When I bought my new van, I built shelves at each side to store all the tools and stock I need as a renovator. However, this meant that I couldn’t carry sheet goods flat. The van could take occasional sheets stashed vertically, but how to stop them from falling over? Fortunately, I’d sprung a couple of lengths of 1×2 between the tops of the shelves to secure them to the roof and to stop them from tipping over when I hit bends in the road. It finally dawned on me that by adding a second 1×2 to each of those roof pieces with several 1-in.-dia. holes drilled in them and in corresponding locations in the plywood deck, I could use a pair of spring-loaded shower rods as vertical supports for sheet goods. So far, this has stood me well for up to 10 sheets of drywall that didn’t warrant their delivery charges.
—Peter Blackmore, Courtenay, None
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #245
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It appears the sketch does not match his invention. Since he describes that he built shelves on each side of the van, that implies that the sheet goods would be stacked in the center of the van. In which case shower rods would be placed on both sides of the sheet goods. Good for you.
Good one.
Hi,
Amateur diy'er here, but, in the third sentence, what does "I'd sprung a couple of..." mean? Specifically, I'm curious about the verb sprung as used in this context.
Thank you
Amateur grammarian here- Mr. Blackmore used the pluperfect past of "spring," since the action occurred in the distant past, prior to both the present and the time he wrote the tip.
I think he sprang the 1x2s across the roof to restrain the shelves from tipping over. He could have attached them to the ribs on the inside of the van walls, but, automotive designers being more artistic than practical, those ribs are almost always curved, making it difficult to attach rectilinear shelves.
https://grammarhow.com/sprang-vs-sprung/
I like the idea. Innovative, practical, effective, and simple. Nice tip! Now, if only I could bring myself to be practical enough to buy a work van instead of my pickup truck!