DIY Project – Garage Corner Shelf
Efiwym, my wife, and I like having the ability to park both cars in the garage. We still use it to store some outdoor items. I have installed shelves for containers of car cleaners, oils, weed killers and home goods, such as paper towels, toilet paper and paper plates.
Items on the floor, like the lawn mower and snowblowers, (yes, I have two), are parked by the back wall and moved around as the seasons change. There is a wagon. There are 2 bikes that we place against the lawn mower. Other items are just placed on top of the snowblowers. The back corner of the garage looks like a small storage locker with things stacked as high as possible. Usually, we do not need these items, but to get at them is a challenge.
We talked about building a shelf to get those things off the snowblowers and organize them on the shelf. I had an idea of the shelf in my head, but I needed to sketch something up.
I would use lag screws to attach ledger boards on the back and side walls. The other side and front would be supported by an angled leg. I got this idea from a shelf left at the building I lease for my business. Surprisingly, the shelf is strong as long as you screw the top to the ledger boards.
I already had a 24” x 70” x 1/2” white melamine shelf. I cannot remember where I got it from and where it was used, but it was perfect for this project. I had plenty of screws and lag bolts from past projects. However, I did not have enough 2 x 4’s to complete the project. I did not want to go out and buy wood. I had pieces of wood in the basement and garage. I found several pieces of 2 x 3’s. They were used to make a projection screen which was dismantled because we were not using it anymore. The 2 x 3’s would work for the shelf.
I used the 2x 3’s for the ledger boards and shelf supports including the angled leg, I anchored the ledger boards with 3-inch lag screws. I added flat washers to the screws and countersunk the screw heads on the end of the ledger boards. The screw heads were countersunk to allow the shelf supports to be tight against the ledger boards. When I attached the shelf support boards, I had to align the screws carefully so they would not hit the lag screws.
I erred on my measurement when I cut the melamine board. The board should have been 63 inches long. The extra 1-1/2 inch would have allowed me to screw the side shelf support to the end of the ledger board instead into the front of it and around the countersunk lag screw. I know that description was confusing, maybe a drawing would help.
Nonetheless, the joint was not as strong as I would have liked but screwing down the melamine top to the ledger board really strengthened the shelf.
I lined up the leg to get the right angle to cut the ends. I made sure the shelf was level and scribed lines to get the angle. I screwed up my first try, but fortunately I had another 2 x 3 to use. I cut the bottom of the leg first and lined up the leg against the shelf support board and marked the height. Making two right angled cuts with my Sears-Craftman® circular saw, the leg was ready to install.
I used a lag screw to install the leg bottom to the wall and two 3-inch deck screws for the leg top. I finished screwing down the front shelf support board and shelf top. I did an arbitrary strength test. You know, pounding the shelf with your fist and then bearing down on it with your weight. The shelf past the test. It was sturdy and ready to get all the items that were once stacked on the snowblowers.
I prepared the snowblowers for summer and parked them under the newly built shelf. I placed a variety of items on the shelf. I still had to put some things on top of each other, but I had to admit over time some of the items would be thrown away and replaced by others. The project was complete, except for the cleanup.
Before I started to clean up, I needed that Zen moment. I grabbed a can of Diet Coke® from the refrigerator in the garage and walked to the shelf. I stopped to admire my work. I took several sips of soda and with a sigh, there it was.
