Shelving, rods and built-in vocabulary for closet and storage work.
Back to the full A-Z index. Other hubs: Doors, Moldings, Stairs, Hardware, Joints and Cuts, Layout, Fit and Shop Talk, Tools, Fasteners, Glue and Materials, Jobsite and Business, Specialty / Built-ins.
Jump to a term: Cleat · Closet Rod / Rod Socket / Flange · Countertop / Countertop Shelf · Cubby / Cubbies · Double Hang / Long Hang · Edge Banding · Granite Support · Linen Stack · Melamine · Shelf-and-Rod · Toe Kick · Wood Shelving
Cleat
Also called: ledger.
A horizontal strip fastened to the wall, into studs, that a shelf sits on or is supported by.
'Ledger' is often used the same way as cleat here, but it can also mean the stop strips around an attic access opening, a different item entirely. Check which sense a note means before you build to it.
Closet Rod / Rod Socket / Flange
Also called: closet pole, hanging rod, pole socket.
The pole clothes hang from; sockets/flanges are the end hardware that hold it to the cleats or wall.
Countertop / Countertop Shelf
A shelf or ledge built to hold a countertop surface, most often in a butcher-block or closet built-in.
Cubby / Cubbies
An open, boxed compartment in a mudroom locker or bench system.
Double Hang / Long Hang
Double hang is two rods stacked (upper and lower) to maximize hanging capacity in one section; long hang is a single full-height rod for long garments.
Edge Banding
Also called: edge tape.
Tape or strip material applied to cover the raw, exposed cut edge of melamine or MDF.
Granite Support
A countertop-support bracket or cleat, closely related to a countertop shelf.
Linen Stack
A stack of closely-spaced shelves, no rod, for linens or towels, typically deeper than a clothes closet.
Melamine
White laminate-coated particleboard, the standard shelf material for production-home closets.
Shelf-and-Rod
Also called: shelf and pole bracket.
A closet section combining a hanging rod with a shelf above it, as opposed to shelf-only or rod-only.
Toe Kick
The recessed base at the bottom of cabinetry that gives toe clearance; baseboard or shoe is typically trimmed to meet or die into it.
Wood Shelving
Solid wood shelf construction, as opposed to wire shelving.
What does your crew call it? If you use a different word for something on this page, or we are missing a term you use every day, tell us and we will add it.