Posted: 6/24/2011 7:48:53 AM EDT
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I am in need of some additional shelving for pantry goods. Right now I've got stuff on the floor in the pantry because there's no open shelves on which to put supplies and three months worth of food stuffs waiting to be added to the store. Today's haul makes the situation entirely unattainable. Most of the storage shelving I see at the box stores are way overpriced and cheaply made. Any one have an idea about where I can find quality stuff? I don't mind paying a couple hundred dollars for quality yet I am sensitive about getting value for my purchases. Would prefer something in steel as I have lots of ammo and canned goods. I can't abide sagging shelving made of particle board or similar. Does not have to be furniture grade stuff –– the wife will not need to approve. Thanks gang. |
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Hey Man
Check this Article from Backwoods Home, just in this last issue. I've often wondered about the shelving units mentioned, may have to give 'em a go...YMMV 
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Quoted: Hey Man Check this Article from Backwoods Home, just in this last issue. I've often wondered about the shelving units mentioned, may have to give 'em a go...YMMV http://backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/eddings130-1.jpg Excellent source of information. Thank you very much. You know, I have three of those units in the garage. One of my three gal water containers sprung a very slow leak last year, and by the time I noticed, the shelf had bowed from being soaked by water. It's that experience which is the reason I'm looking for something in steel. Now I know how the author is able to store such heavy stuff on the shelving: I strongly recommend that the shelf boards that come with the kit not be used. The shelf boards are heavy-duty particle board but they will not support the weight of canned goods for very long without sagging. Lowe's carries plywood sub-flooring that works fine for shelf boards. I wouldn't use anything less than 5/8-inch thick. One 4x8 sheet will make four shelves and they charge a nominal fee to cut it for you. I'll have to weigh the other options against the expense of adding the plywood to the shelves. The frames themselves are adequately sturdy. As the author stated, its the shelving that leaves much to be desired. I wish my area looked as nicely organized as that. It would be if I only had a basement. |
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Quoted: I've had good luck with the steel wire shelves from lowes/Home Depot. You pay about $75 per 44"x72"x18" 5 shelf unit. Shelves are adjustable. Good deal. I'll be in the area of Home Depot later today on another assignment. Will have to stop in and see what they have. At the Lowe's closest to me, I usually find plastic shelving that wouldn't hold up at all for this application. |
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I get the plastic 5 shelf units from Plano. They are $25 a piece and each shelf is rated to 75lbs. I have personally tested them to 100lbs and they held just fine (but might sag over time with more than 75lbs on them). The other thing I like: They weigh almost nothing, setup and break down in under 30 seconds per shelving unit. Once broken down, they take up a very very minimal amount of storage space. Also, they are made right here in Plano IL! I really love buying from US companies, especially those in my home state. The other day I left Farm and Fleet with shelving made in Plano, IL, and mil spec 00 buckshot made in East Alton, IL! Feels good! |
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Taft used the same storage racks I have for his battery project, as you can see, they are very sturdy, and for what you get compared to much of the junk out there, an absolute bargain. CostCo didn't have them when I was buying, but Home Depot had the same racks for the same price thankfully. CostCo was where I first saw them however. These shelves are rated at 2000lbs each. Obviously that is with the weight resting on the beams, not on the grating, but I have 2 of these racks and I can believe it. Also, the 24" footprint and the weight of the shelves has them very wobble free which for me in earthquake country is a serious consideration. |
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This....I have 4 sets of these in my shot and they are rated for over 4k lbs. a shelf!!! Probably overkill for your needs as they are a "pallet" deep front to back. Have access to all I can stand for roughly $100 a shelf unit. Quoted: You might want to try some local factories. I recently picked up some industrial shelving units made of solid steel for really cheap because the factory was just throwing them out for a new setup. |
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Quoted: Hey Man Check this Article from Backwoods Home, just in this last issue. I've often wondered about the shelving units mentioned, may have to give 'em a go...YMMV http://backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/eddings130-1.jpg |
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SCWolverine has a great setup there! I've got lots of plastic knock-down Home Depot shelving and have learned to hate them passionately. Nothing fits on them properly and the large tubular supports eat up valuable real estate. I got a metal unit like SCWolverine's recently and have fallen in love. I'll eventually change out everything for that type.
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Metro shelving Check you local Craigslist. Also check used restaurant supplies. This is not a bad idea. With more businesses failing, retail fixtures will be getting more plentiful and cheaper. Keep your eyes open for stores going out of business. I've made some nice scores that way. Some keywords to look for are "gondola" shelving, "endcap" shelving and the brand names like Lozier, Madix, etc. One advantage that shelving like SCWolverine's has over most retail fixtures is accessibility from both sides –– something to consider along with your available space. |
all of the shelves are sagging. buy once, cry once!
