So first I'm sorry this question is totally unrelated to chickens or coop construction, but I have a conundrum and I know there are a roomful of construction experts in this forum. So may I ask for some advice, please?
I need to build a shelf. A BIG one. It's to span over a bank of refrigerator and freezers in our storage room. It cannot 'rest' on top of the appliances, obviously, but needs to be supported on the ends and edges only. It will fill the end of the room, 132" wide corner-to-corner, and 30-32" deep. I will store lightweight, bulky things on top, such as blankets and pillows, bulk toilet paper and paper towels, and empty totes and coolers - maybe 300-400 lbs. total. Of course I need to maintain air flow around the appliances as well. There's very little space to add vertical supports on each end, and doubtful if I can put a support pole in the center (I'd rather not, if possible).
I'd like to use what I have on-hand as much as possible. I have a whole pile of used 2x4's and 4x8 wood siding panels at my disposal. I'm aware I'd have to buy a couple of 12-ft long pieces of lumber for front and back edges. But I cannot find anywhere around here with 12' long plywood, and anyway that's a whole lot of weight and awkwardness to try to wrestle into place for a 63-yo woman doing it myself. I'm handy with tools and have the necessary circular saw, power drills, carpenter square, stud-finder, etc.
Here's the room:
And here are a couple of sketches of what I think it might look like:
I can rest the corners of the frame on top of 2x4's attached to the walls to help with stability, though I cannot decide if I must wrestle sections of plywood or siding up there, or if I can do it with 1x12 boards cut in the 30-inch direction. I used the "Sagulator" suggested by @saysfaa here https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/ and it would be a piece of cake IF I could get my hands on a 12' long sheet of plywood, OSB or siding, AND wrestle that monster up to the shelf supports. Not happening. I could do it with one 4x8 sheet in sections (one piece 30" x 96" and two fill-in sections at each end of 30" x 18"), or better yet, planks (1x12x30", about 12 of them). But I am completely unsure if the front horizontal board could support the weight safely if the shelf material isn't all in one piece.
Advice, please?
I need to build a shelf. A BIG one. It's to span over a bank of refrigerator and freezers in our storage room. It cannot 'rest' on top of the appliances, obviously, but needs to be supported on the ends and edges only. It will fill the end of the room, 132" wide corner-to-corner, and 30-32" deep. I will store lightweight, bulky things on top, such as blankets and pillows, bulk toilet paper and paper towels, and empty totes and coolers - maybe 300-400 lbs. total. Of course I need to maintain air flow around the appliances as well. There's very little space to add vertical supports on each end, and doubtful if I can put a support pole in the center (I'd rather not, if possible).
I'd like to use what I have on-hand as much as possible. I have a whole pile of used 2x4's and 4x8 wood siding panels at my disposal. I'm aware I'd have to buy a couple of 12-ft long pieces of lumber for front and back edges. But I cannot find anywhere around here with 12' long plywood, and anyway that's a whole lot of weight and awkwardness to try to wrestle into place for a 63-yo woman doing it myself. I'm handy with tools and have the necessary circular saw, power drills, carpenter square, stud-finder, etc.
Here's the room:
And here are a couple of sketches of what I think it might look like:
I can rest the corners of the frame on top of 2x4's attached to the walls to help with stability, though I cannot decide if I must wrestle sections of plywood or siding up there, or if I can do it with 1x12 boards cut in the 30-inch direction. I used the "Sagulator" suggested by @saysfaa here https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/ and it would be a piece of cake IF I could get my hands on a 12' long sheet of plywood, OSB or siding, AND wrestle that monster up to the shelf supports. Not happening. I could do it with one 4x8 sheet in sections (one piece 30" x 96" and two fill-in sections at each end of 30" x 18"), or better yet, planks (1x12x30", about 12 of them). But I am completely unsure if the front horizontal board could support the weight safely if the shelf material isn't all in one piece.
Advice, please?