At Home In The Woods

[65fl]

You might want to look into used commercial grade shelving. They are high quality, adjustable and can be had for a reasonable price. On the other hand, when I needed shelves I built mine mostly because I enjoy the work and I had enough scrap material to do it cheaply. I cut 2x4 material into five 21" pieces, screwed these to two 2"x4"x96" studs ending up with a frame 2'x8'. Ripped a piece of 4'x8' plywood in half and glued and screwed it to the frame, getting two shelves from each piece of plywood. I attached it to the poles of my pole barn and used 2"x6" for the front legs on each end of the shelf. Very strong, very cheap as I had everything except the ply and that was on sale. If you need pictures let me know.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Check Craigs List for shelving. I had some nice commercial grades shelves that came from a closed down WalMart. Very heavy nice shelf.

As for the lawn I am in the cut it camp. If it were me I would mow it in about 1" increments till I got it down to 3 1/2" for winter. I would fear being long for the winter will allow rot and disease to set in if you have any snow set on it for any time period.

Chris

 

[Obed]

While building is cheaper than the metal it is not by enough for me when you consider labor.
Carl

Carl,
I've been contemplating sending my wife a bill for my labor - but I haven't been able to work up the nerve ...
Obed

 

[Obed]

You might want to look into used commercial grade shelving. They are high quality, adjustable and can be had for a reasonable price. On the other hand, when I needed shelves I built mine mostly because I enjoy the work and I had enough scrap material to do it cheaply. I cut 2x4 material into five 21" pieces, screwed these to two 2"x4"x96" studs ending up with a frame 2'x8'. Ripped a piece of 4'x8' plywood in half and glued and screwed it to the frame, getting two shelves from each piece of plywood. I attached it to the poles of my pole barn and used 2"x6" for the front legs on each end of the shelf. Very strong, very cheap as I had everything except the ply and that was on sale. If you need pictures let me know.

65fl,
I think I get the picture. Thanks for the description.
Obed

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I use 2x3's for shelving, and 1/2" osb. I also have some of the wire type (on wheels) in the garage and barn, it's nice to be able to move them around.

 

[clemsonfor]

Coyote machine, I looked online for plastic shelves from Home Depot . The shelves at the link are $50 for 36" x 24". While those shelves are certainly convenient, I think I can get much better shelves by building them myself for less money. Plus, I think it will be a fun project to build them.

Obed

HAve you seen the price of Plywood lately!? A 1/4 sheet of luan that is only good for underlayment is something like $13 at Homedepot around here! You will want at least 1/2 with plenty of bracing or 3/4 with center brace for heavy shelves. With 2x4x8s at $3 a piece and 3/4 ply at something crazy like $30 im thinking it be cheaper to buy shelves on a sale. Esp if you consider all the other things you like to do spending 2 days building shelves wouldnt be high on my list.

 

[Obed]

Today the weather was perfect for today's project; it was cold and rainy. We started our basement shelving project.

It was really nice to be able to have a place where we could work that was warm and dry. I've never owned a house with a basement or an attached garage before this one. I'm enjoying these new amenities.

As you can see from the pictures, our basement is a mess. Shelves are needed badly. Yesterday my wife purchased supplies. We will be building two 2'x6'x7.5ft high and one 16"x4'x7.5' high shelving units. The shelving units will each have 5 shelves. We are building them using 2x4s, 2x2s, 5/8" OSB, and deck screws. Each shelf will sit on a rectangular frame made of 2x2's. Some additional 2x2s will be located under the OSB and be orientied from the back of the shelf to the front for additional support. The cost of the materials was around $150. Two of the shelving units will be located along bare studded walls so we decided to use the wall studs to frame the back sides of those units.

We will build one of the 2'x6' units first. We started by cutting the lumber to size. For the 6' wide shelves, I ripped five 12' 2x4s to be 1.75" wide and 6' long. Each shelf will sit on a box frame made of 7 2x2s (6 for the perimeter of the OSB and one in the middle running front to back). Thus I cut 35 2x2s for the five shelves. We will attach three vertical 2x4s along the front side of the shelves. Measuring and cutting all the boards took some time. An experienced carpenter would probably work 3 or 4 times as fast as I do. However, I don't mind. I'm not in a rush so I worked at my own pace and enjoyed myself (most of the time). I admit that I wasn't smiling when I cut one of the boards too short.

While I cut the lumber, my wife marked the wall studs where we would attach the horizontal 2x2s. After the lumber was cut, we screwed the horizontal 2x2s to the studs.

 

[dstig1]

You need a table saw if you plan on doing much of this. Bosch makes a nice "jobsite" one that is portable and has an easy lift stand on it. I think they run $500-600 new, but I find them on CL at least once a month around here for $400ish. Not everyday, but if you have time to watch and wait you should be able to find one.

I admit that I wasn't smiling when I cut one of the boards too short.

Oh, then you also need to get a board stretcher

 

[RadarTech]

Oh, then you also need to get a board stretcher

Make sure you get the proper length measurement system with yours, mind had the wrong one and and it just never Did work right.. The boards only got shorter!!!!!

 

[Obed]

You need a table saw if you plan on doing much of this. Bosch makes a nice "jobsite" one that is portable and has an easy lift stand on it. I think they run $500-600 new, but I find them on CL at least once a month around here for $400ish. Not everyday, but if you have time to watch and wait you should be able to find one.

Yes, a table saw would be very nice to have. I have seen them on Craigslist and my mouth has watered.

Oh, then you also need to get a board stretcher

How much does one of these cost?

Obed