www.specialtysupplies.com/index.php

The following hardware ran me about $130 shipped in '08 for each 96" standard with brackets, so not cheap but worth it IMO:

5 x KV HEAVY DUTY 187 BRACKET-24" (KV-18724) = $69.55
1 x KV Heavy Duty 187 Standard-96" (KV-08796) = $25.99
5 x Shelf Rests for Heavy Duty Standards - Front Rest (KV-00212) = $4.25

The shelves are deep enough that I can put good sized totes on them and heavy-duty enough that I can load them up with paint cans or whatever and not worry about them coming down. They are adjustable so can be easily re-configured and they keep everything up off the floor for easier cleaning. When I move I just remove it from the wall and take it with me, so it is a long-term investment.
 
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smccray

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I can't stand going to Ikea, but I have to say there are products that are worth the price. Here's a thread I started a while back that outlined my garage project.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78109

Let's just say I'm not into step-by-step posts...at this point the floor is down and I've installed 29 ikea cabinets in the garage. Some might call it overboard for a garage, but I trust I'm in good company here :).

Need to take a couple pictures and share with the group...
 
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formek

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smccray said:
I can't stand going to Ikea, but I have to say there are products that are worth the price. Here's a thread I started a while back that outlined my garage project.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78109

Let's just say I'm not into step-by-step posts...at this point the floor is down and I've installed 29 ikea cabinets in the garage. Some might call it overboard for a garage, but I trust I'm in good company here :).

Need to take a couple pictures and share with the group...
Click to expand...

Yes I think photos are in order :bounce:
 
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domoMKIV

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The ikea here in Orlando has a "handyman's corner" where you can pick up some items for upwards of 90% off due to imperfections. I grabbed a $40 floating shelf (6.5'L x 12"D) for $6 because it had a gouge on the BACK that butts up against the wall. It worked perfectly for my sons room to put his model cars and assorted collectibles on.
Pretty neat way to pick up some wood pieces to make something with.
 
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shift_slide242

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My wife loves ikea,they claimed most of her portion of the tax return. while im fairly skepticle about the build quility of all of there cheap stuff, we bought an entertainment stand and a new bed frame and both are very solidly built. the chairs for the table not so much, very soft wood. i do have several shelfs in the garage from them, cheap price but there solid wood with nice thick metal brackets. so all in all good stuff if you look for the well made bits
 
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GeoS

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"It is a 3 hour drive away tho, so trips are few and far between."

Lucky guy. There are 2 within a 30 min drive from my home. My wife would have me there every weekend. Although, she knows how much I hate going there, so we only rarely get there too. :)

Back to the OP:

I have that shelving unit (freestanding version) in the basement. Solid build and good weight capacity (can't remember the exact number now). Happy with it overall.
 
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BOONEY7750

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A little off the OP but....If you are not worried about the looks, find a box store or supply house going out of business and ask to buy the shelves and racks out of the back room. Ultimate Electronics just went under and they are selling the big pallet holding racks for $15 a structural piece. Came out to $175 for 8'h 10'L 4'w 3 shelf unit. It's about nine different colors but can hold a house.
 
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GSCS11

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I personally think for that kind of money you're better off with heavy duty free standing shelving units. For under $200 you can get shelving that can hold alot more weight than the Ikea stuff. Just a few examples can be found here Garage Shelves. I have two Edsal shelving units and have loaded them up with just about everything from small tools to bags of cement and fertilizer, and I never have to worry about the track pulling out of the studs.
 
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formek

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GSCS11 said:
I personally think for that kind of money you're better off with heavy duty free standing shelving units. For under $200 you can get shelving that can hold alot more weight than the Ikea stuff. Just a few examples can be found here Garage Shelves. I have two Edsal shelving units and have loaded them up with just about everything from small tools to bags of cement and fertilizer, and I never have to worry about the track pulling out of the studs.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. In my case I wanted the floor space under the shelves
 
9

99_xc600

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If your handy with some basic carpentry skill's. I would recommend building some on your own. I recently built some "Basic/Simple Shelves" a couple of weeks ago. They are simple to make and can hold a good amount of weight.

