Pallet Rack and Installation Secrets…

Laying out the floor or marking the floor in preparation for snapping the lines for the pallet rack install can sometimes be nerve-racking.  Many people think installing pallet rack is easy, right, “how tough can it be?”  Well, if the first step goes astray, head-aches will abound later.

Every one makes mistakes, even professional installers will make mistakes once in while.  Most mistakes come from miss-marking the floor, not accounting for columns, or finding out the actual building is smaller than what is on the blue print. Before you start marking the floor, do your homework:

• Have at least a 100′ tape measure (if not longer depending on the install)
• Make sure that you have the most current plan or blue print for the install.  Ask for both a fixture plan and tape plan or a print that has both fixture information and tape measurements.
• Measure the width and depth of building or install area and compare to what is called out on the blue print.  (If there are any discrepancies these should be dealt with now rather than later.)
• Measure columns, partitions, fixed equipment, doorways, etc…  and compare to the blue print.  (if there are any discrepancies these should be dealt with now rather than later.)
• Clear unrestricted paths (two paths in each direction) for laying out the tape measure
• Look for any floor hazards that might be dangerous for forklifts and/or sciissor-lifts (as construction may not be complete on the building)

All building discrepancies should be dealt with up front.  Have a clear plan on how to handle the discrepancies prior to the start of the install (no one likes to do things twice).

 After you have done your homework, layout your tape along the floor.  Try to mark the floor with at least two people.  I find it beneficial to have someone read the measurements off while another person is marking the floor.  By doing this it gives two sets of eyes and seems to expedite the floor layout process.  Always make sure that:

• the lead of the tape is secure at the starting point while measuring
• the tape is straight, not curved or avoiding obstacles
• the tape is on the floor, not going over obstacles
• the tape is parallel with the wall or boundaries of project.

More pallet rack installation tips in a future post.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 6th, 2006 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Pallet Rack Installation Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.