Garage Shelving Cut List Template

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A simple heavy-duty shelving plan

Garage shelving rewards a simple, strong design: full-depth plywood shelves carried on plywood or 2x4 uprights, spaced to hold bins and boxes. Because the shelves are large rectangles, a 4x8 sheet cuts into shelves with almost no waste when the depth is chosen to divide the sheet evenly. This template assumes a shelf unit 96 inches long, 16 inches deep, and 72 inches tall with five shelves. Adjust the length and shelf count to your wall and load, then keep the structure.

Garage shelving parts list

Material: 3/4 in plywood shelves, 2x4 uprights
Kerf allowance: 1/8 in between cuts
Tip: three 16 in rips exceed 48 in once positive kerf is included

Part          | Size (in)   | Qty
--------------+-------------+----
Shelf         | 16 x 96     | 5
Upright (2x4) | 72          | 4
Cross brace   | 16 x 13     | 8
Back cleat    | 3 x 96      | 5

Three finished 16 inch shelves plus two 1/8 inch kerfs need 48-1/4 inches of usable width, so they do not fit across a 48 inch sheet. Reduce the finished depth only if the design allows it, or plan more sheets. The 2x4 uprights carry the load, and back cleats screw the unit to wall studs for stability.

Fit the shelves on a sheet

Shelf depth is the lever that controls waste here. A depth that divides 48 evenly (12, 16, or 24 inches) turns a sheet into full-length shelves with almost nothing left over. To confirm how many sheets your shelf count needs and to test different depths, run the shelves through the plywood cut calculator with your kerf value.

Save the plan in the CutList app so you can scale the unit up later. For a weekend build walkthrough, read the garage shelf weekend project.

Plan your garage shelving

Cut order and waste tips

Rip the sheet into shelf-depth strips first, then crosscut the strips to length so every shelf matches. Because shelves are long and heavy, support the offcut as you finish each cut. Cut back cleats from the leftover strips. For the depth-choosing logic that drives low waste, read how to reduce plywood waste and how many sheets of plywood do I need.

For more sheet-good projects, try the closet shelving cut list template or the workbench cut list template.

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