You are correct. If the racks are 3-4 boxes deep, you will need to remove every box in front of the last to get to it. On top of that, if you installed this between the garage door and the ceiling against the exterior wall, if someone opens the garage door while you're loading/unloading it could be dangerous.

A friend of mine installed these to store Christmas decorations and I have a (custom) overhead rack for storing pieces of moulding. As you suspect, it isn't the most convenient type of storage so my advice is to use it only as a last resort and only for items you need to access very rarely.

Thanks Yadax3 and azlighting for your input.

You confirmed what I was thinking. Because that is not my husband's thing, I know I will need to be the one getting things down. Being only 5'3, getting items down, along with it being so close to the garage opener cable, would make it a challenge. I think I will just look at storage cabinets instead. At least they are easily accessible.

we have them (DIY version) that are accesible on 3 sides. We use them for long term storage, papers we need to keep, etc. If its items you only need one a year, like xmas decorations, they work just fine.

We had wooden ones with plywood on top in the garage when we bought it 30+ years ago. Can't even tell you what all is up there. I do know there is an old crib (illegal now), baby carriage, toboggan, table top. Things we were keeping for our kids when they had children, but they never had any.

No idea what else, but I've since learned that is not good for the trusses/rafters(?). They were not built for that kind of extra weight. Now we need to get it all down and find something to do with it all.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

We had them installed in our last house and I loved them. This was a house with limited storage and in FL so no basement. Our 2 car garage was too narrow for shelving or cabinets on the sides and still fit both cars. It was perfect for storing Christmas decorations and things the other half never used but wouldn't part with. Ours only had access on 2 sides but that didn't seem to be an issue. Since I always got DH's help getting stuff down & it was only the 2 of us living there I didn't worry about the door accidentally being opened while one of us was up there. If you are worried about that you could always pull the cord to temporarily disengage the opener. Yeah it's no good for items you need frequent access to, but for us it was a good solution to store seasonal/never used stuff.

We store stuff above the garage door. Never a problem with door opening unexpectantly, pull the plug when you grab the ladder.

All Christmas stuff, everything comes down at once.

Hi Breenthumb, you mentioned "I've since learned that is not good for the trusses/rafters(?). They were not built for that kind of extra weight." Is this on an older home or newer one? The company I had come give me an estimate stated the maximum wt of the shelves (smaller) was 250 lbs and the wt was distributed to not be a problem.

Makes me wonder now.

House was built in '63. Sturdy construction and materials. Ours is not a "system" (rated for weight) but 2x4's attached to the rafters holding sheets of plywood to pile onto. Its on both sides of garage, leaving middle as access.

We really didn't think of the weight factor. If we could lift it and wouldn't need it for a while it went up there. Unfortunately, what we could lift 35 yrs. ago is not so easy to get down now. :)