Hi All,
like many, the lockdown has me spending more time in my garage, tuning my saws, cleaning blades and bits, building new storage drawers, organizing, etc.
I have something however that I can’t decide what to do with, perhaps someone has some thoughts.
I have some existing shelves – from California Closets. (see pic) There are no backs, and the side panels hang on a metal cleat. The are made from particle board, and I can see some of the shelves bowing. That’s an easy fix I suppose.
If I keep there parts I will add some strengthening parts to beef it all up.
My big problem is … dust.
Though I have some dust collection with my tools, it’s a garage, and it still gets dirty and dusty. And if you look closely, we store excess food on a couple of shelves. So I thought about adding doors.
Option 1. European hinges and full height doors. The uprights are “common” in supporting shelves on both the left and right, so that’s an issue fitting hinge cups back to back.
The good news is there is a freezer arriving in around 12 hours, and the right hand bank of shelves by the window is coming out. That frees up an upright, effectively allowing me to have two complete boxes, butted together. Doors will now work.
Option 2.
Adding a face frame, and attaching doors to it. Does this sound feasible? I could also have small upper doors and longer lower ones (in either case I guess).
Option 3. Throw it all away and build something more solid.
Option 4. Ah, that’s where you come in. Thoughts?
I would love to hear some opinions on this. Thanks in advance!
Hugh
Replies
Save the weight on an already borderline setup and just staple a curtain of fabric or even a blue tarp to keep out the dust. Invest the time saved in something worth building.
Another option might be to use something that saves space but still closes the outside of the shelves. A roll down style closing or sliding door could save space. There is room at the top of the shelves to put a roller. Either something as simple as a venetian blind could be rolled down and clipped to the bottom of each shelf or something more substantial could be built or bought to roll down roll-a-den style. Something could be done similarly side to side. Just some ideas.
I think even added doors won’t keep the food items dust free enough. Dust creeps in. For the pantry storage, maybe containers with tight lids or a separate location or separate cupboard with exceptionally sealed doors. Otherwise for wood shop stuff you can probably build doors for these but you may have to upgrade or double up the shelves for the weight of tools.
If you do go with adding doors to the front, offset your hinge locations so that the cups don't interfere with each other, and purchase the 'half-overlay' hinges, rather than 'full-overlay' ones. You will have to ensure that the entire unit is square in order for the doors to be gapped correctly, so you might think about installing some rails in the rear to square it all up. Depending on how big you make them, this can also assist in stopping some dust coming in through the back. You can also add smaller rails vertically to the underside of the shelves to help stop the shelves bowing.
I have the same thing and will be relegating them to paint storage elsewhere.
They are good for a quick tidy up but longer term not a goer.
Frank Howarth made the ultimate shop storage solution...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uqT4unQFIE
A lot of this depends on your budget and on the condition of the existing shelving components. If everything is in good or reparable condition, I would use it as the basis of a complete reconstruction. I would take it all down, put a plywood back on it for strength and to keep it square, put some stiffeners along the front and back of the shelves, attach a face frame, and then make new overlay doors. With that, you will have a sturdy and serviceable cabinet.
Gentlemen, thank you for your comments, they really helped to steer me in my decisions.
Having pulled everything apart, these really are pretty solid components, and it seemed like a shame to dump them. They were originally purchased by my parents in law, (NOT cheap by any means)and used for only months before they relocated and gave them to me. I just threw them up quickly at the time.
The addition of a chest freezer prompted my to move things around, and I have now freed up a "side" to allow me to make two entire boxes. This makes it a little easier to put two sets of doors on now. That's the next part of the build.
There was a shelf that was starting to bow, but a lot of weight was on it. I have redistributed things a bit more sensibly, and used one of the shelves freed up by the section removal.
The sides hang on a metal rail, a cleat system. I have supported them at the back a few inches off the floor, used the original adjustable feet to support the front, and ripped a couple of shelves to create a skirt around the bottom. That will stop all the dust and leaves that get blown under there.
So here's the final result, with some of the shelves filled.
Once again, thank you!
Hugh
Toilet paper hoarder........:-D
Ha ha, with three females under this roof with me, that's about a weeks worth. My stock question is always "what the hell happened to all the toilet paper???"
They look great. Good job. There is a lot of satisfaction with taking existing old material and making something great out of it.
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