DIY - Industrial Garment Rack

Our basement has become a dumping ground for anything we don't have/can't be bothered to find a home for. There's a lot of coats down there so I decided to build an industrial garment rack to hang them having been inspired by some lovely items on Pinterest (of course!). Details of how to below...I'm slowly getting used to using the words nipples and flange in the context of plumbing fixtures without giggling like a 10 year old!

Materials:

Second Use 

A) Two pieces of salvage wood from ($9.80 in total)

Home Depot:

B) 3/4 inch galvanized floor flanges ($7.69 each)

C) 3/4 x 10 inch galvanized steel nipples ($4.19 each)

D) 3/4 x 6 inch galvanized steel nipples ($2.81 each)   

E) 3/4 x 12 inch galvanized steel nipples ($5.57 each)  

F) 3/4 in. 90 degree galvanized steel elbows ($2.37 each)

G) 3/4 in. galvanized steel couplings ($2.40 each)

H) #14 1 1/4 in wood screws ($1.18 for 4)

Tools:

I) DeWalt Circular Saw

J) DeWalt Sander with 150 grit sandpaper

K) DeWalt Drill with drill bit and screw driver heads

L) Iron Clamp

Cost (excluding tools) was around $165 (I think you could do it for about $50 if you didn't do shelves and "step racks" or couplings but rather straight piping lengths)

Steps:

1. Measure the width of your base piece to decide the length to make the shelves. Mine was 11" wide so I decided to make my shelves 15" wide

2. Cut the shelves using a circular saw. I clamp the piece to my work bench for stability. I went with three shelves but up to yourself.

3. Sand down the edges to avoid splinters

4. Fit the first floor flange to the base piece. Start by drilling into the wood through one of the holes and then secure using a wood piece. I went with one supporting pipe between shelves (to keep costs down) but you could do two. 

Tip: Drill the hole opposite next as this helps prevent mistakes in placing. Don't secure the screws fully yet so you can room to adjust the piece. 

5. Attach floor flanges to both sides of the shelves.

Tip: Center the middle of the flange on an X you measure and place the four holes at the four points of the X to help make place the pieces in the same place on both sides. 

6. Attach 10" nipples to the flange in the base piece, then attach the first shelf. Repeat until all three shelves are in place. I used 10" nipples but you can go with shorter/longer pieces. 

7. Attach 90 degree elbows to various nipple lengths to create the stepped rack approach. 

8. Use couplings to attach nipples to make a straight line across. 

9. Complete the rack by continuing to use couplings and elbows to connect nipples. 

Tip: create the straight side piece early on in the process so you can coordinate the heights between the horizontal straight bar on top to meet the straight vertical side bar. I had to play with different nipple lengths to make everything match. I also created an additional stepped approach on the non-shelf side as I ran out of couplings but had enough 90 degree elbows!

10. Screw the last flange into the base piece (step 5) once you've secured all of the pieces tightly. Really take the time to tighten the threads as it will help with stability.