Work Shop Shelving Unit (MMR 9)

It seems to be a recurring theme that older houses have less storage space than new houses. This becomes a particularly glaring issue due to the fact that much of our stuff is still packed away due to the ongoing renovation. We all know I'm not going to go around and dust it all (MMR1).

Fortunately, we have a very large partially finished basement. There is utility room (furnace, water heater, electrical panel), a walk in storage closet, a fairly large storage room, and a nice sized workshop area. These spaces are all in addition to a pretty substantial "finished" area, and by "finished" I mean paneled walls, linoleum tiles, and drop ceiling.

Since we are getting closer to finishing some of our renovation and the need for items such as the electrical supplies and circular saw is dwindling, we decided it was time to start thinking about where we were going to put all of the tools and building supplies. After searching the internet for "Heavy Duty Storage Shelves", I had found enough different ideas that I figured I could build my own.

We have a perfect wall right behind the opening of the workshop door for a shelving unit 8 feet long, about 6 1/2 feet tall, and 2 feet deep. This made the supply list pretty easy to come up with. I went with 4 shelves total. The lowest shelf is right next too the floor, just to keep items off of the floor in case of water accumulation in the basement. Between the 1st & 2nd,and 2nd & 3rd shelves, there is approximately 19.5 inches of height (which is just enough for some big rubbermaid storage bins). Between the and 3rd & 4th shelves, there is approximately 16 inches of height since I figured it'd be less likely Dee or I would really want to heave large and bulky items up there.

Since each shelf is effectively 2 feet by 8 feet, it was easy enough to cut two standard sheets of plywood (4' x 8') right down the middle. The framing was made out of 2" x 4" studs, but keep in mind that if you want 8 foot long shelves, you need to get 96" 2x4s, not standard studs (standard studs are shorter than 8 feet because when combined with the top plate and the bottom plate in wall framing, the finished wall is 8 feet and not 8' & 3").

I decided to use screws for this project for two reasons:

1) I think that they hold pieces of wood together stronger than nails (as I'm sure most will agree).

2) If I ever want to take the shelf apart to move it, I can. I'll just need to remember to number the pieces so I can put it back together the same way.

I'd say this project took about a half a day for just me to build. Not too bad. If you have specific questions about how to construct the frame, feel free to drop a question in the comments below this post.