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overhead garage storage solutions

N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
has anyone in here built overhead storage, whether it be out of steel or wood? i need to figure out something to get some storage above my garage door and just along the sides of the garage. i've seen the ads on ksl and they look really nice but i could do it myself so yeah... just looking for ideas.

upon re-reading this, i realized it was pretty short-winded and lacking detail. basically, i'm thinking of just getting some 1-1.5" angle and building a frame around a 2'x8' piece of plywood. the side that is against the wall would be drilled into the studs and the other side would have to be supported from the ceiling. would you just do some more angle on the ceiling screwed into the studs and run some all-thread down to the shelf or what?

i already have some massive wood shelves that i built against one whole wall of my garage and also my workbench with a shelf above it but i will be needing more. i will be having my first kiddo in january and i am always amazed by how much stuff my siblings with kids have so i want to be prepared with some more storage space.
 
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I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
I know the storage of which you speak....and I will be building similar.

My plan is to use rectangular tubing for the perimeter (maybe 1x2?), and some smallish (1.5") angle iron for in between, to support the shelf. I'll probably use expanded steel for the shelf rather than wood, just for less dust collection or whatever. For the ceiling support, I'll use Unistrut bolted into the trusses, then they have nifty little nuts that slide into it, and allthread from there down to the shelf.

I think I'll do larger than 2' wide though...I have some shelving that is 2' deep now, and it fills up really fast if you put anything large at all on them. (like coolers, action packers, etc) I'll be putting this storage up high, so larger shelves won't hurt anything other than making it a bit harder to get stuff down--but since I'll be needing a ladder either way, no problem.
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
i've thought about rect tubing instead for the sake of screwing the plywood into it and not having any exposed screws. i'd do expanded metal but it'll be more $, welding and cleanup than it's worth for me. i love the idea of using a metal frame though for the ease of adding tabs to the bottom and hanging bikes and whatever else i can from them.

i didn't know what the unistrut stuff was called and if it was readily available, thanks for filling me in on that stuff. i'm sure it makes it a whole lot nicer. i'll have to look into where to purchase it from, cost etc.

i did my main wall-shelf 2' deep IIRC and it fits all the totes (most of my storage will be totes) i use with maybe a little bit of overhang. i guess if i drop the plywood into the frame instead of on top of it that would make it more like 26-28"... i'd like to stick with 24" simply because i don't want to cut a piece of plywood to 30" or so and have 18" left that is of no use to me.

i'm glad someone else is taking on a similar project, especially a ninja.

edit: what wall thickness do you think would be good? i'm gonna run by the metal store just for kicks


I Lean said:
I know the storage of which you speak....and I will be building similar.

My plan is to use rectangular tubing for the perimeter (maybe 1x2?), and some smallish (1.5") angle iron for in between, to support the shelf. I'll probably use expanded steel for the shelf rather than wood, just for less dust collection or whatever. For the ceiling support, I'll use Unistrut bolted into the trusses, then they have nifty little nuts that slide into it, and allthread from there down to the shelf.

I think I'll do larger than 2' wide though...I have some shelving that is 2' deep now, and it fills up really fast if you put anything large at all on them. (like coolers, action packers, etc) I'll be putting this storage up high, so larger shelves won't hurt anything other than making it a bit harder to get stuff down--but since I'll be needing a ladder either way, no problem.
Click to expand...
 
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jentzschman

jentzschman

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy, Utah
Im not the best when it comes to ideas of this kind, so I will be following this thread for ideas myself.

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UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
The PO of my house ran a 2x4 about a foot above the garage door spring, the width of the garage door (8 feet). He had it attached to the studs above the door. He then attached a 4x8 sheet of plywood to that 2x4. On the opposite side of the plywood, he attached lifting eyes. He then attached lifting eyes to the joists in the attic. He then ran rope between all the eyes. He attached some 2x4's under the plywood for support. Right now I have several hundred pounds of storage items on this shelf. It works great and is very simple.
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
wasatch had 2x1 .090 outside for $10.47 and those are 12' pieces. i can't imagine needing anything beefier than that but i am open to hear opinions.

they also had 1x1 .083 10' pieces for $7. i actually think i have some of this at home already so it could be a good choice for crossmembers
 
I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
One thing with the angle iron crossmembers I forgot about....if you put them in with the horizontal leg at the bottom (like an L) then you can use readily-available beam clamps (also a unistrut component, I think) to attach your hangy-down racks and stuff. You can also recess whatever crossmembers you use, so your wood is flush with the top of the 1x2 tube. I think the .090 would be plenty....but 20 foot lengths would mean you could use one length per 2x8 shelf, which is neat.
 
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rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
Mine is a little over built but it works great for what I need. These are 2x12's lag bolted into the wall studs. I am not done with it because I still need to wire lights underneath it.
IMG_1301.jpgIMG_1302.jpgIMG_1303.jpgIMG_1304.jpg
 
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rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
My BIL has one a little different hanging from the ceiling and bolted to the walls made out of 2x4 and 2x6's. If I get a chance I will post up some pictures of his.
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
that's the coolest thing ever!

here are the mental challenges i'm facing so far:

1. mounting the shelf frame to the wall- when i built my wood shelves i just ran screws through the 2x4 into the stud. i'm not sure if screws will be strong enough for this and they would have to go through the rect tubing so it would cave in the area around the screw. maybe it's a non-issue, i dunno. i guess i could put a tab every 18" above/below the frame (or both) to put a screw or lag bolt in. i've never even used lag bolts before but i'm betting they'll work the best for this application.

2. is the unistrut stuff really necessary? it makes it more complicated and expensive. i don't even need it to be adjustable. it seems like a ton of different mounting methods are possible with the use of my welder and tools. i would think that a piece of flat bar long enough to get lag bolts into three ceiling joists with a tab hanging down would be fine.


sorry for all the blablabla, just trying to do some interweb shelf planning :p
 
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rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
You know they hook balconys on the back of houses with lag bolts. I drilled a really little pilot hole in mine before I drove the lag bolts in. It will hold it.
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
So it turns out I have like 35' of 7/8" sq tube, 20' of 1.25" sq tube and a couple 4'x8' sheets of OSB so I'm going to make something happen with it. I'd like to get all the exact supplies I need and make it really nice but stuff I already have and have no other plans for will do just fine. I will need to get some lag bolts though
 
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