Hey guys,
This is my first post so I’ll quickly introduce myself. My name is Marc Stonestreet and I’m a carpenter living in Toronto, Canada. I’m just a hair away from finishing my apprenticeship and I love what I do.
Now, down to brass tax. I just got back from having a haircut and while the owner of the place was cutting my hair, we got to talking about how she needs a carpenter (who doesn’t, eh?). She told me she wants to have a new display for her products made up of barn board or similar rough looking wood suspended from the ceiling with airline cable to match her existing decor of exposed brick and glass, hardwood floors, etc.
The long and short of it is, I don’t know much about how to tie these systems in to the existing structure, and I’m not sure that threaded rod wouldn’t do a better job of it. But how would you fasten threaded rod into the joists above without doing significant damage to the drywall ceiling.
Any help would be hugely appreciated.
Marc
Replies
How much weight do the products amount to?
The weight per square foot wouldn't be much, as it's shampoos and conditioners, and I'd like for it to support a person. There would be 5 shelves ten feet long with supports at every other joist. Also the rod or cable would be front and back as opposed to centered in its depth.
How about a top plate?
Terminate all the threaded rods into a top plate, perhaps with T nuts. Then bolt that top plate to the ceiling joists. Zero damage to the drywall.
That's a pretty good idea. Thanks Norman!
Is it a conventional house-style ceiling or more commercial style? Can you get above the ceiling?
Easiest thing, of course, is to just drive eye bolts into the joists and tie the cable to those. Clamp with crimp-on ferrules after looping the cable through the eye. That may suit the rustic style.
Fancier is to drive in double-ended (hanger) bolts and then use the cable grip ends that they use for cable railings.
For threaded rods you'd use hanger bolts and couplings.
Whatever you do you want it not to come sliding down in 6 months (or 6 years) because the cable slips. Crimps CAN be secure, but it's always hard to be confident if you don't use a good quality crimper, so don't try to get away cheap by crimping with a pair of pliers or whatnot.
Thanks for the suggestion Dan. Of course, I'd rather the shelving never fall apart. I am after all still early in the game and I don't want to put my name on anything that won't outlast me or its intended purpose. Bad for business.
As far as the ceiling's construction, I don't know, I imagine it's old growth, Fir 2x8 joists running adjacent to the proposed shelves. There is a bulkhead projecting six inches into the space and I'm afraid that might be steel stud. Even if it isn't, I don't know that I want to fasten into it for any real load. I like the idea of threaded rod though, as I could carry that down to the floor on the back side and have it terminate at the underside of the bottom shelf for the front side. Then just tie the back rods to the bulkhead framing to keep it from wanting to twist or tip.
Thanks for the help guys. If it happens I'll post some pics. There's a great place in the city here that sells reclaimed woods that I've been hoping to support.
Marc
I've done some work for barbershops, and it can be good work.
But, the conditions always seem to vary.
And, never underestimate the weight of hair care products, they add up quickly.
Now, for the shelf material, go look up "sagulator" on line and that will be a handy place to start.
I've done some shelving units with all-thread trying for least-visible verticals a time or two.
If these are ever to be adjustable, use a nut and washer to support the shelf.
Do not, as I tried the once (just once) to use the screw-into-wood machine-threaded ferrules. It's a good idea, but, you need a rigid jig to hole all of the shelves in their absolute final position, so you can thread the rods through, one rod at a time, all the shelves in a batch.
Now, to make the all-thread prettier, you can use heat-shrink tubing or thin-wall tubing.
were you successful?
Hi there,
I just read your post and I'm interested in having the same thing done for my client. Just wondering if you were successful in building the showcase, and would like to do it again? I've been searching for the possibility of having this created without sourcing out of the country.
Sincerely,
Clever Interiors