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plastic cheap shelves are like putting a $5000 gun collection in a $300 stack-on. dont put anything that can be damaged on the platic shelves. maybee some guy will be around to post pics I respectfully bed to differ sir. We purchased the resin type shelving from a few different stores. Now, the one from Home Depot is a total POS and will not hold up. The one from Lowes is very nice and I have a few of them. The Plano brand I got from Menards is awesome at 200 lbs per shelf. It will never rust, if it gets wet from a basement flooding, just spray disinfectant on it. With the exception of the one from Home Depot, ours are holding great! You just can't overload the shelves, but that goes with any, metal, plastic, or otherwise. |
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I have a combination of the cheap plastic ones, steel / commercial shelving and I started to build wood shelving for the odd left-over space.
The cheap plastic shelving, though saggy, still holds 9 cases of 14-18 oz. cans per shelf. (3 cases across, 3 cases high) I had these for 2 years now, and they're still holding up. I put lighter, bulkier items on the top, and the heaviest stuff on the bottom. It works, but I don't trust them 100% Any jars go on sturdier shelves. (steel or wood) After I framed out some shelving for a funky-corner downstairs, I decided that I'm going to go with all wood, so I can make the most of the space that I have, in terms of the items that we typically store and use. I'm also toying with the Idea of hanging them from the floor joists, so that some freak earth quake doesn't topple 'em. (as long as the main floor stays in tact) Dare to dream 
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Seeing what is available on craigs list and business closing in the area signs is where I would start I guess. I have some gorilla shelving units and they assemble with a dead blow hammer and come back apart with the same hammer. They are easy to take apart and assemble and that makes moving very easy. I still have some of the original particle board pieces but most of it is plywood now. I would plan on plywood from the start if you can afford to do so. I have not paid full price for a shelving unit for a while. I found a bunch of the smaller sizes on clearance a couple years ago and just bought 4 of them at once. I left 2 of the bigger units at my sister's house in her garage since the smaller units work better for what I rent. And I have all 4 in use with my shed and what not. I recently needed some more shelf space and went back to the college solution. I am always scrounging free cinderblocks if they are clean and I keep a lot of wood on hand in case of a huge storm that might require emergency repairs. So some of the 2x4s made for framing that you can buy at lowes for 2 dollars and change a piece I think and a bunch of my free cinder blocks made some shelving. And it is plenty strong enough for ammo cans since I am using the 2x4s as the shelf base. How you space cinderblocks will determine the strength. If in earthquake country or the owner of kids who climb everything then I would probably attach things better than I did, I just stacked things up and left it alone. But I also don't attach my shelving units to walls either. I have owned one shelving unit that required nuts and bolts for assembly, I will never buy another and that one is long gone. I don't like plastic much since it tends to age and crack at some point. I like metal and I like wood. There are plans for making decent shelves on the net, just run some searches. I never felt like the shelf stuff at lowes where you buy what fits your needs was very price effective. But I also have not paid full price on gorilla brand shelving units in about a decade or so. Figure out what will fit your needs best and go from there. Since I rent I like stuff that is portable and I also tend to rearrange stuff twice a year just to go through things and clean everything really well. Keeping things cleaned up makes moving out simpler. If I store water beyond a case of water bottles I tend to have a metal or plastic pan it is in. I tilt it a bit so it will run out the front and I will know something is leaking as soon as it leaks enough to come to the front of the pan. They make big pans for washing machines but I come from a family that had a bakery so I have some large pans already. If I really had a need for shelving I would search the local cities for closing businesses or talk to some of the scrap guys who might wind up with industrial shelving being scrapped. Editing this to add that the shelves in the backwoods home magazine look just like the gorilla brand shelves I have bought. The large ones in my sister's garage at one time were turned into a cabinet, just add playwood and some hinges and you can bolt the wood onto the shelving unit. And for those worried about earthquakes or kids climbing on stuff it is easy to attach them to walls or if in a basement with exposed flood joists you could run some wood or cable or whatever to the floor joists to keep them from ever tipping over. I like being able to dismantle and clean the thing out if something ever happens, I have dropped stuff now and then and had a minor mess. Never had anything leak on its own and make a mess. |
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I double checked today while I was at CostCo, the Whalen racks I referred to above are still sold in the warehouses, I just don't see them online. They were $154 per. i have some of these , good solid shelving |
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If you don't mind used, I'd join those who suggest that you really start watching craigslist and the want ads in your local paper.
