What To Consider When Measuring A Warehouse For Racking
Outfitting or retrofitting your space with racking isn’t as simple as selecting and erecting the material. While racking house capacities, applications, and environments vary wildly, the same can be said for the buildings that house them. As we all know, most facilities are different in size, scope, layout, and obstructions (or lack thereof). There are many things to consider when measuring your warehouse for pallet square footage to house your desired storage systems. Below, we will cover how to properly analyze your building for measuring pallet racking.
Clear Height
Clear height refers to the amount of vertical space that is available to utilize for your racking systems. Clear height isn’t as simple as how high the ceilings are in your pallet rack building, although that is where that calculation starts. When determining clear height, obstacles such as sprinklers, heating and cooling systems, and building trusses should be considered.
Usable Space
This calculation is self-explanatory, but it comes into play in calculating your total storage capacity. Take the total square footage of your warehouse and subtract the non-usable square footage of pallet rack. This can include but is not limited to bathrooms, offices or cubicles, loading docks, building columns, and anywhere you can’t store material. Subtract the non-usable space from the total square footage of your building, and you have your usable space figure.
Once that figure is calculated, multiply your total usable space by your clear height to determine your cubic-foot storage capacity. For example
Total square footage – 200,000 sq. ft
Non-usable space – 20,000 sq. ft
Usable space = 180,000 sq. ft
Clear height – 25 ft.
Storage capacity = (180,000 sq. ft) x (25 ft.) = 4.5 million cu. ft.
Building Features
As we mentioned, most buildings are different and have unique design quirks and layouts. Depending on what you are storing, your floor print may require space for pedestrian traffic or multiple forklifts operating at once. Suppose you’re loading material in and out regularly. In that case, it’s a reasonable assumption there are one or more docking doors or other entrances, including your typical entryways for workers and visitors.
Forklifts
While not specifically a part of the building itself, your forklifts are an essential piece to the puzzle. You can have all the vertical height and clearance in a building, but what good is it if you can’t reach it? Ensuring your forklifts have the vertical ability to reach those heights and handle the weight of your loads is an often overlooked piece of the puzzle you should not forget about.
At WPRP, Our Goal is to Help You! If you have questions about racking measurements or warehouse layout, call 888-578-1579 today or get a quote. Thanks!
