Garage Shelves Advice

[cristi.grigore]

Hii everyone,

I need your help with a project I am thinking of doing - building shelves for the garage. The dimensions I have in mind are 1.9 m in height and 2.4 m in length, with a gap between the shelves of 45 cm and shelf length of 50 cm. I was planning to use treated timber as the garage gets damp, but the price at B&Q for their Metsä Wood Treated Rough Sawn Treated Stick timber (L)2.4m (W)75mm (T)47mm is £11.67 and that takes me to almost £200 for the timber alone.

My questions are:
1. What type of timber should I use (treated, untreated, CLS, C16)?
2. What dimensions shuld the timber have (I am looking at 47x75x2400 mm)?
3. What type of OSB should I consider for the shelves themselves?

Anything else I should have in mind?

Thanks,
Cristi

 

[Sundaydriver]

What is going on the shelves, or what’s the heaviest ? Can you put the heaviest items lower ? Will heavy items spread their weight or be a stress on a small section ?
That’ll help decide the dimensions and fixings.
Unless it’s all just lightweight stuff. In which case cheapest possible 2x3s and 12mm ply or any fb market stuff you can grab ?

 

[recipio]

You give two lengths of 2.4 m and 50 cm. Did you mean 50 cm depth ? I have a damp shed as well and used plain rough sawn 3/4" spruce with no problems. The important thing is use good industrial brackets spaced apart such that they will not allow any sagging. If you are drilling into concrete blocks I would just use concrete screws - no need for rawlplugs. I wouldn't use OSB as it probably sag unless you use a lot of brackets.

 

[cristi.grigore]

What is going on the shelves, or what’s the heaviest ? Can you put the heaviest items lower ? Will heavy items spread their weight or be a stress on a small section ?
That’ll help decide the dimensions and fixings.
Unless it’s all just lightweight stuff. In which case cheapest possible 2x3s and 12mm ply or any fb market stuff you can grab ?

Home stuff, a few tools, a few cardboard boxes with various bits and bobs in the, some bottles, etc. I assume no more than 50 kg per shelf. Would 2x3s do the job?

 

[cristi.grigore]

You give two lengths of 2.4 m and 50 cm. Did you mean 50 cm depth ? I have a damp shed as well and used plain rough sawn 3/4" spruce with no problems. The important thing is use good industrial brackets spaced apart such that they will not allow any sagging. If you are drilling into concrete blocks I would just use concrete screws - no need for rawlplugs. I wouldn't use OSB as it probably sag unless you use a lot of brackets.

You are corect, 50 cm in depth, 2.4 m in length. You can see the rough sketch attached (I forgot to add the OSB, but it should go on top of each shelf).

 

[TheUnicorn]

The important thing is use good industrial brackets spaced apart such that they will not allow any sagging. If you are drilling into concrete blocks I would just use concrete screws - no need for rawlplugs. I wouldn't use OSB as it probably sag unless you use a lot of brackets.

it sounds like you are thinking of wall mounted shelves, where I'd read it as free standing shelves

 

[TheUnicorn]

... especially now the illustration has been given

 

[cristi.grigore]

it sounds like you are thinking of wall mounted shelves, where I'd read it as free standing shelves

They would be against the wall but I would consider them freestanding. I would only secure them against the wall if they are not stable on their own feet.

 

[recipio]

... especially now the illustration has been given

My fault but the illustration came after my post. That ' ladder ' design is fine as long as the joints are strong enough to prevent racking.. It's in the nature of things that loads on shelves increase as the years go on but the OSB should be fine as it's well supported.

 

[Spectric]

Why make them, just buy racking and it gives a flexable solution to storage. Get the ones that connect using a key hole arrangement rather than metal tabs.

 

[TheUnicorn]

They would be against the wall but I would consider them freestanding. I would only secure them against the wall if they are not stable on their own feet.

I have similar shelves, only metal frame, which have sat without issue for maybe eight years, but if I had kids I'd want them attatched to the wall as it all resembles a climbing frame

 

[Cabinetman]

Well I estimate 13 CLS the 63 x 38 one but that does have another set of uprights in the middle, comes out at about £50 plus the OSB. Good design having pieces between the shelf ends (verticaly) but not altogether necessary. - They would be extra.
Ian

 

[Stigmorgan]

As @Spectric said just buy a set like this...
https://www.tufferman.co.uk/product...e?variant=41479738949769&vat=inc&gad_source=1
They do other sets, loads of different sizes and designs, shelf heights are changeable, will be quicker to put together than to build from scratch and probably costs the same as building from scratch

 

[TheUnicorn]

I'd agree about the costs of buying metal frame shelves, but the quality does vary, I put together several sets recently where the shelf was thin mdf and the weight bearing on a lip of maybe 5mm all round, they'd not hold up well to heavy weight and certainly damp conditions. my own set (can't remember brands of either I'm afraid) was a heavier construction, thicker lip to support the shelf, I've painted the shelves as a bit of protection against damp, and screwed battens to the underside to help against bowing. I've also put secondary pieces of board (scraps that have come my way over the years) partly to re-enforce, and partly because I find the slight lip heightwise snags on things as I slide them on and off the shelves.

All told, I can see the attraction of building from scratch, if not, shop well as not all shelves are the same

 

[Stigmorgan]

I'd agree about the costs of buying metal frame shelves, but the quality does vary, I put together several sets recently where the shelf was thin mdf and the weight bearing on a lip of maybe 5mm all round, they'd not hold up well to heavy weight and certainly damp conditions. my own set (can't remember brands of either I'm afraid) was a heavier construction, thicker lip to support the shelf, I've painted the shelves as a bit of protection against damp, and screwed battens to the underside to help against bowing. I've also put secondary pieces of board (scraps that have come my way over the years) partly to re-enforce, and partly because I find the slight lip heightwise snags on things as I slide them on and off the shelves.

All told, I can see the attraction of building from scratch, if not, shop well as not all shelves are the same

I agree, I have what sounds similar to what you describe in my garage and in one of our spare rooms used for clothing, they wouldn't hold much weight but the link I attached above is a much much heavier duty shelf unit that can hold a considerable amount of weight

 

[Spectric]

I have been using several of these brought in a homebase sale and yes they are relatively flimsy but once assembled they become more rigid and mine are well loaded without issues. I could have brought the wood and made them but I have other jobs to get on with rather than making garage storage and these have the keyhole assembly and not the metal tabs.

https://www.homebase.co.uk/handy-5-mdf-shelf-storage-unit-200kg-900-x-1830-x-400mm/12889880.html

 

[Sundaydriver]

 

[cristi.grigore]

As @Spectric said just buy a set like this...
https://www.tufferman.co.uk/product...e?variant=41479738949769&vat=inc&gad_source=1
They do other sets, loads of different sizes and designs, shelf heights are changeable, will be quicker to put together than to build from scratch and probably costs the same as building from scratch

This might be the way to go. Thanks!

 

[Chubber]

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-265kg-boltless-shelving-light-grey-350blu/

I had these at my last place, with a centre brace on each shelf they took all my tools in boxes after a house move. IIRC they have only increased in price by about £30 in ten years. Another advantage was the height of the bottom shelf allowed me to tuck my sack truck underneath. 350 kg per shelf.

 

[JAW911]