How to Make Ceiling Drying Racks for Laundry

Cut a 4.5-foot section of the dowel. Cut three 6-inch pieces from the 1-by-3-inch board to serve as 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger.

Drill a 1-inch hole in a 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger, centered from side to side, and a 1/2 inch from the end using a drill with a one-inch hole saw bit. Measure 1 inch up from the bottom edge and centered between both sides to place a mark. Clamp one 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger to a working surface allowing one end of the wood piece to extend beyond the edge of the bench sufficiently, to allow you to cut the hole without marring your work surface. Place the mandrel bit on the mark you made so that the shaft of the drill bit is perpendicular to the board and activate the drill while pressing firmly downward. Repeat for the other two 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hangers.

Locate an exposed beam in the basement where you want to install your drying rack. Measure 1 inch from the bottom edge of the beam and make a mark. Line up the solid end of a 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger with the mark, check that the rectangle is perpendicular to the ground with the level, and insert a 2-inch wood screw through the 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger into the side of the beam.

Put the 4.5-foot dowel through the hole in the rectangular support connected to the ceiling beam. Slip the other two 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hangers onto the dowel. Locate a beam near the end of the dowel. Measure and mark 1 inch from the bottom of the beam, position the top edge of the last 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger that you threaded onto the dowel against the mark. Check that the dowel is level before screwing through the support into the beam.

Locate a beam in the center of the first two 2.5-by-6-inch dowel hanger and attach the third support to the beam.