Is there any relatively cheap and easy way to enclose these shelves?

Submitted by Hmmark1984 t3_11t42cc in DIY

So in my garage i've got three of these shelving units and they work great for storring all my crap, however, one of my hobbies is 3d printing and model making, which requires a lot of sanding and i do that in my garage due to how much dust/mess is made.

The issue i have is that i want to stop everything in the garage, specifically the things on the shelves, from getting covered in dust.

At the moment i've got some big plastic sheets that i use magnets to hold onto the front/sides of the shelving units, however not only do those not work particularly well at keeping the dust out, they're also a pain to use as the magnets are fiddly and easily lost and the plastic sheet tears easily.

So i'm hoping someone might be able to give me an idea or point me towards a method that i could add doors/sides to these shelves somehow? Money is very tight and i'm not a skilled DIYer so please bare that in mind.

I'm aware there's not going to be any way to make them fully dustproof but as long as it keeps the majority of the dust out, that's the main thing.

I've looked at replacing the shelves with cupboard units but the only ones i can find that are similar in size are over £150 each, which is way out of my budget, my first thought was also to just mdf or something to put sides/doors on the units but due to how they're constructed i couldn't figure out a way to attach them

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UseABiggerHammer t1_jch2hm2 wrote

The absolute lowest cost material is corrugated cardboard. Large appliance cartons would yield sheets more than adequate to cover the sides of these, and you'd simply tape them to the upright corner brackets. You could probably make "doors" with the stuff too and hinge them with tape. Plastic sheeting is easier to manage, though if it's tearing buy a thicker product and reinforce the "magnet" spots with clear packing tape.

Rudimentary dust management is easier and cheaper than you may think. A box fan with a cheap furnace filter taped to the side of it will catch a healthy percentage of the "random" airborne dust which is what's giving you the most fits. If you are out there while this dust is being generated, you'll benefit from a health perspective as well as cleanliness because fine dust is not great for the lungs.

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Hmmark1984 OP t1_jch6f1j wrote

Cheers for that, not sure why but i never considered corrugated cardboard as a "building" material, but there's no need for anything to be particularly sturdy as i'm the only one who'll be using them.

I'll have to do some searching and see if i can find somewhere to get large sheets/boxes i can use

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Vibration548 t1_jcidh9r wrote

Contact a local furnace or appliance shop and see if they have leftover boxes.

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JoshingtonMonument t1_jch280i wrote

If cheap and easy are the goal, maybe try cardboard and duct tape? You could make cardboard doors for the front and glue some magnets on to keep them closed.

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Hmmark1984 OP t1_jch6lku wrote

cheers for that, another person mentioned that and for some reason my mind just skipped right over cardboard as an option and thought wood was the cheapest, which obviously wasn't actually that cheap!

I'll certainly be looking for somewhere to get some large boxes/sheets that i can use.

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Pinstrip3 t1_jch828t wrote

Boxes with covers. There's tons of those so it's not hard to find cheap ones that will fit and fill the shelves. Added bonus is that you can store items you use with each other and be able to pick them when needed in one reach.

If not, thin cheapest class plywood may be a solution. I'd go boxes though.

You can also look for used furniture. People quite often give it for free in really good condition. You get free shelves, someone gets rid of unneeded stuff and you're saving the environment. Win,win,win.

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Hmmark1984 OP t1_jchrznw wrote

I'd considered boxes, but they won't work for what i want. Unfortunately quite a few of the items are too big to fit in any boxes and on top of that i prefer to be able to see everything, rather than having to look through boxes, so i'd prefer to just open doors and be able to see it all.

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Better_Ad4073 t1_jciih8d wrote

You can tape cheap shower curtains around the back and sides. If you can’t find cardboard big enough for one door you can have two doors. Or each shelf have its own door.

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S3thOn3 t1_jcjn34r wrote

I used corrugated plastic sheets doing something similar to what you're aiming to.

First I built-up the frame screwing 10mm (3/8") ply strips to the edges and then i screwed the coraplast to the ply.

For the doors, same thing, ply frame with diagonal strips to add rigidity and keep everything square, coraplast on top, plastic handles and thin folding hinges or a strip of piano hinge.

You can then use thin plastic angle profiles to make the corners prettier or simply use silicon sealant.

I couldn't be happier about the the way they turned out. Reversible, extremely lightweight, durable and super easy to clean.

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