wood storage dilemma

[Allen Epps]

Wouldn't getting a wench create more problems.? Oh' wait sorry I understand now :) Allen

[Mike in Mystic]

Hi everyone,

SWMBO and I are at loggerheads regarding my wood storage/shop space. To date, she has had this old POS piano that she says she's going to restore sitting in one corner of the garage/shop. I need/want the space to set up more workstation/storage space. She offered that if I take down my wood storage rack that is along the back wall of the other garage bay, and move the piano there, then things would be fine. Ugh.

The only other option I have is the attic storage above the garage, which is actually quite spacious. There is a hoist on one end and a swing-out set of double doors. Inside is a pull-down staircase.

My question is - does anyone have experience dealing with lumber storage upstairs in a loft/attic like this? Is a hoist the best/easiest/safest way to get rough lumber in reasonably long (approx. 8'-12') lengths into such a space? It just seems like a royal PITA to me, but I have to live with the space I have for now. There really isn't any space on my property to build an outdoor shed or other storage facility.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Mike

[James]

Mike

best bet is to restore the piano and put it in the house, then you would have the room and maybe a reason to buy a new tool.

James

Mike > Hi everyone,

[Vic Baron]

Mike -

I agree -

Option one - restore the piano first and try to get a new tool out of it. Also, you might point out to your wife that having an old piano sitting in a garage for any length of time will play havoc with the innards. Restoring it can become quite costly if you have to replace hammers and pads, etc.

option two - make the supreme effort and put the piano in the attic - you'll only have to move it once . It will probably stay there.

option 3 - a little drastic maybe but woodworking is woodworking - get rid of SWMBO. - BONUS!! - put her IN the piano and get rid of both at the same time, unless there's some really good wood in the piano.

If you MUST keep SWMBO, see option one

HTH,

Vic

[bridger]

sounds like an excuse to get a nice winch....

[sawdust]

Enough room for a lean-2 off your shop? daviswoodshop

"Mike in Mystic" wrote

There really isn't any space on my property to build

[Edwin Pawlowski]

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You have a few way to go here. Just pick what you think suits your personality best.

Option 1 Put some dried grass in the piano. Tell your wife rodents were living in the during the winter. You think you got them out, but can't be sure. That will free up some space.

Option 2 Just remind her that the garage is YOUR space, the laundry room is HER space and since you don't bother her so she should do the same. What makes this option so appealing is there will be little discussion as your lawyer will negotiate the settlement.

Option 3 Put in a pull down stairs and start carrying up the wood.

Ed [e-mail]

[Mike in Mystic]

I forgot to mention that there is no room in the house for the piano. SWMBO thinks we MAY put an addition on the house in maybe 5 years! So, yes, you guessed it, she thinks the piano will be just fine sitting in the garage for that long before restoring it. As most of you know better than I, there's no reasoning with a woman. None at all.

Some of the suggestions were quite inventive though, I must say.

[Dave Hinz]

She, er, doesn't know about newsgroups I hope, right? I mean, otherwise you might want to put a mattress in it, all things considered.

Free advice, and all that...you know the saying.

[Kevin Wilcox]

You might not need to go all the way to the attic. I built a frame out of

2x6's big enough to hold about 100bf that is suspended from the garage/shop ceiling. Dims are about 4'x9'. One short end is connected to the ceiling joists with heavy duty hinges. The other end is held up with chains & screw-eyes when stored in the up position, with double pulley and hand winch system used to lower it to the ground when I need to get to the wood. The winch is bolted to the TS frame. It sounds kind of scary, but it really is not. Seem much easier than fishing a 10' long board through a pull down stair. Kevin PS: I'm a structural engineer, so I was comfortable in saying my ceiling joist could support the load. You'll need some way to verify that your ceiling will support the load, whether you're on top of the ceiling or hanging underneath it.

[Bernard Randall]

A lot depends on where you live, on the occasions I've been in my loft during summer here in Texas you get not only extemes of heat but at times quite high humidity. I haven't been here that long but all the lumber I've bought has been kiln dried, so at the least I would expect you will have to be careful in your planning to bring down anything to equalize before maching operations. In the circumstances I'd at least invest in a moisture meter if you don't already have one.

On the original question, having lived on a sailboat, a common operation is lifting the dinghy on deck and that is normally done with a halyard and one of the the deck winches, unless your going to hauling huge quantities of lumber it would probably be much quicker to go with a 2 or 3 part block and tackle. IMO with a chain hoist you'll be running chain forever, a small manual winch should also give you all the mechanical advantage you need.

Bernard R

[Morris Dovey]

I think the possibilities have all been pretty well covered - except one:

How about partially disassembling the piano and storing it in the attic?

[Lee Gordon]

Mike ...

How about storing the piano here:

[Todd Fatheree]

Or for what it will cost monthly to store it, just give the piano away now and buy a new one in 5 years with the monthly savings.

todd

[j.duprie]

Attics are great for lumber storage. For years I kept all of my standing stock on the second floor of my shop. I had a "hay door" - a door from the second floor to nothing - I'd park my truck under the hay door, and slide the lumber onto the floor. Then I'd go upstairs and stack it nicely.

One big advantage: if your attic is anything like normal, ir gets really hot and dry up there. If you;ve gota saw mill anywhere near you (or a bandsaw mill guy) you can usually get green wood for cheap (I pay something like $0.25 BF for 12" wide pine, and about $0.35 for oak). Stack and sticker in the attic, and let it sit for a year per inch of thickness. Almost free wood.......

Kepp floor loads in mind though. Wet oak is *heavy*....

--JD

[Doug Miller]

Stack the wood on the piano?

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter, send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

[Schroeder]

[Charley]

My shop is in a 14' x 26' barn style outbuilding with a 5 1/2' high attic area. I have a small area at one end of the shop that I store the wood for any "work in process" but use the attic area for all other wood storage. Like you I have a pull-down stairway and an outside door access to the second floor. Although it would be more convenient to have everything on one level I've found that my arrangement works fairly well for boards up to 10' length. If they are longer than that it's impossible for me to get them down through the stairwell. Sheet goods larger than 3' x 6' won't go through it either. These require me to go up and open the outside door, pass the piece out through and lower it to the ground, then close and latch the door, and then come down and go outside to retrieve the needed wood. Since my projects don't usually tend to be very large and I only do hobby and home maintenance this works OK for me, but I wouldn't consider it acceptable if I was in business. The wood itself holds up fine when stored up there and the solar heating of the roof (well ventilated)keeps the moisture content low. I need help to get 4' x 8' sheet stock up through the outside door but I can manage everything else OK. I don't have a hoist. Maybe you could figure a way to do it yourself with that. I would much rather have first floor storage, but this is workable for me.

Maybe, with that hoist and those big double doors up there you could put the piano up in the attic. You would need help to get it up there (and again in

5 years to get it back down) but that would solve all of your problems.

[skeezics]

well you could always have an accident. maybe something heavy could just happen to fall on the piano rendering it worthless. sneeky but most effective! lol.....

skeez