FLEXIMOUNTS 4x8 Overhead Garage Storage Rack, Without Decking, Black

This is a build I have been wanting to do for over a year... Part of why I didn't do it sooner was because I could never feel comfortable with how I was going to mount it to the ceiling… I have wanted to make an overhead air filter for a while to help clean the air in my garage/workshop, and last year my neighbor upgraded his home furnace and gave me his old blower. That was step one, but how to house it and mount it is what I was trying to get comfortable with. I thought about chains but was worried it would swing a lot from the force, I thought about mounting it to the ceiling directly with rubber bushings but was worried that the vibration and noise would still be an issue. And then, epiphany, I have an overhead rack in my garage for storage, but I didn’t want to buy another one just to not use the wire base. I found this FLEXIMOUNT system on amazon and for $60-$70 less than a rack with the wire base, I could get this one with NO BASE and modify it how I wanted. It took me maybe two hours to put together by myself, there were times where a second person might have been handy but definitely it can be a one person job. It is super sturdy, I think it is rated to 600 lbs. and after all the build of the enclosure I’m only around 100 pounds, so I’ll actually have additional storage above the shop as well! Can you tell I am super stoked. My other rack in the garage is a more "name brand" one but I can tell you, comparatively, this one is JUST AS STRONG, IF NOT STRONGER, and was for me even easier to put together by myself. And as mentioned, I think one of the best things is simply that you can buy it without a base and save so much money to have what you want. I am going to add some underneath brackets to hold wood and a few other upgrades, so I like that I could make my own base, I used 1/2 inch plywood, anything over 3/8's gives you the 600lb load limit.

Easy to install and strong enough to hold all my Christmas bins.

The components are well built and the design is fairly sophisticated. It assembled easily. It mounted quickly. It is very sturdy and somewhat stylish in white.

At just over a C note, it’s a deal. Design is simple. Square platform that mounts into the ceiling with 6 arms and brackets. Which is great, because the install directions are not the best. My biggest concern was, would it be wobbly and how to mount into the rafter/joist/truss (the wood holding the roof, ceiling and drywall). Anyway, if put together “correctly”, all bolts and nuts tight, wobble is minimum. Finding the wood center for installation was far more challenging, which brought up other concerns. I used an electric wall stud finder. Which showed ghost studs. I ended up going into the small roof space and measured out the spacing between 2x6’s from the back garage wall. That with the stud finder still made finding centers extremely frustrating. Any review saying this thing was easy to put up, paid someone else to do it. I do Lots of remodels and love DIY projects. Believe me, this was a pain the arse to mount. At one point I googled (as we all do) how to install and how much weight would the garage ceiling hold. Several videos showed how to install, few show how to find studs, but even more interesting was the forms regarding how much weight a rafter/joist/truss can hold. Every structural engineer (guys that design buildings) all had the same answer. Zero. Yes, zero. The garage ceiling was made to hold the garage roof and that’s it. Pre-made trusses or on site rafters, all designed to hold the weight of the roof, not to hold hanging storage. Wow! I was floored. I start panicking. I already started putting up brackets. I google “garage ceiling falls from hanging storage.” Nothing. Just a recall unrelated to a ceiling falling. Anyway, at the very most, one engineer said even if the maker advertised storage can hold 600 pounds (like this one) he wouldn’t recommend even half that. Not even 300 pounds. Well, as you can see from the pics. I finished the install anyway. Placed my 180 pound rear on it and prayed. Held. Filled it up with what looks like well over 600 pounds and it’s still holding. To tell the truth, I have mixed feelings. I want all my junk off the garage floor and this is my best option. However, I flinch everytime the ceiling makes a cracking sound. But life is short. So, Against my better judgment and the opinions of structural engineers, I just purchased another one. Just goes to prove. Darwin was wrong.

