Spur Twin Slot Shelving in the garage - Plywood & MDF shelves with steel uprights and brackets

[@SBBUK]

Nice video thanks, still helping people years later. I had a lot of freestanding racking in my garage but it was taking up too much space and I wanted to use the garage as a workshop not just a storage area! I never considered this twin slot stuff before in the past (no idea why) but now that i've started using it it's so fast to install in a garage! I have a laser level on a tripod, I project a line onto the wall at the intended middle screw hole of the uprights and then marked at 60cm intervals. Drilled the holes and attached the uprights loosely with a single screw, then used a spirit level to make sure they were bolt upright, and then marked the additional screw holes with a tracer deep hole marker as required. That's the fastest approach i've found and my shelves are perfectly level. Excluding any jigsawing of the shelves around cable conduits etc it only took around 30 mins per 2m run of shelves.

[@ShedTV]

NIce one, cheers!

[@akz12]

Exactly the video i was looking for Thank you !

[@ShedTV]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@lukmdo]

Nice! I got a bit off-topic question, as there is always min One 🤪 At the end of your video, I noticed other tall white shelves rack. Can you please share any details about it? Brand name or material used. Thank you so much for sharing 🙏

[@ShedTV]

Hi. Thanks. Sorry, I got given those shelves about ten years ago. To be honest, they're OK, but a bit flimsy. You can get some decent cheap shelving from Big Dug.

[@ae808692]

Thanks for your sharing. Is it a gas pipe running vertically near the garage door ? If it is, how do you protect the gas pipe? Thanks in advance....

[@ShedTV]

Cheers. There's a gas and a water pipe. I've not done anything to protect them. I'm a bit wary about covering them up in case I forget and put a screw or somethimg into what I can't see!

[@lucazanni9507]

great job. How do screw the shelves to the bracket? It looks like you're only screwing a screw in, but how did you know which length to use and did you secure it in the front and bottom hole of the bracket or just the bottom one?

[@ShedTV]

I used both holes. Having a range of screws to hand I poked them through the bracket until I found ones that was the right length! The front holes are obviously shorter. Thanks.

[@stevewilson6390]

Spot on advise, thanks.👍

[@davemallen]

Hi! Did you secure the twin slot uprights into an aerated concrete block? How are the shelves now any issues with load weight of the shelves ?

[@ShedTV]

Hi, it's thermalite, breeze block, I think that's the same thing? Soft internal wall blocks. To be honest I'm quite surprised after all these years and a fair bit of weight, it hasn't moved one bit. I think jamming those plugs into overly small holes and using big screws must have helped. In recent times I've used big thickly threaded screws straight into the thermalite, no plug and they've held well, just need to be careful not to overtighten or the hole strips and it all falls out.

[@davemallen]

Appreciate your response. I’m putting uprights on thermalite also but read so many stories saying they can’t take much weight so was slightly concerned. I’m putting up 1600mm uprights with 5 shelves. I’ve got Fischer duoplug 65mm fixings and 80mm screws so hoping it does the job. The shelves are going to have a few kilos on there but not overloaded as such. Just hoping it stays up.

[@ShedTV]

@@davemallen No worries. I just had a look at those Fischer plugs, they look decent. I would think as long the plug is really tight in the wall you should be OK.

[@Bhoyracers]

Thanks very much for the video, very helpful! I'm looking to do a similar job, and all the things I'd read over the past few days about securing to breeze block / masonry was around sleeve anchors. Is that going overboard for this type of shelving?

[@ShedTV]

Thank you, I'm glad you found it useful. I'm no expert when it comes to fixing to thermalite or breeze blocks, I drilled the correct size for brown plugs, but hammered in blue plugs which are a shade bigger. I also used the fattest screws that would fit the holes in the track. I have also recently found success using very large screws straight into the wall without a plug. I tried rawl bolts too and they seem to give a very good fixing. Frame fixings are another device which can work in soft blocks. If you're going into masonry or concrete blocks any of the above will work except the bare screw. I guess you need to look at potential loading on your shelves to decide on the best fixing to use.

