Bin storage shelving (the easy way)

This instructible is for building easy cheap storage shelves for 18 gallon plastic storage bins. I estimate the cost is about $40-$45 for materials and roughly $70 for the bins.

For those of you interested in a bit of background I'll give it to you here. My wife and I just bought our first house and realized how much crap we had. I wanted an easy way to store things in the basment but currently it is a bit damp down there. I found an instructible for bin shelving and thought it was cool but over complicated. I simplified it and here it is.

I am not going to get into exacts with this instructible. I will throw out some basic dimensions but its just shelving not like building a house.

Step 1 The plan (basic layout and dimensions)

I decided I want to fit 18 gallon bins which I found at Walmart for 5.50. I measured the bins and decided to make the slots 19"x19"x18.5". I then roughly figured using a length of 8' and the height of my basement I could fit 12 bins in my storage system. I decided to keep it off the floor just in case we got some water in the basement so I raised it by 4"

Comments

[mrmath]

To make sure something is square, like a rectangle in this case---

WAIT! A rectangle square? In this case "square" means all right angles in the corners. Like the angles in a door frame are supposed to be. (Technically, btw, a square is a rectangle, but that's a whole other story.

--you simply measure the distance from one corner to the opposite corner, then do it again with the opposite pair. Make an X through your rectangle with your tape measure, if you will.

These two measurements should be equal, and that would make your rectangle square.

[rlosiniecki]

Thank you that is a excellent explanation.

[russ_hensel]

My experience is that 2 x 4's are much heavier than necessary, so I cut them in half lengthwise ( on a table saw ). This cuts the cost in half as well, and makes the installation more compact.