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Posted on November 18, 2023December 25, 2023 by Arthur K

Best Slatwall Accessories

Maximize Your MDF Slatwall with StoreWALL’s High-Quality Accessories

Explore the Best Slatwall Accessories for Your Home Garage

Recently, we’ve noticed a surge in enquiries from homeowners looking for superior slatwall accessories to enhance their MDF Slatwall Wall Panels. Common in retail settings, MDF slatwalls, characterized by 100mm spaced grooves and metal trim, are now finding their way into household garages.

Understanding MDF Slatwalls:

Design: MDF slatwalls are budget-friendly and popular in retail stores. However, their accessory range is primarily retail-focused and may not suit home garage needs.

Slatwall Accessory Options:

Online Availability: A search on platforms like eBay for ‘Slatwall Accessories’ reveals various hooks, shelves, and baskets. While adequate for light items like dustpans, they may lack versatility for diverse storage needs.

Why Choose StoreWALL’s Accessories:

Robust Construction: Our accessories are crafted from steel and finished with powder coating, ensuring durability and longevity. They also feature rubber tips for item protection.
Extensive Range: Offering over 35 hook types, 15+ metal shelves, 8 basket styles, 4 bracket sizes, 15+ bins in various colors, and 4 Tote Bags, our range caters to a broad spectrum of storage needs.
Global Recognition: StoreWALL’s accessories are recognized as some of the best in Australia and internationally.

Adapting StoreWALL Accessories for MDF Slatwalls:

CamLok Removal: To fit our accessories onto MDF Slatwalls, we simply remove the CamLok. This modification allows the “L” shaped lip to fit into your MDF wall, supporting various items.
Result: While CamLok’s extra security is absent, our range offers greater depth and versatility. Exercise caution when handling stored items.

Elevate Your Storage Game:

Transform your MDF Slatwall with StoreWALL’s wide array of accessories. Whether you’re storing garden tools, sports equipment, or household items, our solutions offer unmatched functionality and style for your home garage.

Posted on October 12, 2023December 25, 2023 by Arthur K

Garage Wall Panel Colours

Revitalize Your Garage with StoreWALL’s Diverse Range of Garage Wall Panel Colors

Explore Premium Wall Storage Solutions in Australia

Embark on your garage makeover this spring with StoreWALL, offering an exceptional range of garage wall panels, known for their unique shape, strength, and vibrant color options. StoreWALL is committed to providing top-notch wall storage solutions in Australia, catering to various preferences and needs.

Discover StoreWALL’s Three Grades of Garage Wall Panels:

Heavy Duty Panels: StoreWALL’s premium offering, these panels boast the highest weight capacity. Available colors include Brite White, Weathered Grey, and Global Pine, perfect for a robust and stylish setup.
Standard Duty Panels: Our most popular range, chosen by 90% of our customers for its excellent value in weight capacity and color variety. Colors include Brite White, Weathered Grey, Barnwood Grey, Whitewood, Rustic Cedar, Graphite Steel, and Black.
Basic Duty Panels: An affordable option for those on a budget, available in White and Grey.

You can compare our Garage Wall Panel range here using this comparison chart.

The StoreWALL Garage Gallery provides photos of many garages using StoreWALL Garage Wall Panels. It also offers many great examples of homes that have undertaken a garage makeover.

Success Story Spotlight – Mike’s Garage Makeover in Brisbane:

Mike’s project in Brisbane showcases the Standard Duty range, combining various lengths and two colors (Weathered Grey and Brite White) for a striking effect. Coupled with thoughtful paint choices and custom cupboards, Mike’s garage is a testament to the transformative power of StoreWALL’s solutions. The custom floor covering complements the wall panels, creating a cohesive and visually appealing space.

Elevate Your Garage with StoreWALL:

Whether you’re inspired by successful projects like Mike’s or have your unique vision, StoreWALL’s Garage Wall Panels offer the versatility and quality you need for a stunning garage transformation. Choose StoreWALL for a harmonious blend of strength, style, and functionality.

Posted on October 9, 2023October 9, 2023 by Arthur K

StoreWALL Carport Storage

If your home has a Carport rather than a fully enclosed garage to park your car, you might be wondering what options you have for securely storing your bikes, tools, ladders, and other items. StoreWALL Carport Storage offers a flexible and modular storage solution suitable for any carport.

