Garage Storage Help

When it comes to garage storage, in addition to overhead storage and garage storage cabinets, another option to create more space is by installing garage shelving. While you can purchase various garage organizers, garage shelving is ideal because you can quickly build custom heights and lengths to add additional storage.

A great place to start is by visiting your local hardware store or hardware chain store or even a lumber yard to gather the supplies you will need to build the wooden shelves. Even if you are not that comfortable with tools, shelving can be done with little equipment and in a short amount of time if you are not that worried about a fancy design.

To build a basic garage shelf, you will need plywood, usually 3/4 to 1 inch thick, shelf brackets, screws and possibly wall anchors. If you have wall studs available to you, you can screw the brackets directly into the wall. You can find the wall studs by either using a stud finder or looking for other screws already in the wall. Most vertical studs will be between 16 to 24 inches apart. If you screw or drill into the wall and hit only drywall, they you will need to use an anchor for the screw to make sure it stays in the wall. Otherwise the screws will not be able to support the weight you load onto the shelves.

You will also need a screwdriver, a hammer, a level and possibly a drill. The level is the most critical element of the installation process because if you have uneven shelves, items could possibly slide off of one of the ends. It is also important when you are installing the shelving brackets underneath the shelf to not space them out too far. Otherwise the shelves will bow in the middle and instead of being a straight across horizontally, they will have a “u” look to them.

If you are looking for ready made garage shelving, you best bet is to go with steel shelving units. Steel shelves allow you store much more weight than if you were to go with a plastic shelving units. These units will need to be assembled so they take do take some time  to put in place. Also, they are on the ground so they usually contain three or four levels of shelves. You can screw them into the wall to keep them from moving from the additional weight that they are able to support. This type of heavy duty shelving is great for storing large garage storage bins or heavy cardboard boxes.

Another material that you can use for installing garage shelves are wire shelves. Most people are used to seeing this type of material used in closets inside the home but it can serve the same type of purpose in the garage for smaller items since the shelves will not be able to carry as much weight.

For homeowners that have remodeled their home and want to carry that over into the garage, they may opt for stainless steel shelves to give the garage a much nicer look so when the garage door is open and people from the neighborhood walk or drive by, the inside of the garage looks clean and professional.

If you are need of some type of movable shelving unit, chrome shelving is often times a popular choice. Just like shelving units, these will typically come with three to five shelves on them. While they may not have the beautiful look of metal shelving or glass shelving, chrome wire shelving makes it easy to transport items around the garage or give your set up a different look by simply moving the unit which you cannot do with steel shelving units or garage wall shelves that have been installed.

Another option for using shelves in the garage is with corner shelves or corner shelving units. These types of units are great to use that space in the corner of the garage that often gets neglected and wasted. You can build your own shelves for the corner of the garage or buy an already assembled corner shelf unit to use as storage.

Shelves serve as great garage storage solutions and as you can see, there are numerous shelving ideas to pick from, whether you want wall mounted shelves where you have different materials to pick from, metal shelving units or movable shelves, any choice will allow you maximize the open space up in the air which in turn creates additional square footage for garage storage of household items.