Several weeks ago I had an enquiry by a customer in Melbourne who had recently built a new home with the GarageSmart Storage System installed in his garage.
Upon initially talking to him I wasn’t quite sure what system he had on his walls. The gentleman was looking for some bins and our Rotating Bike Hook. When people tell you they have an existing slatwall system, it can mean so many different things. Whilst the majority of PVC based slatwalls have very similar spacing between grooves, MDF slatwalls can be quite different.
I have had several customers purchase hooks from StoreWALL and have had Garagetek walls panels. However GarageSmart was a little unknown to me.
The gentleman’s home was about 30mins from me so we arranged a time for him to visit and show me an accessory so that we could try it on a StoreWALL panel. Idea being that if his hooks work on StoreWALL panels, then StoreWALL would work on his.
GarageSmart Storage System
Garage Smart is a local Melbourne business. I am sure they provide a good service to their customers and many of them would be happy with the product they have received.
On inspection of the hook that the gentleman brought with him, it seemed to fit quite well into a StoreWALL panel and so he placed an order for a Rotating Bike Hook, some bins and a shelf. I offered to deliver it to him later that day.
The thing about PVC slatwalls is that much of the product in Australia is the same. It looks very similar to the StoreWALL Basic Duty range and is installed with screws directly through the panel. So no Installstrips. StoreWALL offers 3 ranges of panel, Heavy Duty (installed with Heavy Duty Installstrips), Standard Duty (installed with Standard Duty Installstrips) and Basic Duty (installed with screws through the panel). 80% of our customers purchase Standard Duty.
When I visited this gentleman to deliver the hooks we ventured into his garage and it looked great, really nicely organised. A section near the garage door was dedicated to several bikes which he wanted to hang upright (perpendicular). This is what the Rotating Bike Hook was there to solve. We tested it on his wall and it fitted perfectly. With the CamLok locking mechanism his bikes where not going to leave that wall until they needed them.
Locking Mechansim
I took a closer look at one of the GarageSmart Hooks that was already on the wall and noticed that it used a unique locking mechanism. You can see it in the photo above. There was a Lip locking the Hook into the upper groove of the panel (similar to StoreWALL) but nothing to grip the lower groove. The lower section just rests on the panel. The challenge with this approach is with heavy items. There is just not enough gripping the panel to safely secure your items. This is why CamLok is so unique and why the gentleman was looking for a better bike hook.
Needless to say, the gentleman’s garage looked great and he returned and purchased 3 more Rotating Hooks the next day to complete his bike rack.
If you have the GarageSmart Storage System and are looking for alternative accessories to use, you can be confident that StoreWALL’s accessories will work for you.