mounting heavy-duty tool rack & wood movement

[David Fegen]

I'm looking to put up a heavy duty, wooden tool-rack, attached to wood studs.

I found the below pics of a tool-rack attached to studs with 3" wood screws. The grain of the board runs horizontally (left-right), and for strength and stability, it looks like the screws are doubled up vertically. But as the seasons/humidity change, won't this board expand/contract more in the vertical (up-down) direction and with the screws in this position, lead to cracking & splitting?

So is the only way to hang a heavy-duty tool-rack to have multiple wood screws horizontally (left-right) in the studs, aligned with the grain, where wood movement will be minimal?

[Doug Garson]

I think if the holes in the horizontal piece are just slightly oversized it will easily allow for vertical wood movement.

[Tom Bender]

If the screws are closer than 3" the movement will not matter.

The top screw does most of the work, keeping the board from being pried off the wall, so the bottom screw can be raised closer to the top one.

How much weight and how many studs will you hit?

[Rick Potter]

Like Doug says. Oversize holes should do it.

This may be a false assumption, but if you plan to make the rack with wooden pegs like your picture, I would be more worried about the pegs getting loose. You can sturdy them up by making them go all the way through, and spline their backside.