This is from a DIY posting I made over at TehSoapBox, which is a pretty cool place with a lot of pretty cool people and if you’re pretty interested, just let me know and I’ll pretty easily send you off an invite.
I’m the first to admit that I suck at organizing “things” for me (irony much: my full time gig is organizing “things” for clients, and I’m actually good at that ), and since we built a new house nearly 2 years ago, there’s been hardly enough time to even consider yet another project, however…
A couple of months back, I decided it was time to finally clean the garage out. I dug out all the left over materials and grime and muck from finishing the basement and shoved it all right smack in the middle and started building a bunch of shelves. Nearly 300 sq ft of storage space when you get right down to it.
Oh, but shelves are easy, right? Just go to your local and pick up those wire things and voila!
No. No no no nonononononono!
I’ve got tools. Seems like every time I have to take on a new task there’s an excuse to get a new tool (bastards at Ryobi and your 18v battery system, I blame you!), so that’s an ever-growing thing.
So, anywho. I build a whole bunch of shelves, and it was pretty easy.
Basic needs:
A lot of 3/4″ plywood (1/2″ may work; it’s up to you) (you’ll need your own measurements, sorry)
A couple of boxes of 3.5″ - 4″ coarse threaded drywall-type screws
A couple of boxes of 2″ coarse threaded drywall-type screws
A really good drill / screwdriver
A really good studfinder, or at least knowledge of where your studs are
Another person to help you hold some stuff in place whilst you drill
A saw, probably a table saw, really
Tape measure
A level (I’d suggest a laser level, too, if you intend to put shelves around your entire garage space as this makes it easier to know where to put some guides)
Background music (I tend to work well with XM 49 playing, just saying)
Okay, so first and foremost, the best way to approach this task is to get a few 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood. The good news is that places like Home Depot will actually cut them to size for you, for somewhere around $.50 a cut. Fair price, makes getting the wood home a lot easier.
For all the purposes of this little “how to” bit, I’m only going to talk about doing one “shelf section”. You should be able to apply the same sort of logic to the rest of your garage.
For 2 pieces of plywood, you’ll want to do the following:
Sheet 1: Cut at 24″ for the entire length of the board (you should have 2 2′ x 8′ sheets at this point)
Sheet 2: Cut at 24″ for the entire length of the board, but then also cut at every 24″ along the width (you should have 8 2′ x 2′ pieces at this point)
Okay. Awesome. You’re at a really good point to do something “on the wall” if you’d like.
Look at your wall and figure out where you’d like the top of your shelf to be. I used a laser level that I stuck on the wall and then I drove some of my 2″ drywall screws in a few turns as markers. These markers made it easier for me and the helper (translation: my wife) to hold the bottom board flat on the wall AND maintain it’s position with shifting it all over hell. You’ll be thankful for this tip, I assure you.
Take one of the 2′ x 8′ pieces and hold it against your garage wall. The top of this board is where you will place the 2′ x 8′ piece to actually be the shelf surface that you can rest things on.
Find your studs. Put about 3-4 3.5″ - 4″ drywall screws into your studs. This should make a fun sound and kill a lot of screwdriver/drill battery. The good news is that if you throw a couple of screws into the studs on both ends, your assistant can most likely let go of the board at this point. Finish those screws.
This is really just an “apron” that is secured to the wall and allows you to drill other things into it, without requiring you to always be on a stud. It’s a pretty nice thing to have, really, it’s just nowhere near as pretty as finished drywall.
Okay, so you’ve got your apron, but what about the rest, right?
Right.
Take those 2×2 pieces of plywood. Measure 4″ off of each side, and cut away. I know I had you cut them down to 2′ x 2′, but these are just easier to get home and a lot easier to cut on your own.
Take your 20″ x 20″ pieces and your level and draw a cut line across the diagonal. You’re makeing triangles, kiddies!!
The next part is really the “rest of the job”.
Take 3-4 of those triangles. For each, screw a rectangle piece (remember those 4″ pieces I just had you cut off? Yeah, those) on to one of the 90-degree-angled sides (not the hypotenuse, math nerds).
Once you have those 3-4 “shark fins” as my daughter called them, you should then line them up across the width of the apron on the wall. It should be obvious that the top of the shark fin should line up with the top of your apron, as this is what is going to be supporting the shelf.
Drill 3-4 2″ screws into the apron for your shark fins. In general, these shark fins should be 3-4′ apart, but you can modify depending upon what you’ll be placing on your shelf. Remember: Thanks to our handy dandy apron, you don’t have to worry about aligning these with your studs.
Also: My wife came up with a brilliant plan to use some under-shelf wire baskets from The Container Store, so you may want to pre measure for those, as well, so you know the minimum width you’ll want.
Take your remaining 2′ x 8′ piece of plywood. Set it on top of your shark fins, push it back to the wall.
Ta-fricken-da! You’ve got a pretty big, pretty kick ass shelf now.
See my gallery for an idea of just how messy my garage was/is.
I used 2″ screws to screw down the top of my shelf and 3.5″ - 4″ screws at an angle to drill the backside into the apron. In hindsight, it may have been wise to throw another one of those rectangle pieces on top of my shark fin to drill into from the top (that way I didn’t have to be so damned accurate), but you’ll find what works best for you.
Hope that helps!
