Wall lumber rack plans, sized to your space

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Stud finder
• Level
• 3/8″ drill bit, 6″ long
• Socket wrench
• Clamps, at least 2
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Build the arm forks

   Each arm is two arm boards (B) with an end block (C) glued between them at the tip, making a fork that slides over an upright. Make 12.

   Lay two arm boards on edge, 1 1/2″ apart. Glue an end block between them at one end, its bottom flush with the arm bottoms and its outer face flush with their ends. It sticks up 2″ above the arms: that's the stop that keeps boards from sliding off.

   Drive 2 screws, 3″, through each arm board into the block. Predrill: the screws are close to the board ends.

   • Tip Use an offcut of 2×4 as a spacer between the arms while you screw, so every fork has exactly the upright's thickness between its arms.

   ✓ A scrap of 2×4 slides into the open end of every fork with no more than a business card's worth of play.

4. 4Mark the arm heights

   Lay the uprights (A) side by side, bottom ends flush, and clamp them together. Measure from the bottom end and square a line across all of them at 18″, 33 1/2″, 49″, 64 1/2″: these are the bottoms of the arms.

   Marking them together guarantees every arm at one level is at the same height, so boards lie flat across all of them.

   ✓ Unclamp and hold two uprights side by side: every line meets its neighbour.

5. 5Fasten the uprights to the studs

   Slide a stud finder along the wall and mark every stud with a pencil. Studs are usually 16″ apart, measured center to center. Confirm one by drilling a tiny test hole where the trim will hide it: you'll feel the drill bite into wood.

   Stand each upright (A) on the floor, on edge, centred on its stud, with your arm marks facing sideways. Check it's plumb with the level on its side face.

   Drill a 3/16″ pilot hole through the upright's narrow edge into the stud, then drive a 5/16″ × 6″ structural screw: 5 per upright, one 2″ below the lowest arm mark and one midway between each pair of arm marks and above the top one, so no screw lines up with a bolt.

   • Tip Before drilling, check the wall for pipes and wires: avoid drilling directly above or below outlets and switches, and behind sinks.

   ✓ Each upright is plumb on two faces, sits tight on the floor, and every screw pulled the upright tight to the wall.

   STOP. Drywall alone won't hold it. Never hang this with only drywall anchors. Keep the load under about 1200 lb, and never hang it over a bed or crib.

6. 6Bolt on the arms

   Slide a fork over an upright, its bottom edge on the mark. Hold a level on the arm: set the tip about 1/8″ higher than the wall end, so boards lean back against the wall rather than toward you. Clamp it.

   Drill two 3/8″ holes straight through both arm boards and the upright, one about 1″ from the arm top and 1″ from the wall, and one about 1″ from the arm bottom and 1″ back from the front edge of the upright, so both pass through the upright. Keep the drill level and square to the arm: use a speed square standing beside the bit as a guide.

   Tap a 3/8″ × 6″ carriage bolt through each hole from one side, add the washer and nut on the other, and tighten until the square neck pulls into the wood.

   • Tip Do the top arm of the end uprights first, run a string or a straight board between them, and set the middle ones to it.

   ✓ Every arm at one level touches a straight board laid across them all. Push down hard on an arm tip: the upright doesn't pull away from the wall.

7. 7Load it the right way

   Put the heaviest stock (sheet goods, long 2×6s) on the lowest arms and the lightest on top.

   Spread every board across at least three arms where it can reach, with equal overhang past the end arms. Keep each arm under 100 lb.

   Push each stack back against the uprights, not out at the tips: the closer to the wall, the less the arms and screws work.

   ✓ Look along each level after loading: the arm tips all sit at the same height and none droops.

   STOP. Never climb on the rack or hang from an arm. Use a ladder to reach the top level.

8. 8Finish

   Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

   Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

   Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

   Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

   Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

   • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.