Carport Storage Solutions

What makes StoreWALL unique is that it is built and designed to withstand the elements, including Australia’s unique weather. StoreWALL Wall Panels are water and dustproof. This means they will not become brittle if exposed to the elements. They will not change colour, or shape.

Supporting our Wall Panels are our Installstrips. Our InstallStrips are made from rolled steel plated with 18 gauge Zinc for rust resistance.

Installing StoreWALL In Your Carport

Whilst I wouldn’t be hanging your power tools in the carport, items such as garden hoses and cheaper gardening tools such as brooms or rakes could certainly be hung outside. Having them hang neatly in your carport would ensure they are easy to find and not lying around against the home or on the ground easily stepped on and damaged.

To install StoreWALL Garage Wall Panels in your Carport, you need a framed wall area. Ideally, your Carport wall has a studed frame, with the upright studs spaced at a maximum of 600mm. These uprights are required so that your Wall Panels can be secured to them to support your stored items.

If your framed wall does not have enough uprights you will need to add them. You can use framing timber sold by your local hardware store, or you can use TopHat battens such as the one pictured below. These Top Hat Battens can be used to add additional vertical frame elements to your carport wall so that the Installstrips can be attached.

carport storage solution — https://www.metroll.com.au

Once installed, these battens should mirror a wooden studded frame similar to what you would find on the wall of your home. On this, you then screw the StoreWALL Installstrips and then hang your StoreWALL panels.

StoreWALL 1.2m and 2.4m panels are sold in cartons of 4 panels. There are plenty of colour options for you to choose from as well. StoreWALL can be a great addon for any Carport Storage Solution.

Garage and Carport Hooks

Below are ten ideas that you can use to store your most common garage items.

Bikes

Bikes are large, heavy, and awkward to store. StoreWALL sells a range of Bikes Hooks that are suitable for your Carport. From our common Bike Hook to our HD Universal Hook. Both solutions are well priced and will keep your bikes off the floor and on your wall.

Ladders

Use our HD Universal or HD Utility Hooks to store your ladders upright against the wall and out of the way. Ladders are also large and awkward to store, so having them stored on your wall when your carport space is limit is a great idea.

Garden Rakes and Brooms

We all have more than one of these. StoreWALL HD Tool Hook can store 2 or even 3 garden tools for you.

Sporting Balls

The StoreWALL Grab and Go Tote Bags come in 4 sizes from Small to Extra Large. Combined with the 300mm Universal Hooks, our Tote Bags can store Soccer Balls, Basketballs, and all of your smaller sporting balls. These Tote Bags can be positioned exactly where your kids can access and return the balls when they have finished.

Wheelbarrow

Our Bungee Straps can be used to store your wheelbarrow upright and against your wall so they don’t take up much room in your carport.

Shoerack

Use our Angle Shelf to store your outdoor shoewear. From gumboots to sporting shoes, the Angle Shelf is ideal for this.

Don’t think that just because your home has a carport and not a closed garage that your garage storage options are limited. StoreWALL cam ensure you get the most out of your carport storage solution.

Posted on September 11, 2023September 11, 2023 by Arthur K

White Garage Wall Storage Panels

Over the weekend we completed our latest installation of White Garage Wall Storage Panels. After several months of discussion with Stephen in Chelsea, we organised the installation of StoreWALL Brite White Wall panels across the back wall of his double garage.

The back wall of Stephen’s garage was 8m wide (which included a door) and 2.4m high. It was a plastered wall backing onto a rear Hebel wall (most likely formed part of his backyard.

White Garage Wall Storage Panels – Garage Wall Design

Based on pictures sent through by Stephen, we designed a StoreWALL installation with 3 Brite White panels across the length of the wall to cover the 7000mm plastered area. With a 2.4m total height, we used 7 Standard Duty panels to reach a height of 2150mm.

Finding the Studs

I use two different battery-powered Stud Finders. They both deliver different results. They are both wrong a lot of the time. It is always easier to drill a few holes and then use 450mm or 600mm spacing to test if the next stud is where you expect it. You usually need to drill a few more holes to ensure you find the actual outer edges of the studs.