Shelves are 8' long x 16" deep and spaced aprox 18' apart and the first shelf is placed 16' of the floor to store items below it. I came up with a 16" spacing because this is what i can comfortably fit between my garage door's and the wall and the number work's nicely against a 4' wide piece of sheathing (No waste)

These cost me aprox $68.00 and now I have 32 lineal feet of shelving.

Materials that you will need

(2) 4x8 sheathing cut into 16 wide strips. I used OSB, you can use whatever that you want
(15) 2 x 4 x 8' long
(28) 2 x 4 joist hangers
(1) box of 4 inch decking or lag screws
(1) box of 3 inch drywall screws
(1) box of 1 1/2 drywall screws

Your basically going to do the the following to make one shelf or platform

1. Take 2 x 4's and mark 16" on centers (Should end up with 7 cross members)
2. Cut a 2x4 and cut into 13" lengths
3. Take the cross members and attach them to the 2 x 4's on the 16" centers, Making sure everything is square and straight utilizing the 3" screws
4. Attach the joist hangers to the platform/shelf using the 1 1/2 screws.
5. Locate the studs's in your wall and mark on 16" centers
6. Take your first shelf and place against the wall, locate the studs and pre drill for the lag screw.
7. Level the shelf and attach to wall on 16" centers using the 4" lag screws.
8. Determine your spacing for your shelves and repeat for the last 3, utilizing a straight edge to line up the ends.
9. Take a 2 x 4 x 20" long (approximately) and cut the end's at a 45* angle and attach to the end of each shelf so it's flush with the end's. Using the 4" screw's (Remember to predrill)
10. Take 4 of the 16" x 8' sheathing and screw it down to the shelves.
11. Take the last 2 16" x 8' and place them on the end's. Scribing the surface to the bottom 45* cross brace.
12. Attach the side's to the end's of the shelve's using the 1 1/2 screws.

Your done, essentially you have built a giant wall cabinet that it attached to the wall every 16" inches and every shelve is tied to each other with the plywood ends making it incredibly strong. I used screw's instead of nail's because it add's more strength than nails

Here's some pic's for better detail.
 

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robmack

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I was interested in getting some of these shevles for the garage and basement after seeing the GarageJournal article. Went to the Ikea.ca web site and was shocked to see that the same shelves in Canada are around $150 more per shelf assembly than in the USA. What a disappointment. Guess I have to go to Costco or Home Depot for shelving. Too bad; these look great for the price.
 
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snelson57

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Mar 2, 2009
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Menards here in WI has these Edsal shelves on sale right now for $99 after mail in rebate... They are nice.

Pavement SuX said:
I recently put these into my shop, and am very happy with them.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_319477-1281-7224PRBWWD3_4294857717+5003700_4294937087_?productId=3172913&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Free%2BStanding%2BShelving_4294857717%2B5003700_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_quantity_sold%7C1&facetInfo=$100 - $200

They are made in the USA, easy to assemble and can hold 2000 lbs per shelf. I am going to put castors on the bottom of mine to make it protable so I can move it around the shop.
Click to expand...
 
E

ertman

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Jun 22, 2011
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I actually picked up some of the BRODER shelves for my garage. I used the wall-mount, not the freestanding version. I wanted some shelves I could hang from the wall that were adjustable (bring them down low in the summer and use as a lightweight workbench, up in the winter so I can park the wife's car underneath.)

Pros:
- They look good (galvanized steel works well in my shop/garage, everything else similar was white, white, or white)
- They are strong (mounted properly, I can sit on a shelf without issue, and I'm 230lbs...)
- They are stable (the shelves bolt to the brackets)

Cons:
- These seem to use metric stud spacing (the longer you run these shelves, the more likely you are to no longer be able to find a stud to mount it to.)
- The mesh shelves are strong when you spread the load out, but can't take a point load very well (the mesh is a little on the flimsy side)
- You have to unbolt the shelf from the brackets to adjust them up/down
- Without fail, the one part you need to complete the project will be out of stock. Ahhh, Ikea...

These fit my need, and work well for what they are.
 
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