[@Bhoyracers]

@@ShedTV Thanks very much for your reply, again very helpful :-)

[@Jill_of_trades]

@@ShedTV thank you for the above information... Which drill bit would you recommend using?

[@ShedTV]

@@Jill_of_trades I used a drill which was a milimetre or two smaller than recommended for the plug size as I was going into thermalite.

[@yorkshirekoi2246]

what type of screws did you use ?

[@ShedTV]

Just standatd twin-threaded woodscrews.

[@Jill_of_trades]

What is the maximum space between the tip of the shelving bracket and the wood (in front of it) you would recommend? Looking at the video is looks like 100mm (10cm) space - am I right?

[@ShedTV]

Not sure. I think I went for a bracket which was as close to the width of the shelf as I had.

[@tonywatson987]

rustybuttpate took the words right out of my mouth!

[@personalsigh]

What spacing did you use on the vertical mounts? I can't find a guide anywhere

[@ShedTV]

I did them at about 400mm. I didn't get this from a guide, it was just experience of putting up shelves of this thickness (18mm ply or MDF) in the past with brackets at this sort of interval and them not sagging. With chipboard or thinner material I'd put them a bit closer together.

[@Jill_of_trades]

@@ShedTV How long were the planks of wood? I am looking to install 120cm length (1200mm) x 30cm (300mm) depth planks to free up much needed space in my room (using twin slots of course) so I'm guessing I would need to space my slots 40cm (400mm) apart for the same depth of wood - right? 🙂

[@Jill_of_trades]

@@ShedTV What spacing would you use with 38mm thick MDF wood? Asking due to looking at wood from B&Q which has such thickness?

[@ShedTV]

@@Jill_of_trades Hi, yes, I would think that whatever the length of shelf you would want to support it every 400mm or so.

[@ShedTV]

@@Jill_of_trades That's pretty thick for a shelf. I would think considering the weight I'd go for 300-400mm spacing.

[@ryou4me]

hi everyone I am looking to get some twin slot shelving for my loft space and pantry/cellar under the stairs to allow storage space. anyone got any thoughts on the below please:- 1) if I get really long uprights, is it ok for me to cut to size - for example but 2400mm upright and cut in half to get 2 x 1200mm and so on - the shorter ones obviously cost more per metre and cost would be reduced if this is possible, or is there some issue with sharp edges, vulnerability to rust etc 2) is there any benefit to getting the metal shelving over wood - the metal only come in 500mm or 1000mm I know, where as wood I would cut to custom size. 3) for 1000mm metal shelving, does a support upright need to be installed in the middle with a bracket? 4) how far can a wood shelving hang over past the upright/bracket - does this also depend on how deep the bracket is for example brackets available 170mm to 610mm deep 5) anyone know any good reliable and cheap online stores in the UK where I can get all required material - that's uprights, brackets, and then possible metal or wooden shelves and maybe even some other accessories such as shelf ends thank you all, appreciate any responses.

[@NickRno77]

Excellent, What rawplugs did you use, when we put some of these up we found the rawplugs pulled out into the hollow area of the upright supports even though they hammered in tight? Cheers

[@ShedTV]

I drilled the correct size for brown plugs, but hammered in blue plugs which are a shade bigger. I also used the fattest screws that would fit the holes in the track. It's now 18 months on and it's held up so far.

[@NickRno77]

@@ShedTV Thanks, I tried many different plugs, I think the only ones that fixed hard were the really tight plugs but they needed a lot of hammering. Its up now but I dont plan to put anything heavy on them.

[@johnb5917]

Put a large repair penny washers between the upright and the wall, washer has to be wider than the upright, I normally use m6 50mm washers from ebay. It stops the plug pulling out when tightening.

[@mazarronman]

thanks, very helpful

[@ShedTV]

Pleased it was useful. Thanks.