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This article will save you time searching for ceiling mounted storage shelving with this advantages and disadvantages of different brands. I find the organization department of the hardware store always gets a look. I get excited about storage solutions … strange, I realize. I enjoy investing time checking out the materials, examining the supports and fasteners, and appreciating the innovative models. Your passion probably lays with something else, so let me assist your researching efforts by outlining my findings for you. I have attempted to include something good and something bad about each model. All the same, I'm disclosing now that I sell the Topp Rax brand on my site, so my opinions are unavoidably biased plus I have the most experience with this brand. I'd be glad to sell any of these racks on my site if I were able. It's in my best interest to provide many options to my site's visitors, so they can purchase the product containing the options which are most significant to them. With the disclaimer out of the way, I want to evaluate some of the major brands. Saferacks provides many inspiring pictures on their site plus they have bike hooks and cargo nets for their racks. Overall, a great buy and it’s easy to buy one at a great price as they are sold at CostCo. Saferacks are also sold with the MonsterRAX brand. The company carries an excellent assortment of sizes measuring 4/6/8 feet wide and 2/3/4 feet deep. These choices are wonderful because some people don't need a 4x8 rack. I praise the C-channel framing and intermediary supports. My only concern is that some of the cross ties are smaller because they are designed to support just the decking. This means they've got left a a weak spot on the outside frame. What's more, I find it humorous their website uses pictures of families hanging from the rack to signify how reliable they are while the instructions clearly point out “Do not climb on or hang from the storage rack.” Hyloft relies on a minimal structure that make the shelf less costly. The downside is that it is not as strong as different brands. The decking supports and vertical brackets are minimal. I would have trouble having faith in this rack not to collapse when I load it with my belongings. But if I were keeping merely light stuff, this could be sufficient. Be aware that the lack of ceiling brackets that span multiple ceiling beam may restrict your choices for location and orientation. I like how inexpensive their 4x4 shelf is and would use that for light storage needs that aren't over a regularly walked area. Strong Racks is built using the opposite philosophy. This shelf is almost overbuilt. The Strong Racks website has a wonderful ‘Checklist Challenge’ video that addresses these points. For instance, the mounting tracks are 11 gauge steel where 14 gauge is common in other brands. The vertical supports are square tube steel instead of the regular angled steel. This brand uses more nuts and bolts than any other rack. Expect to spend a lot of your time tightening these nuts and bolts. I like the lip along the side of their outside frame. This keeps you from accidentally pushing items over the back side of the rack. This also puts me at ease about my boxes sliding over the edge. Topp Rax demonstrates their solid design in a ‘Compare Racks’ video including a stomp test on this and other brands. You will notice how rigid this rack is when the guy in the video shakes the side of each rack. I love to watch the competitor's racks collapse as he stands and jumps on the framing. Yet his Topp Rax framing holds up because of the extra cross ties that support the frame. The decking is correctly supported on all four edges with the framing, too. The problem with Topp Rax is that it is not a low cost product. If you live near a big box hardware store, you can find sufficiently sturdy shelves at a better price. Another bad thing is that online it is limited to in 4x8 dimensions. Learn more about how to organize your garage with ceiling storage shelving and other great storage products at www.MaximizeGarageStorage.com.
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ceiling, hanging, overhead, garage, storage, shelf, shelving, shelves, racks, saferacks, hyloft, strong racks, topp rax,
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