Garage Storage and Shelves

With a place that has sufficient media and entertainment, there has to be a reason to use it. So the Garage needs storage. Can't just put junk on the floor. Then you turn into a wife. So a meta-project (project about projects) which results from the original Garage project is to build shelves. This gives me a chance to use all the stuff we I have or will have in the garage in the first place (except the cars).

Phase 1. Practice Shelves. Since I have a table saw, I can do some tiny amount of woodworking. However, when it comes to mancaves, 2x4s and plywood are best. Like you've seen in theWorkbench and Cable and Alectronics Rack sections, this lumber can turn a barren, empty garage into a living space. But how to build the right kind of shelves. What I need is practice.

Here is the practice wall It is the front wall of the short bay. Its the furtherest from the business end of the garage (the workbench and tools). So what better place to start. The shelves will be 10' wide by 48" tall by 20" deep. I would have gone further but the flourescent light fixtures get in the way. I also had to move the speaker to the opposite wall, but luckily, I had wiring already there. BTW, I spent the weekend listing to Acoustic Alternative, an Internet radio station that play acoustic hard rock. Petty cool.

Most of the time was spent on set up. First, I had to put the 2x4 on the ceiling and attach it to the trusses. Because of the great drywall finishing, its impossible to know where they are. I use predrywall pictures and walking around in the upstairs to figure it out. The 2x4 is lag bolted in with eight or 10 lag bolts. I used the air rachet to run them in (Garage Advantage #1 - Being Near your Good Tools). Then I temporarily hung these two boards to place the ladder shaped bottom shelf structure. The ladder with the blocks on the top will hold the middle and the two boards against the wall will hold up the wall side.

Here's the ladder shaped bottom shelf frame precariously propped up by the ladder and the two boards. Note how close the bases of the two prop boards are to the edge. That's OK. I'm by myself with no phone or people within earshot. I'm sure it won't tumble down on me.

An interesting change of view. Here is the underside screwed to the wall and to the four hangers. Note the little orange clamps. I have these instead of a son. Not only do they do what I say, they keep doing it without being told. They work well but don't bring me the rewards of a good baseball play, someone to fish with, or someone who cares about machines.

The finished shelves. The second, top row went in easier than the first cause they were wedged between the wall and the hangers. I had to jam that 10' ladder structure up and between them as I straddled a pallet of concrete and mortar. But making it easier and safer would have meant moving the mortar.

Phase 1 complete. The shelves already at work holding junk off the floor. Most of the stuff is empty boxes awaiting recycling but they give an idea of how the shelves will work. Note the black bag. It is filled with shipping peanuts - what a waste. Note how I jammed the Earthforce EF-3 into the little space - requires the backhoe be turned at a 90 degree angle.

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