Dyer, Lake County
In Dyer the basement is not overflowing. It is empty.
Dyer built late. A lot of the housing stock here went up in the 1990s and after, and that changes the room I get called about. The garage is attached, and it is a 2 or 3 car. The basement runs under the whole footprint, it is deep, and in most of these houses the builder poured it, framed it, wrapped the walls in poly over fiberglass batts, and left it exactly like that.
So the Dyer call is usually not a room that is spilling over. It is a room that is almost entirely bare. A long blank wall, open joists overhead, a concrete floor, and 30 totes stacked in the middle of it because there is nowhere else for them to go. Nothing in that room is holding anything up.
That blank wall is the whole opportunity. It is also the easiest wall I get to work on. Clean framing on 16 inch centers, no 60 year old lumber to go hunting for, no low duct trunk forcing a short bay every 6 feet. Just studs behind plastic, waiting to carry the weight.
Real work, not a stock photo
This is the exact room I am describing
BeforeAfterA real basement in The Region: poly on the framed walls, joists open overhead, and a floor that vanished under the pile. Same wall, same afternoon, after the shelving went in. Drag the handle.
What I build in Dyer
Five jobs, one system behind all of them
Anchored into the structure, sized to the bins you already own, and drawn around whatever is actually in the way.
Custom garage shelving
Attached 2 and 3 car garages with drywalled walls and high headroom. Floor to ceiling runs set at a depth that still lets the car door open.
See how it worksBasement storage shelving
The deep unfinished basement under a newer Dyer house is the best storage room in Lake County the day somebody finally uses the walls.
See how it worksWall-mounted and heavy-duty shelving
2x4 ledgers lagged into the studs, doubled where the load calls for it, front uprights to the floor, cross supports, plywood decks.
See how it worksUtility and storage room shelving
The mechanical corner, the laundry room, and the space under the basement stairs that the builder left as raw framing.
See how it worksGarage and basement organization
The whole job. Sort what came out of the moving truck, build the wall, then give the totes and the seasonal gear somewhere permanent.
See how it worksThe rest of The Region
Dyer is one of 9 towns I build in across Lake County, and the estimate works the same way in every one of them.
See the service area
The attached garage
A 3 car garage is 3 walls you are not using
The attached garage on a newer Dyer house is a genuinely big room. Two or three bays, a service door into the house, and usually drywall on the walls because the builder finished them. People fill the perimeter with whatever will stand up on its own: a plastic cabinet, a wire rack, a folding table, the bikes. Then the cars go outside anyway.
Drywall is the only thing that makes a newer garage look harder than an older one, and it is not actually harder. The framing behind it went up on layout, so the studs are where they are supposed to be. I find them, mark them, and the 2x4 ledger gets lagged into wood. Nothing on the shelf is held up by a drywall anchor.
Then it is a depth question. Most people want the long wall, and the limit is where the car door has to open. We measure to the mirrors, not to the tire, and set the depth from there. On a 3 car it is common to go deeper on the bay where nothing parks and shallower down the side you walk past every day. That is how the garage build works, and it is why a rack out of a box never quite fits.
Why Dyer is never a scheduling problem
I live in Munster, so Dyer is a short run for me. US 30 and Calumet Avenue are roads I am on anyway. That is true, and it is still not the reason you will get a fast answer.
The reason is that the estimate is a video call. You pick a couple of windows that suit you, we get on your phone, you walk me along the wall and give me rough measurements, and I price the job before we hang up. There is no truck to route and no afternoon of yours to book.
For a lot of Dyer houses that works better than it does anywhere else, because the room is empty. There is nothing to show me except the wall itself, the ceiling height, and where the furnace, the water heater and the panel sit. That is a 10 minute conversation held on a phone camera. You do not need to tidy anything first, and if the basement is still nothing but boxes from the move, that is normal and it changes nothing about the build.
Install day is one trip with a loaded truck. Most jobs go in and get done in a day, and the work is backed by a workmanship warranty. It is me on the call and me on the ladder. Book a time that works or call (219) 209-2484.
How it works
Show me the blank wall from your kitchen table
Three steps and about ten minutes. Video call or onsite, your choice, and no waiting a week for a proposal.
Text me
Text me your town, what you want shelves in, and a couple of day and time windows that work. Texting is the fastest way to get hold of me.
Video call or I come out
Your choice. Most people do a short video call from their phone. If you would rather I came and stood in the space, I will do that too.
Get your price
I price the job right there, on the call or in your driveway. No waiting a week for a proposal.
Straight answers
Dyer questions I get asked
Will you have to tear the poly off my basement walls?
No. The poly is a vapor barrier over fiberglass batts in a framed wall, and it stays exactly where it is. The 2x4 ledger goes on over the top of it and the lag screws pass through into the studs behind. You end up with a fastener hole where a fastener is, which is how anything ever gets hung on that wall. Nothing gets opened up and nothing gets pulled down.
My basement is newer and completely empty. Is it too early to put shelving in?
It is the best time, and Dyer gives me more of these than anywhere else I work. Everything that normally slows a job down is missing: nothing to move, nothing to build around, and no decisions already made for you. We can set shelf depth and tier height around the bins you plan to buy rather than around a pile you are stuck with. These are the fastest, cleanest installs I do.
We might finish the basement in a few years. Does shelving get in the way of that?
It can, so we plan for it on the call. If finishing is on your list, we put the run on the wall that is going to stay utility space, or on the mechanical side that nobody drywalls. The shelving is screwed together and anchored, so it can come off a wall later if it has to, but it is far better to put it somewhere it gets to stay.
I have a 3 car garage. Can you do more than one wall?
Yes, and it is a common ask here. The usual layout is a deeper run on the wall where nothing parks and a shallower run down the side you walk past to get into the house. More wall does not automatically mean a much longer day either, because the framing in a newer garage is straightforward and on layout. I will tell you on the call whether your list is a one day job.
Dyer is right on the Illinois state line. Am I at the edge of your service area?
Not at all. Dyer is one of the 9 towns I build in and it is a short drive from Munster, where I live. What drives the number is the job itself: how much wall you are covering, how deep the shelves need to be, and how many tiers. There is nothing added for the trip, and you get that number on the call rather than in a proposal a week later.
Which towns near Dyer do you work in?
All the neighbours. Schererville is next door to the east, St. John is just south, and Munster and Highland are a short run north. Griffith, Crown Point, Hammond and Merrillville are on the list too. The service areas page has the full rundown.
Related reading
More on this, in plain English
The questions I get asked most, written down so you can read them before you ever call me.
How to Keep Basement Storage Off the Floor
How to keep basement storage off the floor in a basement that takes water: why cardboard on concrete fails, why sealed bins win, and why elevation bea.
Read itGarage Shelving That Actually Fits Your Storage Totes
Why store-bought racks will not fit large storage totes, how to measure your bins in 2 minutes, and what shelf depth and tier spacing do to the same g.
Read itHow Long Does a Shelving Install Take?
Most garage and basement shelving installs take a single day. What makes a job run longer, what you need to clear beforehand, and how install day actu.
Read itBook it
Let me price your Dyer shelves on a quick video call
Pick a couple of windows that work, show me the blank wall on your phone, and you will have a real number before we hang up. Most Dyer jobs go in and get done in a day.