It took about a week to apply the three coats of spar varnish to the laundry rack, between my day job and the cold weather. I did get it done, though, as I really wanted the garage back before the rains came. The tools required for the mounting step were a ladder, a stud finder, a pencil, a drill, a screwdriver, a tape measure, a pair of pliers, and a pair of scissors. The parts were eight eye bolts, four "S" hooks, two single pulleys, two double pulleys, a cleat, two screws, and a spool of light rope.

I drilled pilot holes in the laundry rack, two inches in from the edges, and screwed in four eye bolts. I climbed up the ladder with the stud finder and the pencil and found a ceiling joist (if that's the right word) close to the end of the room. I measured in from the wall 6 inches, to provide clearance for the rope and the clothes once they were on the rack and marked a spot to drill. Then I measured in another two feet and marked again. I climbed back down, moved the ladder four feet, and repeated the process. Then I put away the stud finder and got out the drill. I drilled pilot holes where I'd marked. Rather than try to bend and unbend the "S" hooks around the eyebolts and the pulleys while reaching over my head, I prepared those assemblies down in the room. I took them up the ladder and screwed in the eye bolts.





I mounted the cleat to the wall at about my elbow height, using the two screws.



Finally, I had to figure out how much rope I was going to need. As it turned out, I was rather more generous than I needed to be. I figure, though, that it is better to have cut rope two feet too long than two feet too short. I cut four lengths and tied them to the eye bolts in the laundry rack. Note to anyone following along and trying this at home: use a bowline knot for this; you do not want your laundry rack falling on your head.

Another note about safety, here: most of the components were labeled with load limits well in excess of the total weight of the assembly plus a wet load of laundry. However, the "S" hooks were rated for a measly 25 pounds. That is one reason we chose to go with four pulleys instead of two.

Ropes attached to the rack, I once more climbed up and strung the lines through the pulleys.



With Junglemonkey's assistance, I hauled it up. We found that the rack swung a bit while being raised and it banged into the wall. We have felt feet for our furniture so it won't scratch the wood floor; we attached two strips of felt to the inside edges of the rack so that when it does bang into the wall the blow is cushioned.





We've now used the rack for a few loads of laundry. It holds about three quarters of a single load, and a single person can raise it easily even when it's fully loaded. We figure that if we make even one more, we could get away with doing a single load of laundry every day and never use the dryer. Also, the ceiling is high enough that even when the rack is fully loaded and up and out of the way; one hardly notices it.