Garage Storage?

[fjaws]

Just purchased a house and am considering setting the garage up with the Rubbermaid Fasttrack system for storage.

Anyone have a different storage system I should be considering. My walls are fully finished.

Pictures would be great if you have them.

Thanks!

[AngryScientist]

all that ready made storage stuff can get pretty expensive.

i build my own garage stuff to fit where i need it, and do what i want it to do.

[MattTuck]

Are you going to be parking cars in the garage or is it purely a storage space?

[fjaws]

2 car garage mostly storage/work area. May park the wife's small car in it from time to time but not regularly.

[Jaq]

Just purchased a house and am considering setting the garage up with the Rubbermaid Fasttrack system for storage.

Anyone have a different storage system I should be considering. My walls are fully finished.

Pictures would be great if you have them.

Thanks!

And this, of course, is so that you can keep the wife & kids & their junk in the garage while your bikes live inside where they belong, right?

[1happygirl]

some ideas

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=84018&highlight=khrea

[fjaws]

And this, of course, is so that you can keep the wife & kids & their junk in the garage while your bikes live inside where they belong, right?

Did I mention the house was a former model home so the garage has heating and A/C because that's where the office was?

The wife can stay inside and I'll have my environmetally controlled workshop in the garage! ;)

[Ken Robb]

I hang bikes by their wheels from vinyl-coated hooks screwed into ceiling joists. It is cheap and effective. I hang from one wheel but you can also hang from both wheels if you wanted to drive the hood of a car under the bikes. Mine hang next to the rear wall, then the Ducati goes sideways across one car width, then the MINI noses in front of them all. Leslie has the other half of the garage for her 330i. We have had 9 bikes stored this way.

[Ralph]

We have a 3 car garage, and I store 3 cars and 6 bikes, plus a work area. Also have attic storage.

It's smart to think about how to arrange your garage. We all want our toys out of the weather, want some work space, and garage kept vehicles are worth thousands more when they get older. Not to mention no dew, ice, or snow to remove.

[Chance]

Like Ken, mine are supported from ceiling hooks but on both wheels. Mostly along back of garage so car hoods fit under, a couple along side walls over work benches. They are high enough to not get in the way while working.

For storage heavy duty open metal shelving works for me. It's not very clean looking but keeps things where they can be seen easier. Have tried enclosed storage before but it's too hard for me to remember where everything is stored when out of sight. Prefer the mess in order to get to things needed more quickly. It's also easier for me to work in an area that doesn't look spotless.

[MerckxMad]

When I looked into this, I found these kind of "storage systems" to be prohibitively expensive. First, you have to buy the wall panels and then all of the storage doodads. It adds up quickly. I decided to buy a couple of 2x4's and a bunch of vinyl covered hooks.

[hookookadoo]

+1000 to a 2 x 4 and vinyl hooks. Its just as, if not more, functional and easier to use than the store bought stuff and its a tenth the price.

[kestrel]

This was pretty simple. I had intended to paint the 2x4 mounting blocks, but never got around to it. Hooks can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's home improvement stores. I needed a box of 3 inch wood screws for the fasteners. I can hang as many as 8 bikes between each of my garage doors. Now if I can just talk my wife into allowing me to purchase 16 more bikes so I can fill all the hooks... :D :D

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e19/serotta/3doorbikehanging.jpg

[fjaws]

Wasn't asking specifically about bike storage, though do appreciate the input, more general organization of the types of things that tend to accumulate in a garage. Not very fond of hooks and nails in studs storage systems.

[MattTuck]

You could probably build up a pretty simple shelving system using something like Sandeply.

Guess it depends on the type of stuff you're hoping to store. If it could fit in plastic bins, you could design the shelves to fit those. Honestly, the only benefit of a ready made shelf system is probably just time savings.

I think most people could design and build a system that works for them.

[Plum Hill]

Try www.garagejournal.com and it's forum. You'll get a lot of ideas.

On the topic of hanging bicycles from a ceiling, I use a piece of Unistrut mounted to the ceiling. One 10' piece can be held up with four screws.
I use machine screw bike hooks with a jam nut and washer into a spring nut. This allows the spacing between bikes to be changed without leaving holes in the ceiling.
I belive strut can be purchased at Loews and possibly Home Depot in the electrical section.

[fjaws]

Thanks for the link Plum Hill...some good stuff on that site.

:beer:

[Chance]

You could probably build up a pretty simple shelving system using something like Sandeply.

Guess it depends on the type of stuff you're hoping to store. If it could fit in plastic bins, you could design the shelves to fit those. Honestly, the only benefit of a ready made shelf system is probably just time savings.

I think most people could design and build a system that works for them.
An option to building shelves out of wood that has worked for me is to buy factory units used. With a little luck and patience you can sometimes get nice shelving systems from companies going out of business for about the same or less than building your own. In my experience metal shelves are easier to assemble and disassemble if necessary to move them around as needed, and are usually very adjustable in height.

My storage started out with multiple sections of 7-foot high 18X36 shelving that had been used in an engineering library. They are rated at 100s of pounds per shelf. More than will ever be needed for my home use. They were like new and sold them to me for next to nothing.

Recently a friend gave me an additional set of even heavier shelves that are 30 inches deep and span about 6 feet between uprights. Haven’t put them up yet but when installed they will allow larger items like a lawn mower or tool box to be rolled under the lowest shelf. Because they are fairly heavy in construction the uprights should be OK without lateral support for the first 3 feet from floor or so. My plans are to install them similar to racks at a Sam’s Club store where the bottom is left open for floor supported pallets. On a much smaller scale though. Have even though of leaving enough clear height to park bikes on floor under first shelf.