Closet Shopping

I was very low energy this week, so I did not accomplish too much. But I did wake up and get out of bed at a non-degenerate hour on Tuesday, so I used my short burst of life to go to Home Depot and buy materials for the closet.

Before that, I did finish modeling the closet in SketchUp. It's not entirely accurate but it was enough to estimate how much materials I needed.

I used a stud finder to determine where I should put the shelf/rod supports. I decided using the standard shelf/rod hardware available at Home Depot would be the easiest and safest option. I also decided to have three supports instead of just one in the middle because based on my internet research, you should have a support every 3 feet. It will also be supported on both ends of the closet in the rod socket, so I think it should be fairly sturdy.

The full length of the closet is 100", or 8'4". This causes two potential issues, which hopefully won't be issues.

1. Rods come in 8-foot and 12-foot lengths. If I'm using a 1x4" board for the shelf cleat, which has an actual depth of 0.75", I would need the rod to be about 8'2" long, so I could buy a 12-foot rod and cut it down. But a 12-foot rod definitely would not fit in my car safely, so I would need to get it cut in-store, if they do that? Or I could double up the cleat so, in combination with the rod sockets, an 8-foot rod would hopefully be long enough.
2. I also wanted to use a 1x12" board for the shelf, which also comes in 8-foot length. So I need to extend it a little bit so it can rest on top of the side cleats. My current plan is to attach 1x2" strips on both sides, which will also hide the tops of the doubled side cleats. I don't know if this is structurally sound, but the shelf is also supported by the back cleat and the three shelf/rod supports, so... I hope it's good enough.

So on Tuesday after lunch, I made my first trip to Home Depot for research. I looked at things online, but I wanted to see them in person too. I found the shelf/rod supports and brought them to the boards to make sure they lined up like I wanted them too. I only bought the supports and sockets, since I wasn't sure how I would get the long stuff home yet, or if I would get them delivered or something.

I came home and found out I could not get the boards delivered. I could potentially ask my sister to borrow her truck, but I don't like waiting on other people. Or I could rent a moving van/truck. But then I remembered the previous owner of my house left a wire shelf in the garage that wasn't installed. I measured it and it was 20-in x 8-ft. That's actually the perfect dimensions for testing if the things I want will fit! (I did measure with a tape measure before too, but it didn't inspire confidence in me because the tape measure is not rigid.) And to my surprise, the shelf fit! It was nowhere near the windshield, which is what I was worried about.

I also realized I didn't have screws for the supports, or screws to attach the cleats to the walls, so I had to go back anyway. (Note: The picture above was taken after I bought the screws.)

I think I had to hype myself up for half an hour to go back. I was worried about looking silly in the store, and worried I was buying the wrong stuff. But you know what, I learn by making mistakes. And it wouldn't be a super expensive mistake.

I actually spent most of my time looking at screws because I realized I wasn't exactly sure which ones I needed. The shelf/rod supports had an accompanying screw kit I could buy, but because I was installing cleats too, the length of some of the screws wouldn't be long enough. For the cleats to the walls, I think I need 2.5" screws (0.75" through the cleat, 0.5" through the drywall, and 1.25" into the stud). But I realized after I got home that if I'm effectively using 2x4"s for the side cleats, I would need 3.5" screws too. Well, a problem with an easy fix for another day.

Then, I had a fun time pushing the big cart around with 8-foot long materials. I did not run into anything or anyone.

Everything fit in my car without much fuss. They didn't even slide around when I drove, but I drove slowly just in case.

Now everything is just sitting in the garage. I need to empty the closet and make proper measurements before I start cutting stuff. I also bought a laser level, so I can make sure I'm measuring and installing straight. I'll probably patch some of the holes while the closet is clear-ish, but I don't think I'll do much else until next week, but I'm happy with the progress I've made already.