Garage overhead storage

[radhak]

I am tired of the clutter in my garage and want it back .

It has a finished ceiling, and all of the space above the garage door (when it is open) is unused. I thought I could put up a wire-frame and nail-support it at the wall and hang-support it at the open side, but most of the stuff sold online seems to above $100. That's a lot for me, so what's the cheapest way of getting this? Isn't there something the borg would sell, maybe cheap?

I am thinking something like a 30" x 72", hanging around 30" below the ceiling. I am hoping it to hold stuff that's more bulky rather than heavy, as in empty suitcases, christmas lights, etc.

A wireframe would be better so I could see from below what was where but can live with ply.

I have crawlspace above the garage but it's too tight for me; I want to use lag screws from below, poking around till i hit the strusses (the stud finder does not seem to work on ceilings).

[iceman61]

Maybe this will help. It's not wire rack though

[JimD]

I have a shelf above my garage door that is 4 feet wide. It runs the 20 foot width of the garage. It is supported by the walls on three sides and is hung from the ceiling (there is finished room over the garage) on the open side. To hang it, I used electrical conduit which I flattened to screw it to cleats screwed to the floor joists of the room above and where it fastens to the platform. I sit on it when I am putting stuff up there and it does not seem to move (I weigh a little under 200 lbs) and I have stuff as heavy as an old 10hp boat motor on it. The shelf is 2x4 framing with 7/16 waferboard on it.

Jim

[dbhost]

FWIW, on mine, the space between the garage doors ended up being the perfect place to stash my ladder. I just used a pair of bicycle hooks, and hung it up there, at the lowest point it is 6' 4" off the ground. No head to ladder banging problems...

[BobSch]

Seems to me I saw a shelf unit that was held up using rope and pulleys. Would make loading/unloading easier.

[IBBugsy]

Maybe this will help. It's not wire rack though

I saw something similar to this only they held the plastic boxes up by their top lip. Just a simple L made of wood that the lip would catch. Probably would have to keep the boxes pretty light, though.

[radhak]

All good suggestions, thanks. For a quick solution I'm hoping to see if HD has any wire-shelves that could hang; or maybe I could just use some of their chain links with the appropriate strengths. I could always go with the above options for DIY if nothing else appeals.

The bigger issue is gonna be what all will go up there. I have a whole cabinet full of half-used paint cans that I'd dearly love to move out of sight; problem is if/when i need some paint i'd need to sift thru all that at an inconvenient height. Still, seeing it'd only be once in a blue moon, i might do that; and maybe even my plastic bins of 'shorts' could go. They remind me all the time of how much of a pack rat i am ! Of course the strength of the overhead will need to be more for these...

[twistsol]

If you really want to be cheap, look for an old twin bed frame with the spring mattress support. You can hang from hooks and chains and it should be about the size you are looking for.

[LarryG]

The bigger issue is gonna be what all will go up there.

That's a bigger issue in more ways than one. Something that I don't think has been mentioned is that the bottom chords of pre-engineered roof trusses are typically designed to carry very little load -- usually just the dead load of the ceiling material, plus an adequate safety margin. If you build a rack that is hanging from (say) four different points, and load the rack evenly with (say) 1000 lbs, you're applying a point load of 250 lbs each at those four locations (plus the weight of the rack itself).

Now, I'm not saying that if you do what you want to do, your garage ceiling is going to collapse. People do this sort of thing all the time, without drama. But use common sense. Definitely keep both the rack structure and the stored materials as light as you can, and hang it from as many different trusses as you can, to help distribute the load. Your original thought of empty suitcases and Christmas decorations is probably the way to go.

[radhak]

That's a great idea, Chr's! Lemme look around...

And you got a point, Larry. I better keep it real and light; maybe if i can stow away stuff, i might as well start culling them ...

[pelligrini]

I did a rack above my garage door with all 2x4 construction. It stores a bunch of curtain rods, a couple closet doors, and a variety of moulding lengths. I didn't need to deck it.

In my case I have 2x12 floor joists running parallel to the garage door opening for the ceiling. I screwed an 8' 2x4 flush against the ceiling perpindicular to the joists. It was fastened with a couple screws 16" OC into the joists. I did the supports like the one iceman linked to, but I didn't bother with any angles. the ~14" verticals are attached about 24" OC screwed into the 2x4 attached to the ceiling. The 2x4 cross members are screwed togeather as a simple butt joint.

[radhak]

I have a shelf above my garage door that is 4 feet wide. It runs the 20 foot width of the garage. It is supported by the walls on three sides and is hung from the ceiling (there is finished room over the garage) on the open side. To hang it, I used electrical conduit which I flattened to screw it to cleats screwed to the floor joists of the room above and where it fastens to the platform. I sit on it when I am putting stuff up there and it does not seem to move (I weigh a little under 200 lbs) and I have stuff as heavy as an old 10hp boat motor on it. The shelf is 2x4 framing with 7/16 waferboard on it.

Jim

Do you have pictures? What diameter is the conduit? How did you flatten / bend it?

The 2x4 cross members are screwed togeather as a simple butt joint.

Good to hear simple joints work for this. How long ago did you build this?

[pelligrini]

Good to hear simple joints work for this. How long ago did you build this?

A couple years ago I think, maybe more. I used mostly 3 1/2" coated screws, most of a box of tan ones from the borg.

[brubakes]

Maybe this will help. It's not wire rack though

Good link. I was just thinking about doing this same thing in my garage. I just have to see if I have enough space above the garage door.