With Stephens garage, the studs were 550 or so apart but there were some different spacings as well.

Garage Wall Vertical Spacing

Stephen’s garage was about 2.4m in height. The wall had a 150mm skirting board. This left us a total wall height of about 250mm. We split this allowing about 125mm at the top and the same above the skirting board. This is where we started our first Installstrip.

With just over 7000mm in length we marked out where each wall panel would start and end, ie 0, 2438, 2439, 4876, 4877, 7000mm. The first and second panel landed in between two installstrips so they didn’t require any additional support. The third (last panel) started a little too far from its closest Installstrip. In this case, we added an additional installstrip using metal screw-in fasteners.

Stacked Wall Panel Formation

For most Installations I have completed for customers, I have opted for the brickwork design. I have always thought it looked the nicest. It does however come with some challenges when joining wall panels. The issue is that the joins show. Some just have a thin line, others have a heavier one. This can come from the cut that was made to the panel (factory or manual). It can also be due to an uneven wall.

For Stephen’s installation, I opted to try the Stacked Wall formation. We used a Wide Trim at either end of the wall and a smaller joining trim along the wall at the two points where the panels would join.

I can say that using the stacked wall formation is easier than making the brick pattern and the look is just as good. I think having the joining trims on either side of each panel also gives them a little more support.

The joining trim we used was about 3m in thickness. We allowed for this when laying out our panels.

Power Outlets

Stephen’s wall had two power outlets. One was a power switch beside the door, at the beginning of the first panel. The second was a 4-gang PowerPoint at the beginning of the 3^rd and final panel along the wall.

You can manage power outlets in 2 ways.

You can screw the outlet over the panel. To do this, you can cut a hole in the panel at the location of the outlet. The hole needs to be large enough to pass the power outlet through it. Once you pass it through the hole, you can use longer screws to screw it back into its original bracket in the wall.
You can cut around the power outlet. Using a multi-tool or a jigsaw, you can cut a hole large enough so that it fits around the power outlet. This means you don’t need to unscrew it. You might want to use the joining trims to create a border around it.

For Stephen’s wall, we cut around the power outlet and added trim on the top and bottom of the hole we cut so that it framed it.

Labour Effort

In total, we installed 21 panels for this wall. It took two of us (myself and 15y/o child) about 7-8 hrs to complete the wall. We installed over 32 installstrip, each with 12 screws.

Posted on August 19, 2023August 19, 2023 by Arthur K

Garage Ceiling Storage

What to Consider When Buying Garage Ceiling Storage Systems.

The first step to streamlining your garage is to review what you have in your garage, determining what you can move on. Once you have worked out what you would like to store on your ceiling it is time to look at where it can be stored and what storage system you need or can afford. Another key consideration is how much weight your ceiling can support.

Below is a short summary of the various types of garage ceiling storage available.

Ceiling Storage Options

Shelves and Racks: Flat, horizontal surfaces to keep items off the floor. They come in various sizes and are made of wood or metal. The racks mainly consist of bars and wires.
Lifts and Hoists: Use pulley systems to raise objects off the ground in an elevated position.
Utility Hooks: A simple way to hang anything from sporting equipment to garden tools from the garage ceiling or wall.
Slings and Cargo Nets: A sling uses a series of straps to support long, slim objects like kayaks and skis. Nets act like a stretchy hammock to hold lightweight items such as sports balls.
Waterproof Storage Containers: Best for storing treasured items or important documents since they block moisture, dirt, bugs, and other pests from getting inside.

Is overhead garage storage safe?

Overhead garage storage is safe if installed correctly. There are organisations that can install overhead storage for you. Alternatively, if you have some DIY experience you can do it yourself. The challenge is working out where to install your new storage solution and where to fix it to your ceiling so that it will hold your items safely.

How much weight can I hang from my garage trusses?

A lot depends on the joists or trusses used to build your garage ceiling. If your garage sits within the main structure of your home and you have a room(s) above it, then the trusses would have been engineered to support significant weight. The trusses are likely to be spaced 450mm apart and span the entire ceiling area.

If your garage is separated from your house, you may need to inspect the ceiling area and seek some advice from a carpenter or engineer on how much weight it can support.

