Actual Physical Progress!

So we have a few big things going now. My dad and I have made some positive progress on the garage shelves, though things are going pretty slowly as we figure stuff out. Also, we got the work started on the master bathroom today! There's an electrician doing electrical things as we speak! It's super exciting. I'll take lots of pictures as soon as there's stuff to take pictures of. We're hoping to be ready for electrical/plumbing/hvac inspections next week, and then up with the drywall.

But anyway, let's get to the stuff I actually have pictures of, eh?

Here it is, the blank wall. Our empty canvas.

We needed to put the laser level way up high to get it to work to throw the line at the right spot on the wall, so I ended up with this nonsense. A laser level on a tripod on a 50-gal drum on a workbench.

That's just beautiful, I must say.

You can see the first wall-side support and the laser line for the second one here. This is how we got these up on the wall relatively straight. The laser level is such an amazing tool. We use it for darn near every project.

There we go! All three supports on the wall. You can see a 6-foot ladder there on the left. I can easily walk under the shelves as we have them designed, which will be very nice. I'll also be able to pull bins off the bottom shelf without a ladder or anything, which is also pretty perfect.

Okay, you may be wondering how I plan to support the front of the shelves. We thought about a lot of options, and ended up coming up with one that I think will work like gangbusters. Here's a diagram:

Okay, the way this works is that the 1" square tube at the top is attached to the ceiling joists with lag screws. The all thread rod is suspended from it with a washer and locking nut inside the tube and another washer and nut underneath. That forms the main support. I like it because the weight is all being applied in a straight line down on the all thread. Everything seems like it should be very secure. I also like it because it won't interfere with the bins sliding back and forth on the shelf. It's as low-profile as we could get on the support system while still allowing ourselves to use the full length of the shelf. I'm pretty proud of it. Anyway, so there's also a metal strap that loops over the all thread, and is trapped between two nut/washer combos on top and goes under the shelf to rest on the rear support. A screw will go through the shelf, through a hole in the metal strap, and into the support. Everything is basically being tied together, with the metal straps providing the support for the shelves at the front. The all thread passes in front of the shelves instead of through them so the bins can slide around behind the supports without having to use shelves deeper than 24". I'm hoping this all makes sense, but the pictures will explain it in any case.

This is how the all thread secures to the metal tube. There's a locking nut and washer inside there that gets tightened down, and then another regular nut and washer will tighten up underneath to hold everything in place.

Okay, here's the first support we have up. We learned a lot doing this one so the others should go faster.

So you can see the support attached to the ceiling, as well as the metal strap going from the all thread back to the rear support.

Here's a closeup. Hopefully all my rambling makes some sense. Anyway, I'm really hoping we can get this whole project finished up tomorrow. Lots more pictures, hopefully! Thanks for reading.