Garage Shelf Instructions

Description:
Shelves along side of 3 car garage.  Built in two sections....tall and short which seamlessly fit together.  Short section allows for garage door clearance.

Note: Shelves are shown with the MDF parts unpainted.  Eventually I will paint or seal the MDF to avoid damage by water.  MDF will soak up water and swell so paint should be applied.

The AUTOCAD dwg file contains all the dimensions.

Start with a nice clean work area.  Paint the wall as it will still be visible when the shelves are installed.

Materials:
    32 Doors made from MDF.
  
   16 Shelves made from MDF.  Round the corners as shown using router or saber saw.
    All shelves made to the exact same dimensions and mass produced.
   
    Shelf Framework made from 2x4 legs & 2x3 shelf supports

    Trim made from 1x4.  Trim mounted to legs and keeps leaf and dirt from getting under shelves.

    Legs: 4x4.  Cut different lengths to allow for uneven garage floor.

    Hinges: Stainless.

Using a Table Saw, Cross Cut Saw, and Router I machined all the pieces used to create the shelf framework.

All Shelves are identical.  Each has four front side to back side rails and a front side rail and back side rail.  All joints will eventually be glued and and screwed from the bottom side.  However... during this step do not glue and screw together.  Only due test fits at this time.  If permanently assembled at this time you will not be able to put the leg on.

When all shelves are assembled the inside edges are routed to accept shelf inserts.

I assembled  shelves on my garage floor and then stood the shelves up and mounted to the wall.  Be careful when doing this because the shelves are heavy.  Also I was only able to do this because my garage floor slopes down away from wall.... if I had attempted to do this with a flat garage floor then I would not have been able to tilt the shelves into the upright position without hitting the roof.

As shelves are assembled glue each joint and screen together.... its probably a good idea to fit everything together first to make sure everything fits together nicely.

The tall and short sections slide together.  I used clamps to help slide the two halves together.

Each door has two hinges.  I created a template for my router to cut the holes where the hinges are mounted to the legs.  The template clamps in place while each hole is being cut.  Before mounting the hinges for the final time I stained the framework.

Each section of the shelf has two doors. 

After the doors are in place the shelf boards can be set in place.  Some shelf board can be left out if you have tall items to store.  There is plenty of room to stand inside the framework to install doors when the shelf boards are not installed.