Fleximount Ceiling Racks

A popular overhead storage rack is Fleximount. Whilst we don’t market this product, you can find suppliers of it locally in Australia.

Ceiling-mounted racks are ideal for storing heavy boxes and plastic tubs. Adding garage over-door storage is a great way to take advantage of underused space.

This garage ceiling storage solution is strong, made of durable, cold-rolled steel construction, and holds up to 300 kgs, and the integrated grid pattern ensures your belongings are secure and stable.

Pros

Size is easily adjustable.
Installs securely into wood studs, joists.
High-quality screws.
Hooks (sold separately) can hang bikes and sporting equipment below.

Cons

Must make sure joists/studs spacing works to the specification provided.
Some might find it difficult to install.

Posted on July 29, 2023November 23, 2023 by Arthur K

Storing your Storage Containers

One of the most popular ways to store your many unwanted items is to use a Storage Container. Walk into any Bunnings or Kmart and they are full of them. Once full, however actually storing your storage containers can be tricky.

Storage containers come in lots of different sizes, shapes and colours. Just search on the Bunnings online catalogue and you will see what I mean. From 5L to 100L, Clear or Black, and even multi-coloured.

Storing your Storage Containers — Courtesy Bunnings.com.au

Stacking Storage Containers

One way to store your storage containers is to simply stack them one on top of the other. They are actually designed to be stored this way. This method works well when the containers are filled with light materials and they can easily be added and removed. If you carefully label them, then stacking them is an effective way for storing your storage containers.

Depending on what you store in your modular storage container, having some on the ground floor can be useful for kids so they can easily access what they need and then return them when finished.

However, this is not particularly practical when the containers are heavier. What you will find is that lifting them on and off each other is difficult. More importantly, the lids crack and break and then stacking them is no longer an effective option.

I generally find that modular storage containers are OK for adults who will spend a few extra seconds to ensure that returned items allow the container lid to close correctly. Kids on the other hand are not so patient. If the lid is not closed properly, stacking another container on top of it only increases the likelihood that it will be broken.

Storing Your Storage Containers on Shelves

Using shelves to store your storage containers gives you the option of lifting some of your containers off the floor and up higher. This ensures that containers which are used irregularly can be put away.

In the photo above, the lower containers which are smaller are stacked (3 on top of each other) on a shelf. The larger containers are also on a shelf but are not stacked.

in this example, shelving is also used. However, the larger containers are kept rather high and out of reach.

Storing Your Storage Containers with StoreWALL

The biggest advantage of deciding to line your garage walls with StoreWALL Slatwall is that you create any garage wall you want and for as long as you want it.

What this means is that a wall you design today with shelving to hold storage containers, can in a few years quickly be re-designed to hold tools and bikes. No messy holes in the walls are left for you to repair. Simply remove the shelves and the brackets and replace them with a different assortment of hooks.

StoreWALL allows you to build your own shelving with our 254mm and 381mm brackets. These shelves can be spaced as you need them to hold your storage containers.

StoreWALL also offers solid metal shelves that can be used for storing your storage containers. These shelves are ideal for your heaviest containers.

We have also recently released our 600mm deep shelf which is specifically designed for modular containers. This is a wired shelf option.

Yes, there is another option which doesn’t utilise shelving at all. In fact, depending on the storage containers you have purchased, you can actually hang them directly on our brackets. As long as the container has a wide rim around it, it can be hung between two brackets.

Posted on July 8, 2023December 28, 2023 by Arthur K

Angle Shoe Rack

Keep Your Floors Clean and Organized with Effective Shoe Storage Solutions

Maintain a tidy and dirt-free home by encouraging your family to store their shoes on a Shoe Rack before entering. The placement of your shoe rack is crucial and may require multiple locations based on your family’s entry points, like the garage, back, or front door.

Versatile Shoe Rack Options for Indoor and Outdoor Use

Indoor Storage: Explore Howards Storage World for a variety of indoor shoe racks, including different sizes and designs with drawers for concealed storage. Ensure your rack is sturdy and well-fastened to handle various shoe sizes.
Outdoor Storage: For outdoor racks, opt for heavy-duty, powder-coated shelves to withstand weather conditions and prevent your shoes (and rack) from being scattered by the wind.

