Building a garage shelf


  #1  
Old 03-21-18, 02:44 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Building a garage shelf

I am building a garage shelf that is 40 inches wide by 24 inches deep. I plan to have to brackets spaced 4 inches from each side of the shelf, the brackets will be simple made with 2x4s the top of the bracket running the entire depth of the shelf, and the part on the wall will be 9 inches. This is may be very hard to understand but if not what kind of wood should I make the top of the shelf out of and how much weight will this be able to support, any suggestions would be great and I can make drawings if that helps.
 
  #2  
Old 03-21-18, 02:56 PM
czizzi's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 6,541
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
You can use a double 2x12 fore the shelf but your brackets, if hand made need to be at a 45 degree angle and secured on wall studs. You can't expect the shelf to hold up just because you added brackets every 4 nches. The drywall has no structural ability, so you have to plan based on the framing behind the drywall.
 
  #3  
Old 03-21-18, 05:08 PM
XSleeper's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 27,061
Received 1,910 Upvotes on 1,716 Posts
You can just use 3/4" plywood... get a 4x4 sheet, rip it in half, glue one half to the other with wood glue. Clamp them or brad nail them together. Once the glue dries you could store your cement block collection on them, if your brackets could handle it.
But as for the brackets, I would at a minimum make them 16x12, with a 45 degree diagonal brace. A brace that is less than 45 degrees (i.e. 24" under the shelf and only 9" on the wall) will not be strong enough.
 
  #4  
Old 03-21-18, 08:15 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
The plan was to use 3 brackets on studs then leave just a 4 inch edge on the side of each sorry for the poor wording. With the brackets just 16 x 12 with a diagnol 45 degree brace and I used the 3/4” plywood would it still be strong for the 8 inches off the front not auppirted by brackets. In other words would I need any other support then just the 3 brackets and 3/4” plywood. Thank you for the help and quick reaponse and apologies for my lack of knowledge!
 
  #5  
Old 03-22-18, 05:01 AM
XSleeper's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 27,061
Received 1,910 Upvotes on 1,716 Posts
You will just need to secure the shelf to the brackets. Use a framing square to build the brackets so that they are all the same and square. 2 brackets is sufficient, imo.

If the shelf was wimpy (3/4" thick) you might want 3. But gluing 2 layers of 3/4 ply together will be super strong.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: