Oil tank storage shelf

HMF

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Space is tight in a tiny workshop area, so I can't afford to waste the space above the oil tank, bad enough I lose the space where the tank is.

When I walled in the shop, I left the tank open, but realized that if I framed it in, I could make the wall in front a half wall with a shelf above to store miscellaneous supplies and tools.
I plan to put pegboard on the front of the 1/2 wall to make it look nice.

Nelson

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Insurance companies around here are making it almost impossible to use oil for heating. One of the best things I did was yank the oil fired boiler and oil starage tank out and replace with Natural Gas, if for no other reason than that was almost 18 sq feet of valuable shop space that the oil tank took up.

Walter
 
Walter,

If I had $9000 bucks lying around, I would get rid of the oil tank and oil system in a second. It's dirty, expensive, and a pain in the ass. Add to that the tank takes up space I could use for my shop area OR a bathroom down in the basement (a simple toilet would be nice right in my shop area). The waste line for the bathroom upstairs is right where the tank is, you can see it on the left side of the photo, so if that ^&%# tank wasn't there, I could install a "flush up" toilet there.

Meanwhile, I am in a 8x 10 area with two mills, a lathe, two drill presses and a HF metal saw. The machinery fits, but storage is a problem. I had to isolate the electrical area into a "closet" of sorts for when the electrician puts in the bigger panel. While I was at it, I had the idea of making the front wall 2/3 height (I am tall so that the 52"-53" height is at arm's reach for me) a shelf. The idea of losing the entire 18' square ticked me off, so I found this way of using the area above the tank. The bottom wall will be pegboard to make it look nice, on top of 5/8 sheetrock so it will be fireproof. The shelf will have some 3/4" plywood on it (I threw anything on top just to be able to store things for now). This way, I feel that I am getting some use of of wasted space.

As you can see, it is loaded with stuff now, and holds things that I won't need for the machines. All of the other walls of the shop have been made with 2x6's so that there are built-in shelves to hold things.


Nelson
 
starlight_tools link=topic=2804.msg19217#msg19217 date=1311121309 said:
Insurance companies around here are making it almost impossible to use oil for heating. One of the best things I did was yank the oil fired boiler and oil starage tank out and replace with Natural Gas, if for no other reason than that was almost 18 sq feet of valuable shop space that the oil tank took up.

Walter

I've not heard of that before. Why is that? Oil heat is ubiquitous here in the states.
 
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I think the big thing is the environmental cleanup from spilled oil. If a house is sold and there is a buried oil tank, it has to be removed and the ground inspected. One of the neighbours had a buried tank, that had never been used and he still had to dig it up. All the gas stations in the area are having to dig up and replace their tanks as well.

My oil tank was sitting in the garage so was never buried, nor ever in the weather, and I changed it over at the time I redid the roof. I had to replace the chimney and at that time had to decide which way to go, put in another chimney for the oil burner or change the chimney and the heat system now.

I agree with Nelson about putting storage shelves over the oil tank, that is exactly what I had done.

Walter
 
One problem with what I built was that they put the tank a few inches from the foundation wall, so there is no way to put in a plate and 2/3 studs like I did in front of the tank, just not enough clearance to get back there. As a result, the 2x4 going across is unsupported in the center and could sag. Putting a ledger board on the wall might work if it stays in the concrete.

What I may have to do is to prebuilt a mini-truss to span the 2x4 underneath and add support.

It sure is good to have the extra storage- I can put rods of steel in tubes across the shelf for materials storage.


Nelson
 
Use a piece of steel channel or tube, and weld a tab to each end that you can bolt into the studs that are there, or even use 2x6 or 2x8 on edge and put a support uner each end as a cripple like a door or window frame would be.

Walter
 
I don't weld, but I could put a double 2x4 on edge underneath supported by 2 more cripples, one on each end.

Thanks, Walter.

Nelson
 
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