Overhead Garage Storage: What Your Ceiling Has to Give You
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Part of the garage organization guide.
Overhead garage storage is for the things you rarely reach for. Two things decide whether your garage can take it: the height left under the ceiling once the door is open, and what your ceiling is built from.
The rack sits in the gap between the ceiling and the open door panel, with room to spare.
- 1measurement decides it: ceiling down to the open door panel
- 2the ceiling itself, established before you drill
- 3the weight rating, read for the exact model
- 4what goes up: only what you rarely fetch
Find out what is there. On a ceiling, locate the structure with a stud finder, and stop there if it finds nothing rather than guessing. On a wall, scan with a detector that finds metal and live wires while the power is still on, then turn that circuit off at the panel. If anything in your garage runs on gas, a gas line may run in that wall too, and that is not something to find with a drill. When you are not certain what is behind the spot you picked, have the holes placed by a licensed professional. The full list of checks is in the garage guide.
Fix only where the instructions say. What a ceiling rack hangs from is named in the instructions that come with it, and your ceiling is what decides whether it can go up at all. Use a stud finder to locate that structure and mark it before you buy anything. Fix only into what those instructions name as a fixing point, and nothing else. They say which ceiling types the rack is approved for and how to fix into each one. If they do not cover the surface you have, ask the maker before you drill. If you cannot tell what you are looking at, ask a builder, or have the rack put up by someone who installs them.
Weight. The weight the rack is rated to carry is printed on its packaging or in those instructions. Stay under it, read it for the exact model rather than the range, and fit the rack with a second pair of hands.
The door. Once the rack is up, run the door through a full open and close and watch from a safe distance that nothing on the rack comes near the moving panel.
On the ladder. Keep both hands for the ladder. Anything you cannot carry down one-handed goes down with someone passing it to you, or it does not go up there at all.
Page 4 of our free Garage Fit Planner is this one measurement, taken with the garage door all the way open. It also carries what the SafeRacks installation manual tells you to watch for, in the section it calls Finding the Perfect Location. Five printable pages.
The measurement that decides whether overhead garage storage fits
What to measure
From the ceiling down to the open door panel, with the garage door all the way open
On a sectional door the panel travels back under the ceiling on a track, and that track is now in the space you were planning to use. The gap you measure is what you have to work with, and the rack has to sit inside it with room to spare rather than fill it.
What to do before you order
1
Open the door and measure the gap between ceiling and door
Open the garage door fully and look at where it sits, then measure from the ceiling down to the open door panel. Take the figure before you look at a single product page: it rules out most of them for you.
2
Establish what your ceiling is built from
Find the structure with a stud finder and mark it, then check the rack’s instructions against what you found. This is the step that decides whether the rack can go up at all, and it comes before the order, not after.
3
Decide what is going up there
Buy bins that stack in the rack’s footprint, closed and matched in size. An overhead rack of loose boxes is awkward to reach into from a ladder. The other three garage systems are set out in garage storage systems, and for the walls below, see wall mounted garage shelving.
4
Read the weight rating and the fixing instructions
Before, not after. Ratings differ between models in the same range, so read the figure for the exact rack you are buying rather than for the range it belongs to.
Armadillo Tough sells ceiling mounted racks alongside its free standing and wall mounted shelving, so you can compare all three mountings in one range. See the racks
The rule that keeps overhead garage storage usablethis year low, last year high
If a thing needs a ladder, you will not get it down on a whim. Put this year’s gear within reach and last year’s overhead.
Use closed bins up there, matched in size. An overhead rack of loose boxes is awkward to reach into from a ladder.
What belongs up there, and what does nottwo columns
| What to put overhead | What to keep at hand height |
|---|---|
| Seasonal decorations | Tools you use monthly |
| Camping and luggage | Anything heavy |
| Spare bedding in sealed bins | Chemicals and paint |
| Out of season sports gear | Anything heavy or bulky enough to need two hands |
Frequently asked questionsthree answers
How much weight can overhead garage storage hold?
Read the rating printed on the packaging or in the instructions for the exact rack you are buying. Ratings differ between models in the same range.
Will an overhead rack hit my garage door?
Open the door fully, then measure from the ceiling down to the open panel. That gap is what you have to work with, and the rack has to sit inside it with room to spare rather than fill it. Once it is up, run the door through a full open and close and watch from a safe distance that nothing on the rack comes near the moving panel.
What should I store in overhead garage storage?
What you rarely fetch: seasonal decorations, camping gear, luggage, out of season sports equipment. Keep chemicals and anything heavy at hand height.
Measure the gap under the open door
Page 4 of our free Garage Fit Planner is this one measurement, taken with the garage door all the way open. It also carries what the SafeRacks installation manual tells you to watch for, in the section it calls Finding the Perfect Location. Five printable pages.
Compare ceiling and wall mounted
Armadillo Tough sells all three: ceiling racks, wall mounted shelving and free standing units.
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