Wall strong enough for lumber rack?

[Dan McGonigle]

Thinking about cleaning out my large shed and installing cantilever style brackets on the rear 2x3 wall for lumber storage. I’m worried that the wall isn’t strong enough. It’s a salt box style shed, the rear wall is roughly 5’ high. I wouldn’t overload it with lumber, as the majority of my stock is in flitches covered outside. Any thoughts?

[Dan McGonigle]

445557Here’s a picture of said wall. Best I could get as the rest of the wall is obscured with junk.

[Ron Selzer]

How long is that wall?
don't see any collar ties or other wall to roof bracing
both ends, how are they braced?
if a solid end wall then that end of the side wall is braced.
Is there a door on the other end? how long of a end wall is there for a brace?
ron

[Bruce King]

There is not enough going on there to try it. It needs vertical legs.
On regular construction everything acts as a system, exterior wall sheathing, roof sheathing and ceiling joists. Then still you can’t cantilever much weight on new construction without strapping several studs to the ceiling joists or you are relying on a few nails into end grain. The weight of the rack would be the safe limit before anything was put on it.

[Bill Dufour]

Is the mudsill bolted down correctly? Is there an exterior plywood shearwall nailed to meet modern code. If so as long as the two perpendicular walls are adequate to stop lean it should be fine.
Bill D

[John C Bush]

Great excuse to add a Mig welder to your Christmas list! Design/build as if a free standing rack-a vertical with cantilevered "foot" for vertical load and to manage tipping and lag to the top of the studs-cantilever gusset-ed shelf brackets. I used 1 1/2" x 1" channel spaced 4' apart and it's very stable. Hope the Mig fits down the chimney!!

[Bob Riefer]

Personally, I've switched all my lumber storage from stacked on racks to stood on end (so, from horizontal to vertical). I found that with horizontal racks it was difficult to get to the next piece of lumber that I wanted, and stuff would get buried/lost. Vertical storage on the other hand allows me to basically pull lumber like you would grab a library book off a shelf. I haven't experienced any bending/warping, and I didn't need to build strong shelves etc.

[Dan McGonigle]

I don’t know much about general construction, but it doesn’t seem like this shed wall was built to withstand the force that a cantilever lumber rack would exert on it. Just as I assumed, but you guys have verified that for me. I currently have vertical lumber storage in that shed, but wanted to make room to get some slabs in there that are currently being stored outside, in turn making room for more slabs which I’ll be milling in the coming weeks. I’ll look into other options, thanks everyone for your input!

[Jim Becker]

Slabs on racks would be a challenge for almost any building...they are generally best stored stacked and stickered, honestly. But for general lumber storage in a "weak" structure or where you want to increase the amount of lumber in a given area, a fully supported rack where you send material in from the end can be a good solution. That's what I've done for my lumber storage in the upstairs of my shop building. Yes, it's a little less convenient sometimes, but you can put boatloads of material in there as long as the floor can support it. :)

Here's an old photo of my setup right after I built it.

https://bn1302files.storage.live.com/y4mNoMJG81XRSNIVqyBcSP5PbRH3eR0rKTJnmN03i5tRb4sAQz 9qIjw-vb4OGePXeCt0nQVQ0nT7Uv2zKYBh9KfUmlVwbqofhrI02LRMp9 Rn3BSBVv6WuGmrbwQ2Vsz9L3q-qMjJtll9rCMBRmYN-3ixmaDQ9CA7CQGd1K5clzATJ6CVyq5V4LzLRJb_jN5I97y?wid th=660&height=495&cropmode=none

[Dan McGonigle]

My slabs wouldn’t be stored on shelves. They would remain stacked and stickered like you said, just inside rather than out. I meant I need to move my dimensional lumber from its current location to make room for slabs. I like your setup, I’m gonna see if that will work in my shed, although on a sightly smaller scale.

[Jim Becker]

My slabs wouldn’t be stored on shelves. They would remain stacked and stickered like you said, just inside rather than out. I meant I need to move my dimensional lumber from its current location to make room for slabs. I like your setup, I’m gonna see if that will work in my shed, although on a sightly smaller scale.

The general idea I show should work in your shed...you'll just need support "at the wall" for the weight. too, where I was able to tie to the roof rafters. You'll note that I have two vertical supports, however; one is in the middle, albeit a little harder to see in the photo. You can still tie that outer support to the building wall, but it's not for strength. Rather, it's simply to keep the rack in place.