Plywood Thickness For Garage Shelves

The many types of plywood can differ in materials number of layers rating and grade.

Plywood thickness for garage shelves.

Lowes will rip cut the 8 4 ft sheets of plywood for you to save you some time. Plywood is also classified as exterior exposure 1 exposure 2 and interior. This cross banded construction gives plywood great strength in all directions. It s available in panels wider than natural boards and in thicknesses ranging from 1 8 to 11 4 inches in 1 8 inch increments.

Plywood panels over 3 4 inch in thickness are usually special order products. This type of shelf is based on the engineering principles of a torsion box. 3 4 feet long is probably the maximum length for normal household storage shelves. Standard sheets of plywood come in 1 4 inch 3 8 inch 1 2 inch 5 8 inch and 3 4 inch thicknesses.

Also side note this tutorial is for floating shelves that are attached to the wall on three sides. Another way to add thickness to a shelf without using expensive thick lumber is to make a hollow shelf 1 to 1 1 2 in. There are a few plywood grading systems out there but most of them follow an a d classification with a being the best. It also results in extra dimensional stability plywood doesn t swell or crack like solid sawed lumber.

They are made from plywood so the thickness is fake they are actually hollow in the middle. I also used inch thick plywood for the shelving surface with the smoother side of the plywood facing up. If you plan to run plywood up a wall and attach brackets and shelves to it then 3 4 for sure and be certain it is well anchored to the wall. The type of plywood you choose will depend on economics how much exposure to the elements the wood will get and whether looks are important to you.

Even then the height is not the issue it s the lenth of the shelf and the weight of the material you plan to store. Garage storage and shelving solutions are abundant but the prices can be shocking. Thinner sheets of plywood can be glued together laminated to make a thicker panel for cutting sturdier shelves. The thickness is my favorite part they look like they cost a lot of time and or money even though that isn t the case.

My shelves were about 21 inches deep so i was able to get two 8 foot long pieces out of each sheet. I d like to get 4 foot spans with 20 24 depths but i want the shelves to be sturdy enough to carry 200 300lb loads evenly distributed. I m building a bunch of shelving in our garage using stud mounted metal tracks brackets with plywood shelves. Plywood is a necessity in many diy and construction projects but not every type of plywood works for every project.

Use it to carry very heavy loads. Thick from thin plywood and strips of solid wood fig. You can build your own garage shelves from scrap 2 x 4s and plywood ones that will hold all of your tool cases. It s light in weight but very strong.