[mcgsxr]

We've lived here for 8 years now, and I have always stared up at this strange space in my garage, at the front, ABOVE the garage door.  The way the house is built, the master is over the garage, but the garage protrudes about 5 feet out from where the master bedroom ends, so there has always been this 20 foot wide, 5 foot deep, 30 inch space up there.

Today, I set about putting in a series of shelves up there.  I am short, so plenty of time spent up and down the 7 foot ladder.  I used 2x4's and appropriate joist hangers, and joist hanger nails, and 3 inch deck screws to hold the 3/4 inch spruce plywood in place.

Basically I have put one side up.  It includes a 24x48 inch shelf, and a 48x18 inch shelf, plus a 12x48 inch shelf in a U shape.  All are about 25 inches from shelf to garage ceiling.  I will install another identical portion later this week.

I put this half up over my wife's van, once I see it holds fine, I will put up the other half over my T Bird! 
 
Here is a WIP pic.



Here is a pic showing the U from below.



Here is a pic from the door into the house, looking back towards the garage door.



It ain't going to win any accolades for beauty, but I have done chin ups off each main piece, so I know it will hold anything I expect to put up there.

Ever since I completed the basement project, other woodworking ideas have come to me, and I have gone on to build a few shelves here and there.  As my daughters age, I just have this feeling that storage will be a good thing.

[Bob in St. Louis]

It's nice to see that drywalled garages in Cananada are unpainted and yellowing. I thought that was just a hoosier American thing.
Mine is 12 years old and still unpainted. 

Looks good Mark. The space it will provide you will shrink very soon, so if you can make more, you'd better plan on it. Soon. 

Not sure what "threats" you have up there as far as damaged to things stored in "un-HVAC'd" areas, but mold from humidity, freezing, and bugs/rodents would be the threat down here. Keep that in mind when you but storage containers.

Well done Sir!

Bob

[mcgsxr]

Funny about the garage walls, there are a few neighbors around here that have gone through priming and painting the walls, and expoxy for the floor etc.  I am not yet down to cosmetics in my garage!

Good point about the un HVAC status of the garage.  I have put some spare T Bird parts up there already, and my car winter survival kit (a big bag with boots, hat mitts, spare jacket etc), and some large tupperware bins full of kids toys.  That is what I expect will end up on those shelves. 

I will see if I can get the other side done this week.

Cheap for a reno though, what else can you achieve for under $100, and a couple of hours of work?

[mcgsxr]

Not that thrilling compared to some of the cool projects others have been up to, but mine is now completed.  Both sides up, and ready for whatever I need to store in the future.

I learned that it is better to build pieces and measure the next pieces than it is to cut all the pieces and aspire to be perfect in construction when working alone on a ladder!

But hey, done is done.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Instead of just having the two, you could join them (slightly higher to make room for the door trolley), and put a bridge in the middle.
That would add nearly another third more space.
Buy some plastic storage containers based on overall height, and make the middle section about an inch or two taller than the container height.

Yea. Bob likes storage. 

Bob

p.s. By the way...that's the smallest spring I've ever seen on a double width door. 

[randytsuch]

I was going to buy some of the premade ones, which are basically $50 for 45"x45" metal thing which you can hang down from the garage ceiling, but I decided to follow your lead and build these myself with 2x4's and plywood.

I think it will be maybe 1/3 of the cost, and looks fairly easy, probably not the much harder then installing the premade ones.

I was hesitating because I don't have a table saw, or a car big enough to carry plywood sheets, but I figure I'll get the sheets and 2x4's cut down to a managagable size at HD.

The nice thing about garage projects is that it really doesn't matter (in my garage, which is already a mess) what it looks like, as long as it functions.

Randy

[mcgsxr]

Agreed that beauty takes a backseat to functionality for sure in the garage!

I was careful to mark and hit the studs, and used proper joist hangers and appropriate nails.  I did chin ups off the pieces as they went in, so I know it will hold what I am likely to put up there.

I thought about the pre made too, but for me the space was oddly shaped, and I wanted to optimize how the shelves fit in there.

I had the local hardware store rip the 4x8 plywood, and the 14 2x4's fit in my van.  They could have fit in my Ford Fusion too if I had too, but my wife lent me the van as that made it easier.  I borrowed my neighbor's bench table saw (I put it on my Workmate) to cut the 2x4's to length.

All in I think I was roughly $75 or so.  I am sure the 3/4 inch spruce plywood is overkill, but that is a comfort to me!

Bob, I thought about a "bridge" as you describe it, but will wait until the garage door gets replaced.  I figure if I add structure now, it will complicate the install.  Not sure when in the next 5 years that door will need to be replaced, but I am sure it will be.  Once it needs it, I will go insulated.

Perhaps a larger spring (there are actually 2, one on each side) will need to be installed at that time.

I have replaced the garage door opener once since moving in, but even lifting by hand the door runs fine.  It has some rust on one spot on the bottom, and I did back the van into it one day too.  It opened about 85% and then stopped, so I could not tell it was not totally up when backing out of the garage that day.

I used a rubber mallet and some strong language to get it back into shape! 

[randytsuch]

So I went to HD on Friday and picked up some of the stuff, but thier big saw was down, so they couldn't cut my OSB into three pieces.

So at some point I need to pick up the OSB and build the shelfs, but if I use 7/16th OSB, supported by 2x4's running along the long edges, I can build three 32" x 48" ceiling shelfs for $40.  Would be cheaper but I am adding metal braces.

Randy