Easy-to-install ceiling rack helps reclaim garage space

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This article was published 03/02/2002 (8763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THIS past Christmas one Carey brother finally broke from tradition and purchased an artificial Christmas tree. It turns out to have been a good move.

The tree stands three metres tall and comes in four sections. It has collapsible branches that are prewired with hundreds of twinkle lights.

The new tree survived the holidays well. It then came apart the same way it was assembled. In a matter of minutes, it was placed neatly on the garage floor. It was only at that moment the Carey brother in question began to panic. Where was this new addition to spend the other 11 months of the year?

The two-car garage already was cluttered to the point where it barely accommodated one vehicle. It was time to win back the garage. Its walls were lined from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with boxes of all shapes and sizes. The answer was to convert the finished garage’s dead attic space into a storage area.

This was accomplished by cutting a hole in the ceiling and installing a pull-down attic staircase, along with several sheets of plywood flooring atop the ceiling joists. Since the underside of a pull-down staircase usually consists of plywood and not fireproof, the fireproof configuration needed to be preserved by installing a solid-core fire door at the ceiling.

Besides storing the tree, the space accommodated all the boxes, making room in the garage for a second car.

However, not all storage stories have such a happy ending. Often, a garage ceiling is either unfinished or consists of pre-manufactured roof trusses, which make it virtually impossible to use the area for storage.

Recently we came across a new product that offers a storage solution for those who are space-challenged. HyLoft overhead storage (www.hyloftusa.com) converts otherwise useless overhead garage space into valuable storage real estate.

The system consists of one four-foot-by-four-foot wire-grid shelf unit that hangs from the ceiling. The lightweight grid sits atop two metal support bars that are fastened to four downrods. In turn, the downrods are anchored to the underside of two ceiling joists.

A previous home-made incarnation of this system consisted of two-by-fours and plywood, which were, unfortunately, exceedingly heavy, thus limiting the weight of items to be stored.

The four downrods on this system can be adjusted from 16 to 28 inches from the ceiling. One thing that makes this system especially appealing is it can be installed immediately above a garage door, providing there is a minimum of 17 inches clearance. Properly installed, the system will not interfere with garage doors or openers.

One four-foot-by-four-foot overhead storage system provides about 35 cubic feet of storage and is warranted to hold a maximum of 250 pounds, evenly distributed. To adequately disperse the stored load, not more than two HyLoft units should be installed on any two ceiling joists.

The installation consists of locating the ceiling joist, measuring the bracket locations and anchoring the brackets to the joists with the screws provided. Complete the job by fastening the downrods and attaching the crossbar supports.

For more home improvement tips and information visit our Web site at www.onthehouse.com.

— Associated Press