DIY Shop Shelves | EASY Weekend Project

I built some very simple, inexpensive shelves for my garage from 2x4s and OSB and wow, what an improvement! These shelves can be built with very few tools and I built them over the course of a weekend. If you have any questions about anything I did please drop them in the comments below!

Skyrocketing lumber prices forced me to put this little project off for more than a year, but now that lumber prices have returned to earth it was time to build these shelves. We’ve been tripping over totes of keepsakes, camping gear, and no telling what else since we bought our house over a year ago.

For simplicity sake I cut a 4’x8’ sheet of OSB into three equal pieces, 15-7/8”wide by 8’ long. By cutting at 15-7/8”wide I can account for the kerf (the thickness) of my saw blade and I’m left with three equally sized pieces. I chose a shelf depth of ≈16” because it allowed me to get the most out of each sheet of plywood and minimize waste; if you need more depth you can also change it up. I used 7/16”OSB because it was much cheaper than 5/8”OSB ($17 vs. $40+ at the time of construction).

After cutting the shelves I moved on to putting the frame together. I used 2x4s with a few support members in the center of the shelf. 7/16”OSB is not very strong but these shelves aren’t made to hold anvils or transmissions; for my needs, this was plenty. Screw or nail everything together and you’re ready to assemble!

Assembly was the hardest part of this task to complete by myself but with the help of clamps and a little redneck ingenuity I was able to get it done. If you’re looking for an easier way to make sure all the shelves are equally spaced apart, cut a few spacer boards of equal length (whatever you want the distance between shelves to be), clamp them to the vertical 2x4s, and set the shelf on them. That way your shelf is level (or at least as level as the bottom shelf) and you don’t have to fumble with clamps like I did. Because I built another set of shelves first, and I didn’t build it the way I just described, and I used 5/8”OSB and I wanted the shelves to all be the same level, I made life a little harder for myself. But I got it done!

Oh, and for safety’s sake, it’s a good idea to anchor the shelf to the wall to prevent it from tipping over.

I can already tell I need about 8’ more shelving but this made a huge difference and know I can feel like I can work a little in my shop. Thanks for watching this video – I hope you found it useful! If you enjoyed it please hit that “like” button, and consider subscribing so you won’t miss the next video. See y’all soon!
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