I owned a competitor's rack, that I installed in the garage of my last house. While that rack was great, it also drove me crazy... If you want to make your life a little easier, purchase an overhead rack that has the following features: 1) Find a rack that has supports at the corners of the rack. With an 8 foot long rack, this makes it much easier to load up the deck from a ladder. When the supports are at the corners of the rack, you don't have to fit with fitting your items around the post. This was a major annoyance with my last rack, and I learned that lesson for this go-around. 2) Find a rack that doesn't have a wire deck. Not every item you're going to put on your storage rack will have a nice flat bottom. With my last rack, it was nearly impossible to push an item to the back side of the rack by sliding it on the wire deck. Often, I had to lift the item completely off of the deck to get it to move where I wanted it. There were a few times where I actually had to get underneath the rack so that I could push and move my items from the underside of the wire mesh decking. Very annoying, even more so when you're on a ladder, or have something heavy you're trying to jostle into position. This is especially important if you can't access all sides of your rack. This rack happens to check both of those boxes. While it doesn't come with a deck, that's almost a blessing in a way... Not only is this rack cheaper, but you can install your own custom decking of a material of your choice. Got an old 3/4" sheet of plywood laying around? Guess what, you just found your deck! I actually didn't have an old sheet of plywood laying around, so I went to Home Depot and picked up an 8'X4' sheet. I initially tried installing the single sheet of plywood, but ran into problems (mostly because I couldn't manipulate the sheet into position while standing on the garage floor, and my wife wasn't strong enough to help me out. I did the next best thing and cut the sheet down into two 4'X4' pieces. Once the sheets were in place, it was a matter of fastening them down with the included wood screws (that probably could have been a touch longer, but they're working as is). The hardest part of the installation is finding the rafters in your roof to tie this rack into. Thankfully, I had lots of pictures of the construction of my garage to help me out... Otherwise, I would have never known that all of the joists weren't in line with each other at certain sides of the garage.... I used a laser level that can project on my ceiling to keep things straight, and that helped immensely.

You need to be ready to work! These units arrive un-assembled and it’s highly recommended that you read the instructions before attempting to assemble it. You’ll need to purchase1/2”- 3/4” plywood as well as the bolts to attach the plywood to the frame. They offer self-tapping screws for attaching the plywood but I chose bolts, just to add more rigidity to the unit. I installed ours under a sloping roof to our carport and I did it alone, so I recommend buying some pizza and beer to get the next door neighbor over for assistance. The frame is extremely strong, once the plywood is attached to reinforce it. I think I could continue to fill it and the roof would come down from the weight before the unit came apart. Note: Their recommended load is no more than 600 lbs. I’m so used to having the storage unit that I don’t even notice it anymore. But, it’s been able to hold all of our outside storage needs for years. It was unused space above our heads and now it’s storage space. The alternative was to rent space and for the cost of the unit (and my free labor) we have a forever storage space and no monthly cost associated with it. I highly recommend this robust and sturdy overhead storage solution. As I said, it will require some labor to finish the unit, but it was worth it to us. nb. I’m 75 years old and installed it myself, so you younger people should have no problem assembling it.

Man, this thing is a garage lifesaver, have to buy another one soon. It fits great in the garage with it having an adjustable height. Holds a metric crap ton of weight, and with the size, it's perfect for two rows of 27 gallon storage totes. It's super sturdy after everything is installed and you pick up some wood for the bottom. It was a brute to install, not easy to install by yourself, luckily I had help, even with two people it still was not the easiest. Will absolutely be purchasing another one, possibly two (the 3x6 would definitely make a great spot to store my ladders without taking up too much space).

40"x4'x8' (HxWxD) gives you a surprising amount of storage space you didn't have before. I purchased some nice sanded 4'x4' 15/32" plywood at a local hardware store to make this thing cheaper and better looking than the other version offered with a wire grid. Installation wasn't terribly awful by myself, but finding overhead studs in a fully dry-walled garage and marking holes was the most time-consuming part. Measure, re-measure, then measure one more time. Hello evening anti-flammatory medication for the back that night! Once the ceiling brackets were successfully installed, assembling and mounting the shelf itself was pretty straightforward. It all seems somewhat flimsy at first, being just thin gauge metal, but once fully assembled it's actually pretty darn sturdy once tightened down. By design the brackets allow for some play so I loosely installed everything until completely assembled. When I was satisfied everything was in order I then tightened all nuts, bolts and screws down. The shelf frees up a remarkable amount of space below, so overall I say mission accomplished. Despite claiming a 600lb capacity (with min. 3/8 plywood) I still knocked off 1 star for sturdiness. After assembly the shelf will still rock a bit if pushed. While I don't doubt the capacity claim of a static load I won't be looking to test that limit any time soon.