The garage seems to be one of the hardest places to organize and keep organized and in our case, we want our garage to do a million different things. We want to be able to park our cars; have an indoor gym; and store all the yard tools, yard games, camping gear, tools, and who knows what else! Since we moved in, we’ve been slowly organizing different areas of the garage to turn it into this jack-of-all-trades space we want it to be, and our scrap wood storage pile has finally made the top of the list of things to tackle.
I love keeping scrap wood around because I’ve been able to do so many random small projects without buying anything. However, our scrap wood pile had gotten way too large. You could barely access the pieces you wanted to use, it was blocking the refrigerator, and completely out of control! It was definitely time to do something about it.
My original plan was just to install wood storage racks on the wall for the longer, more plank-like pieces. Then I would store the larger plywood sheets and small pieces of wood in the corner. I figured if I could organize half of the pile, things would be easier to manage overall.
Once I sorted all the wood out though, I decided to take the plunge and organize everything. I determined the best way to do this was to build a wood cart in addition to the storage racks. This way ALL the wood (and all the future wood) would have an organized place to go. As a result, the scrap wood storage organization turned into a two-part task. This post will explore part one of this project – the shelf installation. Detailed instructions on the wood cart can be found here!
MATERIALS
| MATERIALS NEEDED |
| Lumber Storage Wall Mount Rack |
| 1/4″ x 3″ Lag Screws* |
| Washers* |
| Stud Finder |
| Pencil |
| Laser Level |
| Drill & Drill Bits |
| Socket Wrench |
| Wrench |
*The lumber storage rack comes with a full set of installation hardware, but I swapped the screws out for lag screws and added washers, for a stronger mount
TIME COMMITMENT
| ACTIVE TIME: About 2.5 hours |
| About 20 minutes to remove and organize wood |
| About 2 hours to install the storage rack |
| About 10 minutes to place wood on the brackets |
| TOTAL TIME: About 2.5 hours |
STEP BY STEP
STEP 1 – CLEAR OUT AND ORGANIZE THE SCRAP WOOD
When organizing any space, the first step is to clear everything out of the area. After removing all the items, sort them into piles based on similarity. This allows you to see everything you need to store so you can make a plan from there.
Therefore, removing the wood from the corner and stacking it into piles of similar sizes was my first organizational step. I also threw out any pieces that were too small or damaged to be of use. Gazing upon all the wood piles, I realized the wall racks would not be enough to organize everything. That was the moment I decided to build a wood cart as well, but first things first – the wall rack!
STEP 2 – FIND AND MARK THE STUDS
Use the stud finder to find and mark the location of the studs along the wall. Mark both sides of the stud to make it easier to find the middle. After marking the studs, decide which four studs to use to mount the brackets. To do this, consider the average length of the wood you want to store and space the brackets at appropriate distances to hold it. After deciding which studs to use, run the stud finder up and down the length of the chosen studs to confirm they run the bracket’s full height.
STEP 3 – INSTALL THE MOUNTING BAR
After determining where to place the brackets, install the mounting bar of the lumber storage wall mount rack. To do this, use the laser level and line up the vertical line in the center of the marked studs. Then place the mounting bar against the wall so that the laser directly splits all the screw holes. With a pencil, mark where the holes are on the wall.
Remove the bar and double-check that the holes are marked in the center of the stud. If not, adjust the marks to the center and check that the new marks still align with the mounting bar’s holes.
Now it’s time to pre-drill holes for the lag screws. Since these screws are 1/4″, use a 5/32″ drill bit and drill holes at each of the marks. However, if you’re using different screws be sure to adjust the drill bit appropriately.
After that, it’s time to attach the mounting bar to the wall. Place a washer between the lag screw and the bar, and using a socket wrench, drive all four screws into the wall. The bar should now be secured.
STEP 4 – INSTALL THE BRACKETS
The next step is to install the brackets onto the mounting bar. One problem with this scrap wood storage rack is that the design sometimes causes the bottom bracket to get stuck on the mounting bar’s screw head. To help with this issue, I started with the bottom bracket and tested the brackets until I found one that didn’t stick. Of the three bracket arms I grabbed for each mounting bar, I could always find one that fits. Another tip is to place the bottom hole’s bolt first, before the top hole’s bolt, as this tends to be the hole that sticks.
To install the bracket, line up the bracket holes with the holes on the mounting bar and place the provided bolts through the holes. Then screw on the provided nut on the other end. Tighten the nuts by inserting the provided Allen wrench into the bolt head, and then use a wrench to tighten the nut. Do not over tighten or the metal will start to bend.
Repeat step 4 for the remaining two brackets.
STEP 5 – INSTALL REMAINING BARS & BRACKETS FOR SCRAP WOOD STORAGE
Repeat steps 3-4 to install the mounting bar and brackets for the remaining three racks.
Use the laser level to ensure the bars are all level and installed at the same height. Set up the horizontal laser to cross at the base of the mounting bar. Then line up the next mounting bar so the laser crosses it in the same spot. See the picture below.
TIP: In order to get the horizontal line of the laser level to be at the correct height, stack a couple pieces of scrap wood underneath until it lands at the correct height.
STEP 6 – ORGANIZE THE SCRAP WOOD ON THE RACKS
After all four racks have been mounted, load up the racks with the scrap wood and admire your work!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I installed the racks to store the longer, more plank-like pieces of wood. I then built a wood storage cart to store the larger plywood and small scrap pieces. But if you’re looking just to install the racks and your needs vary, feel free to switch up the length of your rack’s brackets.
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