How to Install a Wire Shelving Closet Organizer
The closet in our kid's playroom was constructed as a clothing closet. It had the standard hanger rod and upper shelf. What I really needed was lots of shelving to hold boxes and toys. And I did want some sort of hanging rod for dress up clothes and costumes, but not six feet off the ground. After a bit of looking around, I decided that a wire shelving system was the best option for this application because of its low cost and flexible configuration.
This type of home improvement project is not too difficult. You'll require a drill and a hacksaw. The rest of the tools are probably in your basic toolkit- level, pencil, screwdriver. The only difficult part of the job may be the removal of the existing closet shelf and rod. My existing shelf was nailed and caulked to the wall and required some light demolition. If you need to do this, add a hammer, utility knife, and needle-nose pliers to the list of required tools. Once I removed the old shelf and rod, I spackled, sanded, and painted the closet. Now we are ready to install the closet organizer.
There are two primary methods for installing a wire shelving system. One method involves screwing the shelves and support brackets directly into the wall. The second method (the one I used) uses a top support rail upon which several tracks are hung. An alternative to the second method is to attach each track directly to a wall stud, thereby eliminating the need for the top support rail. However, I prefer using the top rail for two reasons. First, you level the top rail and don't need to worry about leveling each track. Second, you don't need to find a wall stud for every track because the top support rail is screwed into the double top plate of the wall and can support a lot of weight.
I purchased Closetmaid wire shelving from Home Depot. You can buy a kit with a basic configuration. I purchased my pieces a la carte because I had a particular setup in mind. The first thing I did was to mount the top support rail. This required drilling into the double top plate and securing the rail with several large screws. Make sure you use a level- don't just mount it flush with the ceiling. It is unlikely that the intersection between your wall and ceiling is perfectly level.
Once the top rail is secure, you can hang the tracks from the rail. You can see that the top rail is sturdy. However, I recommend that you find at least a couple of studs to mount tracks to. The rest of the tracks can be screwed to the drywall (use anchors). I only used two screws for each track. The top rail will bear most of the load and I wanted to minimize the number of holes in the rear wall in case I ever wanted to move or remove the tracks.
Now you get to use your hacksaw. Measure the inside of the closet and mark the shelves a little shorter to provide a margin. Then trim the shelves by saw the wire. You never knew sawing through metal would be so easy, huh? Attach little rubber end caps to all the cut wires.
You can play around with the configuration. That's the nice thing about using a track mounted system. It is very easy to reconfigure. I bought some storage containers and spaced my shelves to fit the containers.
Good luck!
Jon
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