How to Make Heavy Duty Shelves With Particle Board

Particle board is similar to plywood.

Adequate storage space is a crucial component to keeping your home neat and organized. If you need more shelves in your garage, laundry room or other area of the home, you can build them instead of purchasing them. Particle board is a compressed-wood product that is inexpensive and makes sturdy shelving units. If the objects you are storing are heavy, choose thicker particle board for more support and durability. Homeowners can purchase both particle board and mounting brackets at home improvement stores.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Chalk snap line
• Carpenter's level
• Stud finder
• 1-by-2-inch wooden cleats
• 2-inch-long drywall screws
• Power drill
• Metal shelf brackets
• 3/4-inch particle board, 16 inches wide
• Safety glasses
• Dust mask
• Power saw

Instructions

1. Measure the length of the wall where you are installing the shelving using a tape measure. This is the maximum length of the particle board shelf, although you can make it shorter if desired.

2. Find one of the tallest items that you want to store on the shelf and measure the height. This is how far down the wall to mount the particle board shelf so the items will fit on top.

3. Walk to the left side of the wall and measure down from the ceiling until reaching the height of the object you measured. Place a pencil mark on the wall. Move down to the right side of the wall and repeat the process to make another pencil mark there.

4. Stretch a chalk line from one pencil mark to the other and snap it against the wall to create a blue guideline for the shelf. Place a carpenter's level on the line to ensure that it is level. If your ceiling is not level, the air bubble will not center because the lines were at different heights. In this case, re-snap the line up or down as needed until it is level.

5. Move a stud finder along the chalk line until it lights up and place a mark at the location of each light, which is where a wall stud is. Place a 1-by-2-inch wooden cleat strip up to the wall and insert 2-inch-long drywall screws through it at the locations of the wall studs.

6. Place a metal L-shaped shelf bracket under the cleat at the location of each stud with one arm flush with the wall and the other arm extending out toward you. Secure the brackets to the wall using 2-inch-long drywall screws and a power drill.

7. Don a dust mask and safety glasses and place a piece of 16-inch-wide particle board on a work table. Measure down to the distance you measured for the shelf length or choose any length desired. Draw a pencil line across the particle board and cut along the line using a power saw. Repeat the process to cut any additional desired shelves.

8. Place the particle board shelf on top of the metal shelf brackets. Hold the shelf down and insert 1/2-inch-long screws through the bottom of the brackets up into the board using a power drill. Install all additional particle board shelves in the same manner.

References

• The Home Depot: Engineered Wood Choose the Right Type for your Project
• Danny Lipford: How to Build Shelves for Storage in a Garage