A friend who is "of like mind" just scored about 20 ft, of super heavy duty shelving from a sheet metal shop that was closing down. This stuff is rated in the multiple hundreds of pounds, and he bought them for about 10% of what they cost originally. It is sad to see the number of businesses failing, but there is nothing wrong with "repurposing" the gear they have. |
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Quoted: Taft used the same storage racks I have for his battery project, as you can see, they are very sturdy, and for what you get compared to much of the junk out there, an absolute bargain. CostCo didn't have them when I was buying, but Home Depot had the same racks for the same price thankfully. CostCo was where I first saw them however. These shelves are rated at 2000lbs each. Obviously that is with the weight resting on the beams, not on the grating, but I have 2 of these racks and I can believe it. Also, the 24" footprint and the weight of the shelves has them very wobble free which for me in earthquake country is a serious consideration. When we get moved in sixty days, I'll have to start on some of those to replace the ones in the garage that are sagging. That's awesome, thanks for the link. |
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I went to Home Depot and bought two 48 X 18 X 72 chrome six shelf units for $85 per. The manufacturer claims that each shelf will hold up to 600#. I don't know if I believe that but the system is adequate for the use its intended to fill. Assembly was really easy and didn't require tools. I think about 20 minutes for each. The more time consuming task was moving the pantry stuff onto the shelves. Some of the stuff was upstairs and hauling it down to the ground level was a PITA. Obviously its a work in progress. This area is only for canned food and certain other food types. I decided to leave grains, flour, rice where it is as it is sealed in mylar and stored in buckets. Ammo, health & OTC drugs, and water will stay where it is as well. Once we get moved all the stores will be consolidated into the basement, but as my current home is on a slab, this is what I've had to work with. I was able to see that I have a lot more of some types of stuff than others. I'll use that knowledge to shape my buying habits for the rest of the year until the balance evens out. I also discovered that I have quite a lot of wet food that has expiration date in the next 18 months. Its all good as we buy what we eat. Other than that it is helpful to easily find that for which I'm looking. The rest of my setup isn't anywhere near as organized. Thanks for all the suggestions. Some of the others I intend to use at a later date in the near future.  |
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Quoted: I went to Home Depot and bought two 48 X 18 X 72 chrome six shelf units for $85 per. The manufacturer claims that each shelf will hold up to 600#. I don't know if I believe that but the system is adequate for the use its intended to fill. Assembly was really easy and didn't require tools. I think about 20 minutes for each. The more time consuming task was moving the pantry stuff onto the shelves. Some of the stuff was upstairs and hauling it down to the ground level was a PITA. Obviously its a work in progress. This area is only for canned food and certain other food types. I decided to leave grains, flour, rice where it is as it is sealed in mylar and stored in buckets. Ammo, health & OTC drugs, and water will stay where it is as well. Once we get moved all the stores will be consolidated into the basement, but as my current home is on a slab, this is what I've had to work with. I was able to see that I have a lot more of some types of stuff than others. I'll use that knowledge to shape my buying habits for the rest of the year until the balance evens out. I also discovered that I have quite a lot of wet food that has expiration date in the next 18 months. Its all good as we buy what we eat. Other than that it is helpful to easily find that for which I'm looking. The rest of my setup isn't anywhere near as organized. Thanks for all the suggestions. Some of the others I intend to use at a later date in the near future. Looks great Moga. I see you are an Aldi fan too. The park is mine. |
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I have a variety of shelves, plastic and metal, including the one above and it seems like heavy canned food will make all of them sag to a certain point. I wish now I would have just built some shelves out of wood. They would be heavy and have to be built in place. I think that I was unsure about how I wanted to arrange my storage room and that's why I opted for portable store bought shelves. |
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Quoted:
I strongly recommend that the shelf boards that come with the kit not be used. The shelf boards are heavy-duty particle board but they will not support the weight of canned goods for very long without sagging. Lowe's carries plywood sub-flooring that works fine for shelf boards. I wouldn't use anything less than 5/8-inch thick. One 4x8 sheet will make four shelves and they charge a nominal fee to cut it for you. I'll have to weigh the other options against the expense of adding the plywood to the shelves. The frames themselves are adequately sturdy. As the author stated, its the [supplied] shelving that leaves much to be desired. ^^^ this. my experience with these units has been the same: frame, OK; shelf board material, sucks. to safely/reliably store anything of considerable weight on these units you will need to DIY your own shelf boards using 3/4" CD plywood. you can see one of mine in the background below. ar-jedi 
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REMINDER: if you live in an area subject to earthquakes, securely fasten the shelves to the wall studs. otherwise, the entire shelf can topple and potentially mix canned jellies and cooking oils with your oats and some broken glass... 
ar-jedi Also your peanut butter with chocolate! 
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