Replies

1. 
   cawink | Jun 21, 2007 12:58am | #1

   I have a wood storage system in my workshop located in the basement. It is simple and functional. Many basements have an open ceiling which exposes the joists, so I too advantage of that for fastening uprights made of 2x2's, thus they extend from the ceiling to the floor. Essentially, I started with 4 uprights (2 on each end) and then filled in between with more as as the pieces to be stored were samller than the overall length between the outer uprights. In essence they became smaller cubicles. By adding cross pieces this completed the process. One other thing ... the direction of the joists was important to me (happily for me, they ran parallel to the wall) since it gave me flexibility in choosing the overall length. The other choice was how deep to make these cubicles. Three joists did it. (Approx 32", or the intervening space between 3 joists.) This system has served me for over twenty five years.

   Good luck.

   cawink 

2. 
   forestgirl | Jun 21, 2007 09:03pm | #2

   Hi (again) Kummell.  First of all, it's not hard to put holes in the concrete.  I had to do it for my lumber rack (click).  However!.....I gotta say, if I had it to do over again, I'd make vertical storage.  In a basement, that obviously wouldn't work for the longer pieces, but it would for the under  7' or so.

   There's fear out there that vertical storage will create problems after awhile, but I think if it's done right, it'll work.  One local WWer I know has wood that's several years old and has been stored vertically the whole time, with no problems.  (See Peter Loh's gallery)  After I toured his shop, I started rethinking things.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 
   
1. 
   kummell | Jun 21, 2007 11:06pm | #3

   thanks again FG, I may just start sending my Qs directly to you ;-)

   I'm sure I'm being naiive here, but isn't there some risk in putting holes in the wall/foundation in the basement?  we have a dry basement (when I'm not doing stupid thing like flooding it when I don't hook up the washer properly) and I'd like to keep it that way.

    

1. 
   forestgirl | Jun 22, 2007 02:17am | #4

   I don't know about any risk vis a vis leakage if you put one of those holes.  Somebody around here will know, practically speaking, if it's something to worry about.  My guess is, no, but perhaps some kind of precaution can be taken?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

3. 
   PlaneAround | Jun 22, 2007 02:24pm | #5

   Matt,
   I'd think that drilling holes into your basement walls wouldn't be a good idea. Why not fasten some 2X3's, with the 2" edge facing out, to the floor and ceiling? You could drill holes into them for electrical conduit piping (for lighter loads) or adjustable metal shelving brackets for heavier loads. I used this latter idea for years with excellent luck - never experienced any lumber falling down.

   I also now have a cut-offs cart that rolls around the shop (to move it out of the way when I need to use that valuable floor space in my smallish 500 sq ft shop). It is basically a 4' long X 2' wide X 20" high box made of scrap plywood and sheet goods, that has 60" high wooden posts at each corner. The corner posts are used to support an upper rack that carries cut-offs too long to store in the box. I store cut-offs on their ends, and arrange them by species, separated by free-standing plywood dividers. I purchased some inexpensive rollers, which, unfortunately, aren't quite up to dealing with the heavy load they must carry. I'll replace them one of these days...

   Between the wall-mounted storage and the cut-offs cart, my shop's now quite effective. If I had enough storage space and a higher ceiling to allow me to store the long boards on end, it'd be better, but I have to work within my shop's limitations.

   Hope this helps.

   Marty

   
   

   ---

   Edited 6/22/2007 7:26 am ET by Planearound

4. 
   EdHarrow | Jun 22, 2007 04:10pm | #6

   Are the floor joists exposed?

1. 
   kummell | Jun 22, 2007 07:33pm | #7

   they are, but they go the wrong  way... considering using joist hangers to put some 2x4s between the last joist and the sill and dropping the supports down from there...

1. 
   Ed | Jun 24, 2007 04:39am | #8

   This isn’t pretty but it’s cheap, quick to make and works well. 

   <!----><!----> <!---->

   The uprights are a sandwich of three 2x4 wall studs glued and screwed together.  Before assembly the central stud is cut to form 3 or 4 mortises to receive 2x4 shelf support arms.  The mortise upper and lower faces are cut at a 3 or 4 degree angle so the shelf supports have a slight up-angle.  Shelf supports are 18” long with 14 ½” exposed.

   <!----> <!---->

   Bolt the completed uprights to the floor joists.  The uprights don’t have to contact the wall.  The concrete floor will probably not be level and so the shelf supports will slightly out of alignment horizontally.  To correct this on my shelf I just tacked shims on the low supports.

   <!----> <!---->

   My shelves have uprights every second joist or 32”.  Four uprights span 8’ and can accept 10’ lengths of lumber.   Each shelf support can support many hundreds of pounds of weight.  Each 8’ shelf with 3 supports can support 1,000 pounds plus.  If there are 4 shelves on a set of 4 uprights they can hold several tons.

    

   Ed

   
1. 
   kummell | Jun 24, 2007 05:18am | #9

   thanks Ed - that's basically what I built today, just a bit smaller.

   definitely cheap!

1. 
   Ed | Jun 24, 2007 05:20am | #10

   Great minds think alike :)

2. 
   EdHarrow | Jun 26, 2007 12:14am | #12

   There you go, I knew if I waited a sufficiently long time before returning to knots someone would post a picture of what I did.  The only thing I added to that is a 2x4 bolted to the joists, parallel to the rack, tight to the wertical  'posts' of the rack.  (I tend towards the 'belt & suspenders" approach.) 

1. 
   Ed | Jun 26, 2007 12:57am | #13

   Another great mind :)

   I think I first saw this design in Fine Woodworking long ago.

   Ed

5. 
   Moksha | Jun 24, 2007 11:42pm | #11

   Kummell

   Seems we have the same problem with a basement workshop... here is the method I worked out for a wood rack for storage... Plywood fits on the left and the hardwoods on right of rack... plus a cut off cart in the back on the right side.

   Moksha