Lumber storage

[Jonathan Lo]

I was wondering how those of you with small shops (mine's a 2-car garage) store lumber. I'm trying to look for the smallest footprint that I can. Mostly, all I would store is a couple sheets of plywood, some dimensional lumber, and smaller pieces of hardwood. 1x3s, etc. No giant slabs or anything. I'm trying to set up my work bench and wood storage on one side. My garage shares my wife's car when I'm not working on any projects. Right now, I have a rolling cart (for plywood and a couple pieces of dimensional lumber) that hasn't rolled anywhere since I built it. I built some "cantilever" style shelves that are mounted to the wall that currently store my 2x4s.

Yes, I have googled this topic, however, I would like to see some of your ideas. Maybe you guys have made modifications that would be more efficient. I plan on putting it on the left side of my garage and have about 3 feet from the wall to the garage door that I can work with. My garage depth is 23' I believe with the last 7' unusable (door and water heater).

One idea I had was storing the sheet goods between my garage door and ceiling. btw, my ceiling is only 8.5'

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Al Launier]

Do you have any overhead storage such as an attic over the garage that you could provide stair access to?

[Jonathan Lo]

Unfortunately, I do not. There's an access hatch, but I can't imagine it would be easy to put up or remove lumber from up there. The opening is 16" or 18" wide.

[Brian Tymchak]

With sufficient engineering, anything can be changed. I suspect that opening could be enlarged if you have the will to go that route. But other questions will then need to be answered concerning how much load your attic can handle.

[Robert Engel]

I like the moveable sheet rack design of the Wood Whisperer.

In a small shops its a big problem. About the only option is shelf storage up high.

[Jim Becker]

For lumber, you can install sturdy racks up higher on the wall to keep things out of the way. Sheet goods is a bit more difficult because they just plain take up wall space and you need to keep them near-vertical and supported to avoid "un-flatting"' them. ;) For flexibility in your "Garage" (sounds like "shop" :D) You might construct a mobile sheet goods rack that you can move around easily that holds the sheets near-vertical with support. That would allow you to keep it out of the way of any particular operation without taking up any actual physical wall space. You could even park it in front of the "garage" door...

[Robin Frierson]

I am in a small shop also and keep my lumber vertical, just stand it up against the wall. I avoid building any racks or rollling carts as they themselves take up room. Also keep short pieces in things like underneath my assembly table. Also have some high shelves that could be used. Try not to buy too much, just what I need as I used to be a wood hoarder and cant do that anymore in this new small space.

[Matthew Hills]

I've got the majority of my lumber on a rack near the wall.
I expect to move the majority of this outside to a shed or similar protected storage.
I'll likely keep a limited amount of storage in the shop for boards needed on a current project.
I haven't decided if I want to keep these on a high shelf, or keep it stored vertically on-edge.

I tend to buy sheet goods only when needed -- as it doesn't need to acclimate to the shop.
I often do have a half sheet of baltic birch or remnant from a project, which can be nice for small shop projects.
I keep these against the wall, behind my workbench. I have it wedged to keep it tight.

Construction lumber is stored on a covered patio.

Matt

[Jonathan Lo]

Thank you all for the replies. I saw a picture of lumber storage online (can't access the link since I'm at work) that I will probably look at. It has the "cantilever" style shelves for dimensional stock and whatnot as well as vertical storage for maybe 1/2 sheets. Then vertical (on its side) for full sheets. The full sheet section pulls away (hinged at the far left and on a caster wheel at the far right) where you can access the vertical storage. Now need something to store all my little stuff! Right now, a 5-gallon bucket does it all.

I did finish my regular storage shelves today. I can hold 40 totes if need be. It opened up a lot of space.

While building that, I found that my garage attic has an interesting rafter pattern. 8 feet into the garage door, the rafters change direction.

[Andrew R Miller]

I built a 4 ish by 7ish cart and stand the wood up on it, I bought some things to lay the wood down and mounted to the wall, my dad who is a tree cutter advd me against it and sand to stand it straight up. so i mount those to stick out like fingure and stack my wood like that holds a good bit of wood and I can move it easy. i can get a photo if you want

[Doug Bowman]

In my previous house I had a lumber rack hung from the ceiling above the garage door. I wish I could do that in my current house but there is no room above the garage door.

[Greg Parrish]

This may not hold as much as you like but you could park under it since it tapers out as it goes up. I used tracks on the wall with shelf brackets and then just used scrap metal up top, but the center support is a floor flange and a 36" piece of 3/4" black iron pipe. Nothing fancy. The plywood sitting on it is a 20" X 96" piece of 3/4" and 1/2" ply that was left over.

Anyway, hopefully a helpful idea. You could create a set of brackets to hold plywood against the wall when stood upright on its side and it could go under the lumber rack. Make a couple of 2x4 fingers to reach out around a few sheets of wood. Have one end fixed and the other end so that you can open it via an elaborate hinge or just a screw you take out. Would keep multiple sheets tight against the wall.

http://txbonds.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v40/p2166122848-4.jpg

[Ryan Jones]

My lumber solution may work for you.. it's pretty low profile and heavy duty, and low cost to boot.

$12 - Six 2x4s, jointed and laminated together. They ended up being about 3x3 after being milled and prepared flat and straight.
$30 - Twenty or so 1-1/2 wide, 16" long angle iron (not from HD or big box stores, from a metal supplier for much cheaper)
$30 - Bolts, washers, etc. Used 3/8 lag bolts which were 5 inch long to go through the 3 inch posts, 1/2 drywall, and into the 2x4 studs behind drywall). Used 1/4 lag bolts about 2 inches long to secure the angle iron into the posts.

