vertical lumber racks/storage

[Jack Frederick]

I was ready to ask this question, but decided that I would simply google "Lumber Racks." All of the pics that came up were of horizontal racks and after using horizontal racking for a few years, I am done with. "I know it is in here. Onward!" With a vertical rack I can at least turn the wood within the rack rather than lifting, pulling moving, uncovering or putting someplace else while the voyage of discovery continues. I am going to build an 8' long rack with 12-18" adjustable bays that can handle up to 10' pieces. Two levels for the shorties. It will be mostly wood, but possibly some unistrut, metal, etc. There is no question that the real answer to any of these types of things is self-discipline, and on occasion I'm pretty good. I'd be much obliged for any ideas or successes you have had. Gotchas are always appreciated. What do you like and why?

[ChrisA Edwards]

Here's mine

[glenn bradley]

Here's how mine started. I'm between shops so things are jammed right now.

Lumber Storage 2014 (1).jpg . Vertical Lumber Storage add-on (3).jpg . Vertical Lumber Storage 009.jpg

The concept is the same, things are just 2 and 3 boards deep now which is NOT how it is supposed to work ;-)

I basically find the tallest part of the shop, build the base and build the divider rack as shown in the link and load it up.

[Greg Parrish]

I’ve been doing vertical storage since day one, so for years. As long as you keep it fairly upright or supported it doesn’t sag and warp. I built a base to elevate the ends off the floor and to contain the chaos. It has space under it that allows my pallet jack to slide under for storage too.

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[Robert Hazelwood]

I like vertical storage. My rack has several bays of varying heights. Underneath I have cubbies with plastic bins for short scraps, and behind the bays there is a space for plywood sheets to slide in vertically. Good use of space.

The problem with all types of storage is skinny strips of wood. If all of your boards are say 12" wide then they will store beautifully. If you have a bunch of 2" wide strips it gets impossible to keep it neat. So I try to minimize how may of those I keep around, for the most part they are not that useful.

[David Zaret]

here's what we did for vertical plywood storage. black pipe structure, and the base has a layer of UMHW to allow sheets to slide. seems to work quite well.

i still have full bunks of plywood for kitchens and such, but those stay in piles in another room, transported via a plywood cart. this is "long-term" storage for the occasional one-off sheet.


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[Jim Becker]

I have no choice but to use horizontal storage for lumber and other materials in my shop because of head room, but if I had the height, no question, I'd embrace vertical storage as much as possible. It has to be properly designed to insure that the material is supports so it doesn't bow/bend, of course, but the footprint can be a lot more attractive for vertical storage when it's possible to use it. It's also quite often easier to get to "that board" than it is with horizontal storage in many cases.

[Jerry Olexa]

I too prefer vertical storage.....Simpler and practical...

[Jim Andrew]

I just went against the north wall of my storage room, drilled 1" holes in a 2x4, and cut 3/4" gas pipe to fit in the holes, fit pretty tight. Then I bought some rubber chair feet for the ends. Put mine about 15" apart horizontal, and screwed the 2x4's to the wall. Stood up lumber. Did drill holes through the edge of the 2x4 through the pipe and ran a screw, so the pipe does not come out. Pretty easy, I already have a wood floor, so no need to build a base. I have a pallet rack for my plywood to lay flat.

[Patrick Maloney]

I built my shop with the door all the way to one side, so I store sheet goods and vertical lumber along the front wall. Cut-offs are stored in the dead space around the RAS. I'm thinking of adding sheet good cut-off storage next to the dust collector/air compressor closet, to the left of the vertical lumber.
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[Jack Frederick]

Thank you for the examples and suggestions. I don't store a lot of sheet goods but certainly the off-cuts take a lot of space and I will make a bay against the wall for them. In the 10' high space 16" off the wall I have an overhead door rail at 8' that the has to be taken into consideration. Right now I am in the process of installing a 7.4 kw PV solar system on the shop roof, which has only added to the shop clutter, but this rack, I think, will dramatically improve the shop flow. Now to get the collectors on the roof.

[Wayne Cannon]

Add a roller along the front edge of a vertical sheet goods rack for much less effort removing a sheet. A 3/4" metal pipe the width of the rack, with a loose-fitting 1" PVC pipe sleeve, in front of and flush with the raised floor of the rack, creates a wide "roller". Tip the sheet slightly, and it rolls nicely out of the rack.

[Bobby Robbinett]

Call me old fashioned but I store both my lumber and sheet goods horizontally. I have not had good luck storing vertically. Things tend to warp and bow when stored vertically. I just found a local company that sells industrial racks and got a couple for cheap. I think they charged me under $150 for an 8ft tall x 48” deep x 10ft long industrial rack and I also picked up a smaller 6ft tall x 48” deep x 8ft long rack from them for under $120. These things last forever too

[Jim Becker]

Things tend to warp and bow when stored vertically.

That only happens when the material isn't supported properly, such as being leaned against a wall. A proper vertical storage solution supports the material the same way that horizontal rack does. It's just oriented differently. So that board in the rack has multiple touch points along its length for support the same way it would on a horizontal rack. Etc.

[Robert Engel]

I've never had an issue with bowing because I stack the boards at 90° to the rack, so the edges are leaning, not the faces.

That said, height can be a restriction you really need 10-12' since a lot of the lumber we deal with comes in those lengths.