When I moved into my own house a decade ago, I needed to do something about my surfboard. In my apartment, they were always stuffed into a corner — an ineffective storage method — and my daughter wasn’t crawling yet. But at home, with a newly mobile baby, standing boards would be a little dangerous. I had to solve this problem.
While many companies have pre-made surfboard racks, none of what was available worked for my needs. My father-in-law, a former shop teacher, took a long 2 x 4, cut out angled slots, and then using dowels and foot-long 2 x 4, created five sides extending from the main plank. He built similar racks that we bolted to the garage wall. The pair of arms worked together to elevate the boards so they were out of harm’s way, out of sight, and stored so the garage actually remained usable.
When we first set it up, I had the exact number of boards to fill the rack. But over time, as always happens with athletes and hobbyists, gear accumulated. Once the pandemic hit, outdoor play equipment became harder to find — and when the outdoors became our sanctuary, I started buying foam boards to teach my kids, and potato-shaped boards because They were fun, and longboards because I live in a place where the surf often demands it. In the end, I more than doubled my surfboard collection. Although I no longer had crawling babies to worry about and the garage was too busy with other things to park a car, I still wanted to create a system for elevating the boards. Once again, a pile of boards stood wobbly in the corner. But with all the available wall space in the garage filled with hanging bikes and ladders and camping gear, I needed a new design to accommodate the half-dozen more boards parked in the corner.
This is where the new rack will go.
When a lightbulb went out (in the garage), a lightbulb went off (in my mind), and I realized I had all this space available above the garage door tracks. While there was already a beam running across the width of the garage to hold the garage door track and opener in place, adding another beam and metal joist hangers were only part of the solution. In order to line up the beam already installed in my garage, the second beam would essentially have to rest right on top of the garage track.
While changing a bulb I dropped something from the stairs. Then, like that apocryphal Newton-Apple story, another bright idea came to mind: gravity. Over time, the wood beam I planned to install would bow from gravity and the weight of the boards. I didn’t want to put any pressure on the garage door tracks, which could potentially damage the entire system. When I consulted with my father-in-law, we came up with a plan that involved a chain system that would be tied into the ceiling and attached to the new beam to prevent any sagging. This is definitely an extra step to set up the chain. But if adding it to this dream project will help preserve overhead space, avoid complications with the garage door down the road, and get those surfboards off the floor, it’s worth the extra measure.
Top image by Kolderle/Getty Images
