Thread: Overhead storage with side access

I took a photo of my garage. No response from LP Solidstart at the moment and probably wont get one.
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Top photo shows my garage finished. There is a steel beam around 900mm out running parallel to the right wall with the window. You can see the steel beam runs in black in the second photo. The beam running parallel to the window is 250 UB 25 and the beam running perpendicular is a 310 UB 46 (there is anothe of these a metre off the garage door. I upgraded all the steel to reduce deflection by 40%, if I recall correctly the engineer specified 200UB in lieu of the 250 UB's and a 250 UB in lieu of the 310 UB.

Originally I was creating a wall mounted storage above the window line for the timber with the ladder underneath as the first 900mm is 90 x 45 MGP12 ceiling joists, but because of the height and location of the panel lift door, I didn't know how to make the timber side accessible. Perhaps a top plate along the steel beam connecting into the ceiling joists with 3 vertical supports along the 3600mm length holding a shelf as opposed to individual brackets spaced at 650 centres will be enough? If I'm not clear enough, happy to draw something up?
EDIT: AND DID
170531 Shelf image.jpg
170531 Window shelf no ladder.jpg

In that situation, I'd consider using cantilever racking. Fix the uprights against the wall and to the floor slab. The arms bolt on which makes them flexible for height, typically they'll take 250kg per arm for light duty racking. The advantage with this is that you could put say 3 uprights in spanning 3.6m, bolt on arms high for your storage, and have a few spare arms that you can use Clevis pins with r clips to put up a temporary bench when you need it. The load will transfer to the floor, and won't affect the floor above.

The kind of thing I am talking about, see Cantilever Racking : Light Duty Cantilever Rack (not a recommendation, just an example)

Originally Posted by buballodingo

Hi auscab,
I will be honest...welding scares the crap out of me....sooooo...I bought a welding kit and mask around 2 years ago. They are still sitting there brand new, never removed from their boxes. It is definitely something I want to learn when I have the time. Also need to understand whether I can do it in the area I have as the garage is attached to the house. I will look through the steel areas of the website. Have you got any pics there to have a look?

Cheers

I never took pictures. Or none I can find. And I moved house a year ago ! unless its been captured behind in the background of another picture.
Here is a very rough sketch . They followed the line of the roof and went the width of the shed , 5M .

You would want to get the hang of welding on some more basic projects or test runs before you started storing many KG of whatever above your and your family's heads. What makes a good weld and what doesn't. And the basic understanding of how a truss works. They are amazing !

I welded these up then I cut some sheets of 8mm ply and they st across the bottom as the shelf. The tents, 3 of them, and camping gear like fold up tables , chairs , air mattresses, stoves, lights and the rest may have all added up to 250 KG Max . and I felt that at three times that it would have held no problems.
If I had been intending to hold wood and not light weight bulky gear I would be welding it different to just the four sided butt weld around the ground end of a Square Hollow Section I think . Probably adding straps of steel over the important parts with longer welds.

Rob






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Originally Posted by auscab

I never took pictures. Or none I can find. And I moved house a year ago ! unless its been captured behind in the background of another picture.
Here is a very rough sketch . They followed the line of the roof and went the width of the shed , 5M .

You would want to get the hang of welding on some more basic projects or test runs before you started storing many KG of whatever above your and your family's heads. What makes a good weld and what doesn't. And the basic understanding of how a truss works. They are amazing !

I welded these up then I cut some sheets of 8mm ply and they st across the bottom as the shelf. The tents, 3 of them, and camping gear like fold up tables , chairs , air mattresses, stoves, lights and the rest may have all added up to 250 KG Max . and I felt that at three times that it would have held no problems.
If I had been intending to hold wood and not light weight bulky gear I would be welding it different to just the four sided butt weld around the ground end of a Square Hollow Section I think . Probably adding straps of steel over the important parts with longer welds.

Rob






IMG_4130.JPGIMG_4131.JPG

Thanks rob.For my application I am working in a height zone of a 2700mm ceiling line. I need 350mm to get to the underside of the storage for timber and hange the ladder off that. This is so the ladder actually tucks under the panel lift door when it opens and the hilux still gets in. My clearance will be tight for that. Appreciate your sketches and time.

Originally Posted by richmond68

In that situation, I'd consider using cantilever racking. Fix the uprights against the wall and to the floor slab. The arms bolt on which makes them flexible for height, typically they'll take 250kg per arm for light duty racking. The advantage with this is that you could put say 3 uprights in spanning 3.6m, bolt on arms high for your storage, and have a few spare arms that you can use Clevis pins with r clips to put up a temporary bench when you need it. The load will transfer to the floor, and won't affect the floor above.

The kind of thing I am talking about, see Cantilever Racking : Light Duty Cantilever Rack (not a recommendation, just an example)

Thanks richmond. I though of this but I dont have the position to place 3 verticals along that wall, this is due to the extent that the panel lift door comes back, the window and between the window and the rear wall is where I intend to set up my little works shop.

I just noted your comment re the floor above and its impact. Where the MGP 12 ceiling joists are is a little 1m wide 30 degree pitched tile roof as the floor above is required to be set back further than than the ground floor. So everything to the right of the steel beam to the window is roof and not floor. The 90 x 45 spans from the web of the beam to the top of the wall plate. Those beams are for the floor and the brick veneer above, I could have increased the brickwork another 600mm on the first floor without impact on my steel beams on advise from my engineer at the time. SO I don't think the load on the beam is and issue.

I would be adding brackets made from 40mm square tube welded in a C shape and lag bolted to the walls and bolted to your I beam in the ceiling. If you aren't confident in your welding it would be a simple build for a local fabricator. This would be easily strong enough for the loads you are looking to store and look neat and lower profile than a wooden solution.
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That is some useful info re the brickwork. Veneer brick is approx 210kg a square metre, so at 600 high that is 126kg per lineal metre of uniformly distributed load. If you built a rack suspended between that beam and the wall like your drawings, the load will be split between them ie the beam will support half the load, the wall the other half. A 250UB26 has 8mm flanges, any fixing to that is best done by drilling and tapping a thread.

how much space do you have between the open door and the rear wall? Going by the floor tiles which I assume are 600x600 your garage looks to be about 6 metres deep, standard panel lift tracks will extend back about 2.5 metres but if the door is a 2.1 opening height the tracks can be shortened.

Originally Posted by richmond68

That is some useful info re the brickwork. Veneer brick is approx 210kg a square metre, so at 600 high that is 126kg per lineal metre of uniformly distributed load. If you built a rack suspended between that beam and the wall like your drawings, the load will be split between them ie the beam will support half the load, the wall the other half. A 250UB26 has 8mm flanges, any fixing to that is best done by drilling and tapping a thread.

how much space do you have between the open door and the rear wall? Going by the floor tiles which I assume are 600x600 your garage looks to be about 6 metres deep, standard panel lift tracks will extend back about 2.5 metres but if the door is a 2.1 opening height the tracks can be shortened.

Very observant on the tiles...you are correct, 600 square.

Garage depth is around 7000mm but up to the bulkhead where the ceiling drops it is 6250mm.
Garage door opening height is 2350mm.
Garage ceiling is 2700mm
Space between open door and the bulkhead near the rear wall is around 3700mm.

I also have a 75x75x 4 SHS post holding up the cross beam right on the left jamb of the window.
I think my biggest issue was trying to get away without damaging the existing ceiling, essentially why I wanted to use the ceiling joists. May need to go back to the drawing board and see my other options.

Cheers