TURNING YOUR SURFBOARD INTO ART – MARCH 2016

Living on the west coast near the ocean means plenty of choices for outdoor activities.
And with the ocean so close to 90 percent of the state it’s easy to realize that surfing and stand up paddle boarding are the preferred option for recreational fun. But surfboards are not something you put in your pocket or strap on your back for a days outing. They require transportation and ultimately a place to put them when you aren’t using them.

So what if you could combine two aspects of a storage problem. Like taking your surfboard and putting it somewhere that is dead space …like a wall in your apartment. What if you could find a storage solution that not only stored your surfboard but allowed you to hang your surfboard in a way that made it look more like artwork than just a play toy.

Hawaiian Gun Rack® a local small business that hand crafts surfboard racks has designed several stylish options for all kinds of surfboards and paddle boards that are extremely affordable and versatile.

paddle board racks

Some of the surf racks are for indoors and are made using bent birch wood sandwiched between decorative woods like Mahogany or Hawaiian Koa that will fit almost any accent already in your home, office or apartment. What makes them unique is their ability to be used in non-traditional formats. Like say …angling a paddle board to fill an empty wall in your one bedroom apartment next to the beach. Like this bamboo Tahoe paddle board used for yoga in the mornings and now acts as sustainable art in a lovely one bedroom bungalow. The owner chose the light bamboo paddle board rack made by Hawaiian Gun Rack to turn their storage problem into art.

As an example another alternative to displaying or storing your surfboard on a wall you can utilize some of that over head space with ceiling racks that attach to the rafters. Several companies make ceiling surf racks that are fairly affordable and if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, then here are some great alternatives that Hawaiian Gun Rack sells at affordable prices.

surfboard-ceiling-rack

surfboard-ceiling-rack

The Hawaiian Gun Rack® surfboard ceiling rack combines an old fashioned look to their wood line of surf racks that can handle just about any job and look really stylish doing it. They’re affordable and easy to install. Using rope with a unique knotting system that allows for some adjustability and wood struts covered with cork neoprene padding that protect the surfboard.

These simple looking and affordable racks add a touch of “old school” flare and they customize each rack to fit your board or boards …just tell them how far you want the board to hang from the ceiling and the maximum width of the board and they do the rest. When your ceiling rack arrives a few days later …all you have to do is drill a pilot hole into the ceiling joist and screw in the eye bolts. Maybe takes 15 minutes max. These are great for garage or in home display if you want something more stylish than a pair of metal tubes.

A couple of tips when planning to install a ceiling rack…

1. Make sure you know where the wood joists are. In most modern day houses they are either 16 or 24 inches on center and that’s something to consider when installing thru a drywall or stucco covered ceiling. It’s not a good idea to hang anything off drywall.
2. Figure out how far you will have to reach to put the surfboard into the surf rack. If you have a taller ceiling you don’t want to struggle by leaning on your toes or using the “toss and hope” method while attempting to put your expensive surfboard or paddle board into place.
3. And don’t forget about the Fin …some surfboard’s have a 12” fin and you will want to make sure it’s not dangling down at eye level.

metal surf rack

metal ceiling surf rack

The metal ceiling surf racks are all fairly similar …squashed U shaped bent tubing that is usually powder coated or painted for protection against the outdoors. They are good for garage storage where the weather may seep in from time to time and, except for one brand, usually designed to be used with one surfboard per rack. Some of them are hollow tubes and others are solid with foam tubing for the surfboard’s protection. These are usually used for garage storage but if you want something with a more metallic look for an “industrial look” these work great.

The Expandable Ceiling surf rack is unique in that it has “add on” rack arm components that bolt into the base unit.(you have to buy the base unit first to properly combine these add on arms). This rack system will allow you to add up to 2 more boards for a total of 3 surfboards that can be hung, one under the other, from the ceiling.

double-sup-ceiling-rack

double-sup-ceiling-rack

We highly recommend not installing these systems into just drywall or stucco. Safety should always be the main concern and it’s hard to see to other side of the drywall to tell if the drywall has been compromised by water damage or has cracked from old age. Even though there are many drywall anchors that say they can hold weights over 50 lbs. if you look at the small print almost all of them warn against mounting them into ceilings.

Here are some other decorative ideas…

If the surfboard is long enough and the rafters are close enough you can always slant the boards across the ceiling using the color of your surfboards as the decorative accent. And if you have a slanted ceiling you can use the Hawaiian Gun Rack® ceiling surf rack because it is made with rope that can be adjusted for a short and a long side allowing the surfboard to now act as hanging tapestry.

Hawaiian Gun Rack created and invented using more decorative storage solutions and are experts in design and installation so if you have a particular need or a question please don’t hesitate to call.