basement shelving wood choice help

[parnelli]

I'm looking at putting up some shelving in the basement that looks very similar to what Thom2 has in this thread:
http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=12042

It looks like this is the stuff he has:
http://johnsterling.com/aboutfastmount.htm

Catch is, I haven't a clue as to what to use for the actual shelves.

They are just going to be typical items on them, a few paint cans and other misc stuff.

So do I use ply or mdf or just particleboard or what? The guy at Menards was trying to get me to buy this stuff made by Dow out of wheat or something-- seemed way to light duty. Is the answer just to go with the cheapest?

Thanks!

[jethro]

I've always used 3/4" ply and never had a problem. MDF and particle board are more likely to sag under a LOT of weight, but if you're installing on studs at 16" o/c and budget is a concern, you'd have to have a lot of weight to result in a noticeable sag.

[Scottydont]

I use Fastmount track and shelve supports. They are sturdy as a tank and very versitile. I bought a bunch of 24" luan doors for $16 a piece for shelves. Otherwise I have used 3/4" ply and framed around the edge with 3/4 by 2" poplar for added anti sag. All is good after 2 years.

[Nick Keenan]

Probably the cheapest way is to buy a sheet of 4x8 MDF or melamine coated particle board and cut it into strips (or have the place you buy it from cut it for you). This will not be as sag resistant as hardwood plywood and sagging will be your main concern. Do a Google search for "sagulator" to find a page for calculating shelf sag.

Nick

[bhornberger]

http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm

The Sagulator helps you design shelves by calculating shelf sag (deflection) given type of shelf material, shelf load, width, depth, and thickness.

[DaveS]

Here's another vote for plain old plywood. MDF is cheaper, but it is way heavier. Also, Menard's often has 3/4" laminated partical board shelving on sale - which is nice because you get that nice rounded front, and you can get it in your choice of white or "oak print". They have a variety of lengths and widths.

Personally, I used $22/sheet 3/4" plywood, ripped into 8'x12" and 8'x16" widths... then rounded over all the edges with a 3/8" quarter round.

I would imagine, if your basement was damp at all, the plywood would fare better than the other composite materials.

[Nick Keenan]

quote:Originally posted by parnelli
The guy at Menards was trying to get me to buy this stuff made by Dow out of wheat or something-- seemed way to light duty.

The equivalent HD product is called "WoodStalk." As fate would have it, I bought some last weekend to build shelves in the kids' playroom. It was cheaper than particle board and has a finished bullnose edge. It's also lighter, which I appreciated when I carried the boards down to the basement for cutting and then up to the third floor. Strength doesn't seem to be a problem for 30" general purpose shelves. I would say that it is comparable to particle board; i.e., just about the cheapest material available.

The sawdust smells like grass clippings.

Nick

[JimD]

The sagulator is a good suggestion - you can try different edging and support spacing to decide what will work. The deflection will be the least with solid wood (even pine will sag less than any sheet goods), then plywood, then waferboard, then MDF, then particle board. I think Woodstalk is close to MDF. A solid wood edging, espeically if the long direction is vertical, will help out a sheetgoods shelf and also hide the edge. Unfortunately, as usual, the performance is also proportional to the price. A waferboard shelf with a solid wood edging (it is far too ugly without an edging) is a possibly overlooked option in a lot of cases. It can be about as cheap as MDF or particle board but is stronger (subfloor material is about 3/4 inch thick and pretty cheap).

Jim

[RayintheUK]

"They are just going to be typical items on them, a few paint cans and other misc stuff."

Yeah, right! We've all said that. Watch that new space disappear under all sorts of stuff. Make them strong, because you will overload them.

Ray.

[larus]

I edge join pine boards. I use 1x6 for 12" shelves and 1x8 for 16" shelves. You can comgine various width boards for various widths and rip, if required after joining. I join my own because I want to know tight fitting dowels are in place with quality wood glue. Pine is light and will sag less than most materials. It is relatively cheap. Use number 2 grade for utility shelving.

Do you have a joiner? If so, you are set. If not, you can edge with a jack plane, although a larger plane such as a full size jointer will do a much better job. The pine is soft and the planing goes quickly. And, for me, the smell fo those pine shavings is something I always enjoy. No dust, no awful smell as with oak, just a pleasant experience.

[pushrod]

I went a slightly different way in my previous garage. I bought the cheapest, ugliest 3/4" ply they (blue or orange) had, and half as many 10' 2X4's, plus a couple. I had the box store rip the sheets in half lengthwise. I ripped the 2X4's in half, cut two feet off the ends and then glued and screwed them to each long edge of the plywood. I then used the other 2X4's (also ripped into 2X2's) for vertical stands and screwed the rear 2X2 edge to the wall studs. The 24" pieces were used for strength and mating where the ends of the shelves met. I used a vertical every four feet, and the shelves didn't deflect with my 200 pound carcass on them. Mine were 20' long, and attached to the front wall of the garage for lateral support.

If you want even more strength, you could cut a dado/groove/notch in each vertical for the edge to sit in, and you could put a series of 2X2's up against the wall to add support to the rear edge.

As for what you're going to store on them, if your house is anything like mine, I ended up with maybe 20% of the shelves for my use. The LOML homesteaded the rest, and kept sneaking stuff onto my "territory".

HTH,

Steve

[mater]

quote:Originally posted by Scottydont
Otherwise I have used 3/4" ply and framed around the edge with 3/4 by 2" poplar for added anti sag. All is good after 2 years.

I have built a lot of shelves like this only I used pine around the edges. I haven't had any problems with sagging.