DIY Garage Shelving

WHEN: February 25 - March 1, 2012
WHERE: Our garage

I began working out in our garage last fall, spending almost every Saturday out there doing something - anything.  Much of that time has been spent working with lumber, even if it's just setting plywood on my saw horses to provide a workspace for us to paint.  Woodworking is a wonderful mix of being outside (if the door is open), breaking stuff (sawing, drilling, hammering) and creating things (in this case, shelves).  It's got all the workings to attract and capture a boy's attention.  I don't know what I'll do once summer rolls around and the heat index is +100° every day.  I've enjoyed our mild fall and winter and being able to have the garage door open and wear durable (yet non-breathable) blue jeans.  I may have to cut back on my time in the garage come May or June.  But hopefully not!

I spent my nights last week (and the previous weekend) assembling shelving for our garage.  Sure, we could use the extra storage space, now and in the future, but the reasoning was equally as much to satisfy my hobby fix, if I'm being honest.  Every weekend, one of my favorite things to do is escape to the garage (because of my tendency to be indoors all week, NOT because of my wife, just to be clear.  If she misunderstood that, the garage may be the only place she lets me stay in our house.)  Just to be "outside", building things, and getting a little dirty is just what I need after spending all week indoors (and most of the time) at a desk.

I threw the "DIY" in the title for good measure (whatever that means), and while I have included some vague instructions, this post is really just highlights of what I did to build it and to illustrate the relative simplicity of such a project.

The supplies
(Missing from this picture is the material for an additional shelf I added that I had not included in my original plans.)

(6) 2x4s @ 72" (the posts)

(10) 2x4s @ 69" (shelf frame - length)

(16) 2x4s @ 19" (shelf frame - depth)

(8) 19/32" OSB plywood @ 22"x36" (right- and left-side shelves)

(1) 19/32" OSB plywood @ 22"x72" (top shelf)

(24) 4" hex bolt/washer/nut combo

(76) 2.5" drywall screws

Installing the posts to the base (bottom shelf)

Each post is attached to the base (and each shelf) via one bolt and 4 screws (center) or 2 screws (sides)

Each shelf's center supports surround the posts and are also attached to the posts via drywall screws (one on each side)

Posts attached and bottom shelf complete

Stace loves whenever I wear these knee pads - she loves making fun of me that is.  I work on my knees in the garage more often than one would think.  And after quickly wearing holes in the knees of every pair of work jeans I had, these cheap pads became a necessity.

I "pre-assembled" each shelf's frame, rather than drilling each component of the shelf into the posts.  I began by constructing the outer frame (two 2x4s @ 69" and two 2x4s @ 19").

I then installed the shelf's center supports, placing a small piece of 2x4 between the center supports to ensure the distance was as snug as possible.

Once the shelf frame was "pre-assembled", I simply slid the frame on to the two posts in the middle.  There is nothing connecting the frame to the posts here - friction alone holds the frame up at this point.

The snug fit with the shelf's center supports allowed me to slide the frame down the posts to the desired height.  The fit was so snug that it actually took a lot of muscle to slide each frame down the posts.

The frame after being slid down the posts to the desired height.

The frame was checked across its length and depth to ensure that it was level.

Once level, the frame was clamped flush with the posts, to ensure the frame remained level as bolts and screws secured it to the posts.

As a general rule of thumb, all holes for the bolts and screws were pre-drilled, to prevent splitting the lumber.  Notice the screws drilled in to the front and sides at each post are offset, to prevent them from being drilled in to one another.

Since I don't have a jigsaw (yet), I used my hand-held (tree) saw to cut the corners of each shelf.  Each shelf had a left and right piece of plywood, to allow the pieces to slip in to place after the shelf's frame was attached to the posts.  And since I did not attach the plywood to the shelf's frame (held in place by the mutual geometry with the posts), they're also removable/replaceable.

Of course, making sawdust is an added benefit of working with lumber.

The completed project

My understanding wife, who let me spend almost every night last week out in the garage, making a mess.  She even let me post this picture of her in her pajamas, to provide scale.

The final unit is 74" tall by 72" wide by 22" deep (and is already full of our junk).