StoreWALL Angle Shoe Shelf for Garage Entrances

Garage Storage Solution: If your garage is a frequent entry point, consider StoreWALL’s Angle Shelf. It accommodates up to 3 large pairs of boots, with an angled design for mud and moisture drainage.
Durable and Secure: This powder-coated rack, measuring 762mm in width and 381mm in depth, is designed for compatibility with StoreWALL’s wall panels or most slatwall panels.
CamLok Locking Feature: StoreWALL’s CamLok ensures the rack stays in place, moving only when you want it to. It’s also versatile enough to repurpose for other storage needs, like wine bottles.

Upgrade your entryways with StoreWALL’s Shoe Rack solutions to keep your floors clean and your shoes neatly organized.

Posted on July 3, 2023July 8, 2023 by Arthur K

Garage Storage Wall Panels

StoreWALL, Slatwall, Storpanels, Flexipanels, Handywall, Smartwall. These are all Garage Storage Wall Panels, but are they the same?

The majority of Garage Storage companies selling Slatwall or Wall Panels sell a solution that looks like the picture below. The panel is about 300mm in height and has grooves spaced every 74mm.

The garage wall panels are designed to sit on top of each other in order to cover an area of your wall. You will notice that the back of this panel has a rounded mold. It is designed to be screwed onto your wall with screws directly through the panel. This type of panel is not designed to be installed with any metal bracket for additional support.

These types of wall panels also have rounded grooves. This rounded profile is easier to produce, resulting in a cheaper wall panel. It also means that accessories locked into these grooves are held less securely as the edges are rounded.

StoreWALL Slatwall Panels

StoreWALL sells 3 grades of Garage Storage Wall Panels. Heavy Duty, Standard Duty, and Basic Duty. What makes StoreWALL different from every other Garage Wall Storage supplier is that our wall panels are designed to be installed with a supporting metal bracket that we call an Installstrip.

StoreWALL has a custom-designed installstrip for its Heavy Duty Panel and a separately custom-designed installstrip for its Standard Duty Panel.

StoreWALL Garage Storage Wall Panels — Standard Duty

When you look at both the Heavy Duty and the Standard Duty panels you will notice that the back of the panel is not rounded. Rather, the mold is designed with a downward-pointing corner. This corner is used to latch onto the installstrip and secure the panel.

All of the weight on the panels from your stored items push downwards onto the installstrip. The strength of the installstrip and its fastening to the wall with 12 -15 screws/nails makes it a far superior installation method to simply screwing into the panel and onto the wall.

Without the installstrip, the strength of the solution relies entirely on the panel and the screws.

Furthermore, StoreWALL’s Standard and Heavy Duty Panels have grooves designed with straight square edges. This ensures that any accessories are securely held into the slatwall groove. In addition, our CamLok locking mechanism ensures they never fall off the wall.

Why do Installstrips Matter?

StoreWALL’s Installstrips are made from rolled steel and are galvanised. They are installed onto your wall with 12-15 screws or nails. Combined they allow your wall panels to securely support a lot more weight than a panel that is installed with just screws through the panel.

How much more weight?

The maximum weight that a 1.2m panel can support is:

Standard Duty – 56kgs (1219mm), 113kgs (2438mm)
Heavy Duty – 68kgs (1219mm)

Furthermore, using installstrips means you are not screwing through your wall panels, damaging them. They are kept clean with no screw holes.

Posted on June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 by Arthur K

Solid Red Brick Walls

Our latest installation in the suburb of Toorak (Melbourne) was in an old garage made from solid red brick walls.

The garage had a couple of really old StorEase panels and some accessories. They were screwed straight into the wall. We removed these. The owner of this house was in the middle of undertaking some renovations and we were asked to install StoreWALL on both sides of the garage.

The first wall area measured 4m in length and 2.1m in height. On the opposite side, we installed a smaller section of 2m x 2.1m.

Wall 1 – 4m Solid Red Brick Walls

For Wall 1, we used 1 x 2.4m panel plus a second 1.5m panel. This gave us our 4m. We also used the smaller off-cuts in the wall in order to reduce waste. To reach the 2.1m height we used 7 x Standard Duty Slatwall Panels.

