DIY Build a Canned Goods Rack
Having storable food is great for any kind of unforeseeable situation that you may encounter. There are many options to choose from such as storable food in containers, freeze-dried, dehydrated goods, and also canned goods.
You can purchase long-term storable food here.
There’s also a shorter-term storable food option and that is canned goods.
Today we are going to show you how to build a canned goods rack that you can secure to a wall.
Before we get started you will need some of the canned items you wish to store as canned food comes in a variety of sizes. If you don’t have them on hand you can use a standard size which should be large enough for most cans.
Materials List:
- 1″x3″x8′ ( or 1″x”2″x8′ your preference)
- 4 – 1″x4″x8′ (if you want shelves then add additional boards)
- 1 – 1/2″ x 4’x8′ plywood for backing
- wood screws
- time to complete, roughly 4 hours
The first thing we want to do is to set up our working area. Be it a saw horse or in my case, the back of my pickup truck.
Then we want to go ahead and cut our plywood in half (we could have purchased pre-cut but the cost was almost double).
Next, take your 1×4 board and go around the parameter of the plywood, keeping it inside the sheeting. Place the top and bottom boards first, then the side boards, as this will help with the strength.
Now we need to lay out the individual rows for each can. I used a 4 5/8″ spacing between boards as the smaller cans I am using are only 4″ wide. Which gives us plenty of room to work with. For the next size bigger I used a 5″ spacing.
NOTE: It is best to have at least one can of each you will be using so that you can get proper spacing for each. The above is only a guide.
After you attain the correct spacing then mark your first board, cut it to length, and then install it. Placing 2 wood screws threw the top and bottom and then 3 or 4 per board on the back. Repeat for the remainder of the sheeting. You will more than likely have an odd size at the end. You can either cut this off or use it for something else.
Next, we will take our 1×3 and install the face board so that our cans won’t fall on the floor. I left 3 3/4″ top and bottom but I should have used 3 1/8″ or 3 1/4″ top and bottom, but it works without issue. For the next size larger cans I used 3 5/8″ spacing. When you install these boards use 3 or 4 screws per board depending on the length ( if it’s a full 4′ shelf use 4 screws).
After you have installed all of the front-facing boards now we need to make and install kickers at the bottom so that as the cans come down, the next one gets pushed out the front. To do this you will have to cut a wedge from a 2″x4″ with the back side being 2 7/8″ and the bottom side is 2 5/8″. Cut this and try it out before installing it. If you think it will work fine, pre-drill a hole for your screw, not doing so will for sure split the piece you just cut.
Once completed you are done with the bottom rack. Now repeat this process for the top can rack. Be sure to measure from your floor to about 2″ from the ceiling. This will help give you extra space to hang the top section. This is of course if you are making if for the height of your wall.
After you completed the top rack install the bottom rack and then the top rack. Secure it to the wall with 3″ screws. I used deck screws for all of it. Now cut 1 last piece of 1×3 and attach it to the bottom of the top rack. Do this so that the front-facing board is flush with the bottom of the top board on the lower section as illustrated in the photo below.
The finished product after completing the above steps. Now it is time to start filling our new canned goods rack. While we advocate for healthy organic foods just keep in mind, that when or if something happens and you are hungry it won’t matter if it’s organic or not. It’s all about survival at that point.
