My wife and I are in the process of moving into a new house. Storage space is limited so we decided to put some money into a good shelving system. The only problem is that it was hard to figure out what kind of shelves we needed. We have some heavy stuff like ammo and some lighter things in plastic bins like clothing. We wanted shelves what would work well for our needs. Unfortunately, building shelving was not an option considering out time line so we were going to have to pony up the cash and just throw some money at the problem. I would have liked to have built a set of heavy duty shelves, but for various reasons we decided to go with prefabricated shelving systems. I thought that I would do a short write up on the two types that we purchased in the event that it could be useful to someone else along the way.

We ended up purchasing two different types of shelves. Both are made in the US by Edsal and both are available at Home Depot or Lowe's. There are some minor differences in the versions sold by the two stores as described below.
The lighter duty of the two is: Model # UR-245WGB
The heavier duty of the two is: Model # ERZ782478W-4

Edsal calls both of these heavy duty shelves, but for the purpose of this review I will refer to them as Light Duty and Heavy Duty.

Notes on purchase and shopping around:
The light duty is available at both Home Depot and Lowe's for approximately the same price - $78.
The heavy duty is a different story. The version that Home Depot carries comes with 4 shelves and costs $180 The version that Lowe's carries comes with only 3 shelves and costs $170. Extra shelves are sold at Lowe's for ~$40. These are the same shelves and parts are interchangeable.

I purchased two light duty shelves and two heavy duty shelves. Following are some thoughts about our purchase and some pictures that show how they go together.

Light Duty
Dimensions: 24"D  x  48"W  x  72"H
Number of Shelves: 5
Weight: 102lbs
Capacity: 1000lbs per shelf
Design: The support posts are actually two pieces as shown by the pictures below. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't know how it will stand up structurally speaking, but it does allow the shelves to be built into a bench that is 96"W x 36"H. Overall the shelves work and do what they were designed to do. I was not able to fit 5 shelves onto the support posts since my storage bins are tall. As you can see in the pictures below I added three sides of the 5th shelf support to the top of the system to aid in rigidity. Once nice thing about this system is that you can flip the shelf supports upside down and create a shelf with a "lip" to hold small items.
Pictures:

Pictures of the two piece vertical supports and how they attach to each other...






Close up of the shelf attachment method...




Shelving material...




...and the final product with 4 shelves installed. Note the 3 sides of shelf support that I added at the top.




Improvements: The sawdust board that comes with the shelves is weak and will likely sag over time requiring supports or reinforcement.


Heavy Duty
Dimensions: 24"D  x  78"W  x  77"H
Number of Shelves: 4
Weight: 150lbs
Capacity: 2000lbs per shelf
Design: Wow these things are rugged. I'm very pleased with the overall feel of them and they hold lots of weight very well without any signs of stress. The cost is high, but this feels like a really nice quality set of shelves. I'm sure that they could be used as an improvised cot system if you had to house 4 extra people in a small space. There are only two vertical support structures on this one (as opposed to the 8 pieces smaller pieces in the light duty shelf). One for the left side and one for the right side. They have braces that are welded together. This design seems to make the entire structure more rigid and solid feeling.  

Pictures:
Here are some pictures of the method they used to attach the shelves...








Here is a close up of the shelf material itself...




...and a final shot of me starting to fill them...




Improvements: Not many...it would be nice if it cost a bit less but then it would also be nice if Ferraris cost a bit less as well. The wire shelving won't hold small items so it really needs to be used for larger containers like boxes and bins. It holds 50 caliber ammo cans two deep very well. There is space under the bottom shelf to slide cans of ammo under. I put 5.45 and some cases of Yugo x39 (out of the wooden crate) under mine and it is just the right height for that use.

Brief overview: The practical weight limits are far less than the rated per shelf weight on both units (of course) but both seem to be good quality shelves for the money. The more expensive system does seem to be worth it if you need something extremely durable for lots of heavy items. Custom shelves are likely the best bang for the buck though. These shelves are expensive and we bought them because a) we needed them now and b) this is a rental house. If we were in a more permanent situation then we probably would have built them in, ended up with slightly more storage, and saved money. Hopefully this can help someone who is in the market for shelves decide if they want something like this. If you have any questions then please feel free to ask.

Nice write up and pics.

I'm in the market in the near future for some heavy duty shelves to store preps and ammo cans in my basement.

Great links, luckily I have a Home Depot about a mile from where I sit and Lowes is only about 2 miles further.

Are the bottoms of the shelves in sliders or other plastic/rubber endcaps or is it just the exposed steel on the bottom?

Nice write up.
I like the open shelf system.Did you or are you going to anchor those to the wall?

The second, heavy-duty shelf is very similar to one sold at Costco. That one has more, but thinner, cross supports under the wire shelf. It sells for about $10 cheaper. I bought the Costco one and one of the uprights came with a dent. I don't have a truck, so it would have been a pain to borrow an SUV to return it, so I'm using it as is. Still very sturdy and I'm happy with it.

Sam's Club also sells a heavy duty one, slightly different design, is silverish instead of the black powder coat, but another $20 cheaper than the Costco one. It didn't have a weight rating, but looks pretty beefy.

The 2nd heavier duty one is available at Sam's Club as well under the muscle rack brand.  They're silver instead of black.  About $150 for 2 uprights, 8 supports and shelves with the wire.  I have 2 sets in the shop with all kinds of stuff on them.  Take 2 sets but set them up 3 bays wide with the shelves up high.  Lets you store water barrels underneath, generator, etc.