It's real simple... make kerf saw slits in the posts every 12 inches and the angle iron fits right in. Drill a small 1/4 hole in the angle iron, and use 1/4 lag bolts to secure them to the posts.

I used my radial arm saw to make the kerf saw slits for the angle iron to fit in.. but you can use a circular saw with a straight edge.

Best part about this is, if I ever sell the house, it's basically low-profile adjustable shelving for the next guy who wants to put a car in there :) Joe Blow won't rip it down.

[Dean S Walker]

My lumber is in the same place as Ryans, I welded some metal supports and lag screw them to the wall. Same place meaning tucked in by the door rails. To make room think about what you can store up high, lumber isn't the answer but other things likesaws, routers, store ok up high. I found that a shelf up near the ceiling wrapped around the entire shop will hold more stuff than you think. Put a shelf about 15 inches below the ceiling around the garage and get rid of vertical shelving. This will free up some wall space. I was able to get rid of a 4 foot shelving unit after doing this. I also use the ceiling in different places. I'm lucky I have a little welder but I took some stock and build a C-shaped bracket to get lighting where the door rolls up, the door fits into the C-shaped bracket when raised and the light is mounted one the ends of the brackets There is a lot of space up, figure out how to use it. One last thing. I do not like deep shelves up high, you loose things.

[Jonathan Lo]

Thanks Dean! I ended up doing the same thing. My original lumber storage was 1 stud over to the right of where his shows. I moved the farthest one to the left side. so that's where it sits now. I originally put them further from the wall (garage door wall) so I could store longer lumber. 12' stuff. Now I don't really need that. So on to doing the flat stock storage. And getting rid of a gratuitous amount of 2x cutoffs. Sucks not having a truck! or somewhere to burn it.

[Ryan Jones]

A truck is the most important tool of the woodworker.

[Jonathan Lo]

I agree completely! Unfortunately, my wife doesn't see it that way haha! I make our suburban, Jeep and CRV work whichever way I need it. However, a truck would be much more convenient. Strapping down sheet goods on the roof of my jeep is pretty shady to say the least.

[Ryan Jones]

A Jeep can make it work still.

[glenn bradley]

Since you mention an access hatch I will assume a finished ceiling(?). Unfortunate because if your roof elevation presents a peak in the garage you can go vertical:

352414 . 352413

I do this but, also take advantage of the top two feet of the wall behind the door rails:

352415

This is an older pic. I now stand my jointer, drum sander, shop vac and a drawer unit under this lumber. The jointer and sander are mobile and easily pull out a few feet to allow me ladder access to the lumber.

It is important to remember that you will go to the rack for larger material only rarely, such as the beginning of a project. The smaller panels and cut-offs are rummaged more often in my shop and I keep them a little easier to access. Sheet goods stand behind the "shorts" bins.

352417

Panel cutoffs go here.

352418

[Jim Becker]

I agree completely! Unfortunately, my wife doesn't see it that way haha! I make our suburban, Jeep and CRV work whichever way I need it. However, a truck would be much more convenient. Strapping down sheet goods on the roof of my jeep is pretty shady to say the least.

The solution is a small utility trailer...and it's a lot less costly than buying a pick-em-up-truck. :) I bought one when I eschewed my one and only pickup truck for an SUV after adopting our daughters and it's paid for itself many times over. Mine is 5'x8' and on the centerline I can actually accomodate up to 16' stock if need be with appropriate flagging.

[Jonathan Lo]

The solution is a small utility trailer...and it's a lot less costly than buying a pick-em-up-truck. :) I bought one when I eschewed my one and only pickup truck for an SUV after adopting our daughters and it's paid for itself many times over. Mine is 5'x8' and on the centerline I can actually accomodate up to 16' stock if need be with appropriate flagging.

I can fit 10' in the CRV with the back window closed. Only a few pieces though. Haven't put any in the Suburban and probably won't (it's too nice). I've been looking at those trailers. Might just try to get by for a while. My truck "should" be the next vehicle we get.

[Jim Becker]

I can fit 10' in the CRV with the back window closed. Only a few pieces though. Haven't put any in the Suburban and probably won't (it's too nice). I've been looking at those trailers. Might just try to get by for a while. My truck "should" be the next vehicle we get.
I can do the same thing in my Grand Cherokee...in fact, I recently transported two 11' long pipe clamps in there with a little creative shifting of things. But as you say, it's limited to a small amount of material and great care has to be taken to avoid damaging things in the interior if there's a sudden stop or whatever. The utility trailer has more than paid for itself over the years...and it handles sheet good nicely, too. :)

[Brian Henderson]

Storage for small stuff is easy, just put shelves up near the ceiling where you're not using the space anyhow. Plywood is more difficult, but I knew someone who had a solution, he had lots of ceiling space, he took a 4x8 sheet of plywood, hinged one end to the ceiling joists and the other end he held up with rope and pulleys. Around the perimeter of the 4x8 sheet, he put cleats so that he could lower one end to the ground on the ropes, stack a few sheets of plywood on it, then pull it up against the ceiling for storage. It was out of the way, but still supported so it didn't warp or deform. Never tried it myself, but it might be something to think about.

[andy bessette]

My lumber is also stored vertically, under the peak of the roof, to allow room for the longest boards. Plywood is stored against a wall, standing on its long edge, with narrower sheets stored the same way, in a rack over the mostly/full sheets.