Customer Reviews

Sterilite 5-Shelf Shelving Unit - 73.25 x 36 x 18 Inches - Platinum

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Sterilite 5-shelf utility storage unit is one of the finest consumer products I've seen in a long time. Being an industrial engineer, I'm not easily impressed. But I am impressed by the quality and low price (I paid $32 at Amazon with free shipping) of this unit.

Assembled, it has a nice look. The 150 pound limit per shelf is staggering considering it is made of plastic and marketed for non-industrial use. The color of the material is neutral and nice while the physical properties of the plastic are excellent. These combine hardness vs. softness for maximum static strength perfectly. (Some manufacturers make storage racks like this too brittle allowing for minimal deformation under load. However, this brittleness, inherent in the material, makes them easily broken.) Sterilite has balanced both to make a shelf hard enough to maintain form under load but soft enough to take dynamic stress without breaking.

Proper assembly takes about a half hour. There is one simple diagram on the rack banner that shows how it should be put together. No written description is given or needed as assembly is so simple, a child could do it. I do however have several suggestions for proper assembly listed below.

Starting with the bottom shelf on the floor, place four vertical posts into the four corner holes smaller side down as shown on the supplied diagram. You can try to push them in using your strength, but I used a hammer, a block of wood, and a sock placed between the wood and the top of the post to prevent damage to the post. Once placed into the top of the hole, just tap the post into place until it bottoms out. After all four posts are tapped down into position, measure the height of the posts from shelf-top to assure consistent insertion. If there are some that are higher than others, keep tapping the higher ones firmly until all have equal height.

Then place the next shelf onto the four posts. Position the corner holes over the posts and begin to push down on the shelf working around the four corners halfway at a time. When reasonably seated, put a cushion like a folded towel on top of the corner holes and strike them with your hand to finish seating them (if necessary).

Keep checking post height and floor to shelf-top height all the way up to the fifth shelf so you know the all posts and shelves are properly seated. After you are satisfied that assembly is complete, place the unit onto a level area of your floor. If the floor is not level, you can position leveling blocks under the four post corners where the unit contacts the floor. (Leveling the rack can be especially important if you are going to place relatively heavy loads on the shelves.) Before you know it, you're done and in possession of a very nice piece of engineered home-storage utility shelf unit.

For less than $30 (at least as I'm writing this review) these things can't be beat. Everything snaps together and once assembled you have a sturdy, not entirely unattractive set of shelves.

One suggestion that makes these shelves even more stable is to put a couple of shims (like Nelson Wood Shims CSH8/56/120/MGD 8'' Bulk Contractor Shims) under the front legs so the it will tend to lean back against the wall.

BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews can take the place of first-hand experiences that are lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've received from other reviewers and work hard to return the favor as best as I can. I hope you found this review helpful and if there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.

I bought 2 sets of these shelves for storage in my basement. They are very sturdy holding cleaning supplies etc. I read some reviews that the shelves were broken on arrival. I can see how this can happen because they arrive in a cardboard box without any padding/packing material. I was worried the cold would make the plastic brittle and easily break but was relieved that they were in great shape. These are better quality than some I have bought at local B&M stores.

This shelf is surprisingly well designed and quite sturdy. It can be configured for different heights (as most such shelves), but also has a design which allows for storage of extra shelf legs (which you will have, if you configure this as a 3-level shelf and a second 2-level, for instance) inside the shelves, and a provision for linking multiple shelves together. Well done and definitely worth the money.

I don't know how anyone makes any money on these, at $29 each, but they are great. They pop together very quickly, are very sturdy once assembled, and can be disassembled as needed.

The only drawback to these shelves, and others like them are the dimensions. I would prefer if the usable space was larger when compared to the overall footprint. Almost any time of shelving has this same drawback, unless you weld your own out of steel, or build them from wood.

I recommend buying as many of these as you can. At 33 pounds per, the shipping for them would be more than $29, if it weren't for Amazon's free shipping. These are an awesome deal. Even Walmart doesn't come close, with its $38 + $.97 shipping.

I bought this to use in a very cluttered mud room. It arrived within 2 days and was well packaged. A 3 year old put this together with me, so anyone can do it. It took less than 10 minutes from start to finish. The 5 shelf solution is great for us; I use the highest shelf to store those unwieldy kitchen items I only use once in a blue moon like giant mixing bowls and fondue pots, etc. This unit is jam-packed with every item that made the mud room look like it should be featured on 'Hoarders, Buried Alive'. It holds my KitchenAid mixer, life jackets, extension cords and all the other flotsam of a family with 3 active kids! I am just so impressed with this shelving unit I cannot recommend it enough.

Takes less than 10 minutes to assemble. The packaging says 150 lbs per shelf. It is very sturdy, however this product lacks holes on the back to bracket the unit to the wall (earthquakes). The Sterilite 4 shelf unit has these holes.

Note -- this unit has **5** shelves.

I already had two of these. They're sturdy. They go together in a flash. They're strong. They're easily moved from one place to another. What's not to like, you ask? Unfortunately, there was a price increase that I learned about when I recently ordered more of them, a price increase of approximately 50% !! The nice person at Amazon customer service told me that the new price was non-negotiable.

Here is a suggestion: Take a look at the Sterilite **4-shelf** units, also available from Amazon. (Look carefully at the dimensions of each unit, however. The shelves are somewhat smaller and the height of each shelf is less.) You can buy THREE of these for less than the cost of TWO of the 5-shelf units. Check the dimensions of your storage needs and see if this alternative might be a better idea. You might also consider buying three 4-shelf units and combining the parts to construct two 5-shelf units. I think one 6-shelf unit might be constructed also, with the leftover parts (don't forget to check your ceiling height).

POSTSCRIPT #1 -- Since I wrote the above review, Amazon dropped the price about $5. This is slightly more than a 10% drop! Thank you, Amazon.
POSTSCRIPT #2 -- Check for missing parts **before** you unload the box! Here's how to do that: Put the shipping box upright. Open the top. Spread open the four flaps. Using a flashlight, look down, carefully **between the shelves.** Count the posts. For a five-shelf unit, you should count 16 posts! If you don't count 16 posts, don't open the box any further; you've got missing parts!
POSTSCRIPT #3 - I urgently needed a large number of these 5-shelf units to redesign the storage area in my basement. I finally got the number that I needed: **thirteen!** I had to order **many** of these beige units from WalMart because Amazon has a limit number as to how many you can order at one time. I did learn, however, that there are other suppliers who have these units in a light gray color. So you have two choices of color: "blah beige" or "tiresome gray."

I have purchased several lightweight shelving units, and this is the most superior. It is very sturdy, and easily assembled. In the future, as I need more shelving, this is the unit I will buy.

This shelving unit is very sturdy and just what we were looking for! It's also very easy to assemble. I highly recommend it!