I have installed lots of brick wall garages. Old and new. Many older homes have sold red brick walls. These are tough bricks to drill into. The other challenging feature of these garage walls was just how irregular they were. To cover this up they had semi-rendered the walls and painted them so they looked smooth (kind of).

You can also see that above the wall at about 2.1m we also had a bracket which held the garage door.

We started the installation about 245mm from the garage floor. The drilling was tough and we had to pack behind some of the installstrips in order to keep them flat. To fasten the installstrips we used Nail Anchors which we sell on our website but so do all hardware stores. We used 5mm anchors and a 5mm 4-cut drill bit. To be fair, I used several drill bits on this job as the walls chewed them up.

Each installstrip has 12 holes for anchoring to the wall. I hammered a minimum of 9 anchors for each one.

In order to hang the 7 rows of Standard Duty Slatwall Panels, we used 2 rows of installstrips and then a 3rd row of just a single installstrip section. Our installstrips were spaced about 600mm apart and we positioned them so that they sat behind any joins. Having two joining panels share an installstrip delivers a nicer, smoother join. This took a little measuring.

Tips

I am always learning with these installations as no walls are alike and brick walls, specifically Sold Red Brick Walls are the most challenging.

In order to save the customer on waste, we used the smaller offcuts on the wall. It meant more joins. If I was to do this wall again, I would have just used two panels along the wall. 1 x 2438mm + 1562mm. It would have saved a lot of effort in positioning the installstrips in the right location for the joins. The result is more waste.

My second tip relates to the 3rd row of installstrips for the 7th row of panels. Rather than using a single section of the installstrip for this top row, it can be easier to use two sections. In this case, you add the lower section on row 6 and the top section on row 7. This makes it easier when trying to align the installstrips for that top row.

Garage Door Bracket

I had to cut around the bracket in order to fit the 7th row. It was fiddly work as the bracket covered two panels. I used a jigsaw for the cut. The 6th panel was cut at the top, the 7th panel was cut from the bottom.

Wall 2 – 2m x 2.1m Solid Red Brick Walls

The second wall was covered with 1 panel cut to 2m. As per wall one, we had 2 rows of 3 section installstrips to support the first 6 panels. The top row used just one section of the installstrip.

As there were no joins on this wall, it was must quicker to panel. The biggest challenge we had were the bricks. A section of wall 700mm x 700mm was made from much harder bricks and so the drilling took longer.

Conclusion

The red bricks were hard work. This job took 1.5 people (junior support) about 7hrs to complete. I drilled over 120 holes. The outcome is a garage storage solution that will last for years and allow the owner to hang almost anything they store in their garage.

Posted on June 24, 2023August 28, 2023 by Arthur K

Gladiator Garageworks has Closed

It seems Gladiator Garageworks has closed its operations in Australia and is no longer distributing the Gladiator range. To be clear, this only impacts sales in Australia.

We managed to access some Gladiator Hooks (via their fire sale) if you are looking for them. We have listed them on eBay via this page.

https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/GladiatorAccessories

The range of hooks we could access includes:

Small Items Hooks (pack of 8)
Dual Hook
Cradle Hook
Scoop Hook
S Hook
Vertical Bike Hook
Wide Hook

You are welcome to call us if you have questions.

Compatibility with StoreWALL

I have recently received several calls from customers asking about compatibility between StoreWALL accessories and the Gladiator panels.

The challenge with compatibility is the distance between the grooves on the panels. Gladiators’ accessories are designed to fit and lock based on the distance between their panel’s grooves. Finding compatible accessories means finding panels and accessories with the same groove distance.

The other notable feature of the Gladiator panel groove is that both the top and bottom are indented (U shape at both ends). This means that a compatible accessory will need to lock into the shape of the groove.

You can learn more about our compatibility here.

If you aren’t comfortable buying via eBay then I suggest considering a StoreWALL Standard Duty Panel. Installed with our unique Installstrips, you will enjoy a cleaner installation, a garage storage solution that is stronger than anything else you will find, and the best range of garage storage accessories.

It is a shame that Gladiator Garageworks has closed in Australia and the Gladiator range is no longer available. Maybe some other distributor will begin to sell it. There is no shortage of garage storage options available at the moment, particularly at the lower-quality end. Gladiator was a quality system.