# Storing sheet goods?



## AnnaEA (Jul 31, 2010)

I am planning lumber storage for my shop, and have been browsing lumber racks around the 'net. I noticed that most people seem to store sheet goods vertically- is this just a matter of convenience, or is it better for sheet goods to be stored this way?


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## charlie48 (Sep 21, 2009)

I guess it depends on the height of your ceiling,if you have 9' or 10' ceilings I think vertical is the way to go,but I don't have an answer why ?? I have 8'-6" ceilings in my shop, so horizontal works for me. I just built a rack on wheels to store my sheet goods,works great for me. Welcome to LJ's


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I believe it is a matter of space and ease of sorting or access.


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## AnnaEA (Jul 31, 2010)

Good deal. I'm going to go horizontal, with a lowerable ceiling rack for my sheet goods.


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## nailbanger2 (Oct 17, 2009)

There may be a communication breakdown here. When you say vertical, I'm assuming on edge, eight ft. long, four ft. high. Charlie thinks you need ten foot ceilings, I'm inferring from that he would like to store it eight ft. high, four ft. wide.

If you have the room, it is best to store sheet goods flat. The shops that can do this are very rare on this site, mine cannot.


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## AnnaEA (Jul 31, 2010)

Good point. I am saying horizontal when I mean flat. I haven't got space to store sheet goods on edge whether length or width wise. But I can rig a way to tuck them up flat against my rafters.


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## RobWoodCutter (Jul 22, 2009)

I use vertical storage so I don't have to unstack sheets, but I do have higher ceilings.










I use scrap wood to shim the sheets so they remain flat and don't warp.










Rob


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## AnnaEA (Jul 31, 2010)

I like the set up, Rob. It's giving me serious space envy - I think your lumber rack would take up my whole shop space. rofl


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## RobWoodCutter (Jul 22, 2009)

Yes I have been blessed with space. This is just one corner, which stores the sheet goods and all of the shorts (less than 48" hardwoods.)

The entire "wood storage" area room is 24'x12' minus a 5'x7' space for a toilet (which is next to the sheet good rack shown in the pics.) The room can hold roughly 10000 BF of vertically stacked wood.

Rob


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## AnnaEA (Jul 31, 2010)

Wow. I thought I was overdoing the hyperbole, but my whole shop *would* fit in your wood storage area. I've got a 12'x7' patch of basement.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

Rob, that is a real good solution to storage of sheet goods.
I think I will build one along the same lines for my stock.

Thanks for the pictures!


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## RobWoodCutter (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks, Randy.

Pretty simple. 2×4 Base frame. OSB on top of it. The verticals are full 2×4 framing with OSB on each side (smooth side out). That makes super strong dividers so I can shim the sheets in pretty tight without having to worry about the wall spacers bowing. The top shelf is 2×4 frame as well so it handle any load that goes up there.

Rob


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

I am going to adjust the layout of mine a bit, as I have a larger quantity of baltic birch (1/4", 1/2" and 3/4") and they are 5'x5' sheets, but use the same concept.

Hard as I thought it would be to do, I warped a few sheets of half inch baltic birch by leaving them leaning up against a wall. Now I have lots of small pieces for jigs…


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## RobWoodCutter (Jul 22, 2009)

I can get about 45" worth of sheet goods (There are three 15" wide sections). I was going to use the right most section for sheet goods too but ended up putting in some intermediate shelves to stack/sort the shorts of hardwoods I had sitting around.


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