Next time I can sneak some more units past the wife I will  :-)

- JP

I am using some Edsal shelving units that include particle board shelves.  I reinforced the particle board on assembly with tight fitting pieces of 23/32” plywood.  So, each shelf is comprised of two layers.  That particle board is junk.

Aside from cosmetics, what is the benefit of a shelf system like that over something made from 2x4s and 1/2" or 3/4" CDX?  

I have some of the cheap prefab shelves like the light-duty pictured above, but the only reason I got them was that Mennards had them really cheap, less than I could build something.

I had trouble with the particle board shelves in the edsal shelving, too. I put canned food on them, and in short order had sinkholes for shelves. they bowed about 3" in the middle,    they suck.

These racks are $150 each from CostCo or Home Depot, also 2000lb per shelf.  I have 2 of them in my storage unit and while you do see some stress on the crossbeams when you load them up with ammo, there has been no sag whatsoever, very solid units, no sway to them whatsoever.

I have some heavy commercial units that I got used, for FREE!

Other than that, it's rows shelves made from from (mostly scrap/FREE) 2X4s, w/ 3/4" ply shelvesfor me. Strong,cheap and built to fit MY needs.

Shelving gets discussed here now and then and it has its place here.



For the particle board, go buy some 1/2 inch or so plywood.  I am getting annoyed with how things are now off an 1/8th of an inch on stuff but depending on what you buy or want the 3/4 inch may be overkill.



Anyway, the particle board will sag and deteriorate over time so replacing with plywood is worth it.  To some extent you can use the particle board as more shelf spacers if you have lightweight stuff to space out.



As far as using 2x4s and building it yourself, if you own the house then building it yourself may work best.  You can fit things to your exact dimensions and set the shelves how you want them.



I have a lot of gorilla shelving.  I gave 2 large units to one of my sisters and she still has it in her garage.  With plywood attached to the sides and back it became a cabinet and with pegboard it becomes a place to organize tools.



I have the small gorilla shelving units in the house I rent.  Since I rent it is nice to be able to just dismantle things and move them easily and the shelves are the last thing dismantled and the first thing assembled when I move.



If I owned a place then built in shelves might make more sense but it depends on your setup.  Being able to put a few shelving units close together allows for quick and easy assembly with the gorilla units.  And the uprights of the light duty unit resemble the gorilla units but the other parts don't seem to match up but I have not have my stuff apart for a while.



With the gorilla units I can space shelves how I want them and if I made the home made units it might be something where I built it to a set shelf space and could not adjust it later.  You can build em so you can adjust later but it is your call and depends on what you build.



Since I have the gorilla units I would probably keep and use what I have even if I bought a place.  But if I needed more shelving I could see where it would be simple to just build it in place and not mess around with buying more shelving units.



Some people go nuts over metal vs. wood on shelving.



If you buy shelving units I highly recomend you get rid of particle board if it comes with particle board.  I have never messed with open wire mesh but I could see where I might want to put plywood down if storing something where the wire mesh might create pressure points or something.



I got my shelving units when they were on closeout at tractor supply.  Just wandered in one day and there they were and I had to go grab a big cart to go get them all.



You can run searches on shelving in this section of arfcom or just run a search on the net.  There are plenty of home made plans on the net if you want to build it yourself.



For the money spent I think the wood built stuff works best for a house someone owns if they have a basemnt or a place to put this sort of shelving.  Helps to already have a concrete floor and open ceiling joists to attach stuff too.



But when it comes to renting it sure is nice to own a dead blow hammer and knock em apart and move to the next place and knock em together.



I am currently figuring out what size box I want to built for holding stuff on my shelves and moving will be that much simpler if I have a wooden box for holding stuff on the shelves.



I have a lot of canning jars on the shelf so basically I want to make a wooden version of the cardboard box the canning jars come in.



Since I have 4 or more of these shelving units I do have some with more shelves than other units.  Have to have 3 shelves, one bottom and one top and one where the middle pieces join.



This middle join part is common and is what the original poster mentioned.  As long as they don't see a side load they are good in my opinion but I am a trusting fellow and like the gorilla units.

Renters can still use wood shelves, just build them free standing.  I prefer to build using Torx screws as they go in and come out very easily, allowing for easy tear down if you need to move them or adjust a shelf's height.

All of my current stuff is 2x4, but for other uses, something lighter like 1x4 would work fine.  Same goes for the shelf itself - 3/8" is fine for most stuff, especially if you support it well underneath.  1/2" is better, and 3/4" for the heavy stuff.

I bought some of the lighter ones for our house after we moved in.  I liked the heavier ones, but I'm limited to a Honda Civic and I'm the only muscle around, so I went with the lighter ones.  Because the uprights are in 2 pieces, I have one shelving unit kept at half height, so it is twice as wide and acts as my workbench along the back wall of the garage.  The two other units are full height and work well for storing my cases of #10 cans and other preps.  They're very sturdy, and overall I'm pleased.  If you've got the time and resources (tools/skills), making them is a great way to go, but I'm short on time and tools (sold them because I make my living with my hands and can't afford an accident).

The heaver duty model is less than half what a similar Gorilla model would cost.  I think I will pick up a few- thanks!