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Diy Shelves

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wrongway

I live for the CABE
Have any of you made your own shelves? Shelves to store anything....not just bike goodies. I'm thinking of making my own shelves out of 2x4's, but am wondering how high I should go with them and still be safe? Is there a cheaper alternative?
 
should be able to get some good and reasonable shelving at Costco? or Sam's club. I bought like 10-12 heavy duty sets at BJ's Wholesale back in the day...
 
Unless you can afford industrial steel shelving units, there is no other choice than 2x4's and plywood. I recommend 3/4" plywood and braces at every 2 foot. 3" torx head screws also. These shelves have been with me on three moves. I just keep adding to them. Home improvement store shelves are absolute junk. If you interested I can supply more info. Shelves like these can hold engine blocks if you brace them properly. These are 10 feet high BTW
shelves 002.JPG
 
I re-use old metal shelves. For what little crap I keep on hand nowadays, that works well enough!
 
I've built a set of shelves using 4 x 4s, 2 x 4s, and 3/4" plywood. I wanted to be able to put heavy stuff--like BB Chevy heads on them without worrying about them buckling. I have looked into the COSTCO/Sam Club shelves and if I need more may just do this as it would be a lot less time consuming and probably cheaper. V/r Shawn
 
How High? Free standing, not over 6 foot. Notice momo's 10 foot shelving is tied to building back wall... Put lighter stuff on high; how much weight do you want on your head if your storage carton falls apart during retrieval? Give it thought; common sense is your best friend.
 
How High? Free standing, not over 6 foot. Notice momo's 10 foot shelving is tied to building back wall... Put lighter stuff on high; how much weight do you want on your head if your storage carton falls apart during retrieval? Give it thought; common sense is your best friend.

I have done the same shelving free standing with 2 foot wide shelves 8 foot tall with lateral bracing on the back and the sides but it was against a wall. If you have the room, make them 4 foot wide or deep and they become almost impossible to knock over if they are in the middle of a room for example, done that too. Haven't dropped anything on my head yet but of course you put the lighter stuff on the upper shelves. I use an extension ladder for the upper shelves which pretty much dictates what I can get up there. Like you said, common sense. You don't want to lean a ladder against a fee standing shelving unit that's only two foot wide unless it's against a wall and you don't want to use boxes that are falling apart in the first place. Make them as high as you feel comfortable with. These ten footers serve me quite well, I actually have them on both sides of the divider wall you see them mounted to. I need all the shelving space I can get.
 
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