Get the Most Space out of Your Garage: Three Helpful Tips
Do you have a ton of boxes but no place to store them? You aren’t alone. Many homes don’t have the needed storage space it needs. Still, if you follow these simple steps, you can make the most of your home’s garage.
First, get some shelves to install. Make sure they are sturdy. If you decide on prefab shelves, get the strong steel ones. You don’t have to stick heavy things on them. Anything can be stacked on them.
First, before your purchase, make sure you have a place all lined out. Get some measurements so you have the space you need for an area. These kinds of shelves are not easily brought down. The worst thing you can do is to throw the shelves in any spot.
When you start looking, you’ll notice how they are stacked… usually by the weight they can hold. They go from lightweight to heavy duty. If you plan to stack light things up high, use the lightweights. However, if you want to store heavier things out of the way such as a heavy toolbox and whatnot, then get the sturdy heavy duty steel shelves.
Be sure that your shelves come with supporting pins. They keep the shelves from coming loose. Kids can be very curious creatures and may want to climb the shelves.
If you don’t want to go with the steel shelves, look into the site-built shelves. With these kinds of shelves, they are cheaper but you do have to do some work. These can be put just about anywhere and in any space.
Create a shelf from a half-inch of plywood or one by two inch board. You’ll place it on shelf brackets. Make sure you have these brackets installed into the studs using lag bolts. If you want extra strength, use metal brackets.
Some people go with the floor-supported site built shelves. Why? They are stronger than the ones installed in the walls. How does it work? Make sure you run vertical two by fours every four feet. Be sure these are resting on the bottom. Then affix the boards to ceiling joints. If you want extra support, place two by fours horizontally between uprights. Take plywood or particleboard to get your shelves. These shelves should be up to 24 inches deep.
A last option to get some space out of your garage is to have the shelves coming from the rafters. If you want to do this, you need to bolt a two by four to the rafter sides so it generates some support overhead. Longer items, like a ladder, can be stored up here. This can be moved when needed.
With these three ideas, you can make the most of your garage space and have room to walk around in it.