Optimal garage shelf depth?

[Ross365]

Is it possible that the best use of the material you've got would be to stick with the shelf size used by Dexian, and then start to look a round for someone disposing of some Dexian shelves at a good price?

I have a load of Dexian shelving in my garage/workshop; bought it ~20 years ago and never regretted spending the money on it. I store a lot of smallish stuff in cardboard boxes which are 12 x 9" on the base and 6" deep. Why that size you may ask? Because 12 x 9 is the size used to ship A4 paper and box manufacturers make them by the million and they are cheap to buy . I space the shelving so that I can stack the boxes 3 on top of each other. 12 x 9 x 4 is also available!

 

[Nomad]

How heavy will your items be on the shelves? What are you planning to make the shelves out of?

I used narrow dexion racking (12-18 ins) for many years with chipboard for the shelves. Even with light loads the chipboard sags over time - even worse if the room is at all damp.
OSB or similar might be a better long term solution but I'm not sure how that copes when used as shelving. Plywood is another option.
Chipboard is the cheapest solution, the others get expensive very quickly if your units are going to be a decent size. Keep us updated

 

[highseas]

Mine are a full width deep pallet racking...for a few reasons, I can get small things on big shelves, but not big things on small shelves!

That's how wide they come and I could not be botherd cutting them down

Their 3 meter deep so being that but wider is good for stability and using as a climbing frame to get what I want!

And I do actually want to stack some pallets on their in the near future (aquireing a forklift is next step!)

 

[daleyd]

Currently using old mushroom trays, plastic mesh so you can see into them, stackable and interlocking and best of all they're FREE; nice and durable as they are designed for transporting mushrooms to packing plants.

They sound good - do you have any pics and a link to where you got them from to help other members out maybe?

 

[8ob]

Currently using old mushroom trays, plastic mesh so you can see into them, stackable and interlocking and best of all they're FREE; nice and durable as they are designed for transporting mushrooms to packing plants.

A bit tatty now but used to get veg stacking trays off a mate, quite sturdy with metal rails you pull over if you want to stack them.

Bob

 

[bigegg]

I use 2ft deep shelves, and cardboard banananana boxes.

 

[clift_d]

I'd say 450mm (18") is a good depth. Most power tool cases are around that wide, and the 35 litre ReallyUseful boxes are that long. I find with the 610mm shelving we have, that a lot of stuff is put at the front of the shelf in front of other stuff, because the shelves are so deep, and so you end up moving a bunch of mostly loose items to find the thing you want.

 

[redlig]

583mm

Approximately . I just cannot stand guess work!

 

[Migmac]

I’ve got a real mixture. I’ve got two shelving units that are only six inches deep, one large one that is twenty four inches deep and two others that are in between. Each has got its own merits. It would be nice if they were all the same design but I got them from different friends

 

[Kram]

Even in my tiny 2x0.8m shed I have 600mm deep shelving.. That fits a compressor on the bottom, and is a good size for the tig and powertools, plus the bench grinder.

 

[bigegg]

Even in my tiny 2x0.8m shed I have 600mm deep shelving.. That fits a compressor on the bottom, and is a good size for the tig and powertools, plus the bench grinder.

That's a cupboard, not a shed.