I live at a house of grad students, in a semi-dorm-like situation, and most of us have bicycles that currently adorn the side porch in moderately haphazard fashion.
There is a pretty crappy old-style bike rack on the porch, but it's the kind that only holds bikes stable when they're on the edges of the rack and can be locked to the side - otherwise it just holds the front wheel, and the bike is tippy side-to-side, and also difficult to lock up the frame if you're using a U-lock. It is possible to put some bikes over the top of the rack (such that the top bar of the rack goes between the front wheel and the downtube) but this is difficult to maneuver into place, can scratch the downtube, and doesn't work with bikes that have fenders or little tire clearance with the downtube.
Other bikes are locked to the porch railing itself, which works well but there's only room for a few bikes like this.
Here's what that rack looks like:

http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/bike_racks/IMG_9272--porch_bikerack.jpg

and here's a picture from another angle (http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/bike_racks/IMG_9271--porch_bike_storage.jpg).

We're planning to build a bike rack with a lean-to type roof over it, out in the backyard. This will be useful for everyone to keep their commuting bikes.
So I'm trying to find out about options for bike-rack systems. The old-style rack has problems as described above. UNC's campus and the city of Chapel Hill, have moved entirely to a design of curvy tubular steel (usually powdercoated or rubberized so it won't scratch bikes). It looks like this:

http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/bike_racks/IMG_8586--campus_bikerack.jpg

This rack is a good design because each bike on the rack has its frame supported by leaning sideways with the top tube against the vertical part of the rack. A U-lock can go through the downtube and front wheel, locking to that same vertical part of the rack.
The design also looks elegant. Its downside is that it doesn't make very good use of horizontal space. Since it's easier to lock the bikes up through the top-open part of the rack's curvature (though some bikes can be locked up underneath the downward-facing curved part of the rack, as may be seen in this picture (http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/bike_racks/IMG_8110--campus_bikerack_side.jpg)), it would make more sense from a design perspective to have the upward-facing curved part be wider (so there's room for two bikes, one leaning against each vertical section) and have the downward-facing curved part be horizontally narrower (just assuming people won't lock their bikes underneath it).
I could draw that a lot more easily than I'm describing it, I think. Here's generally what I'm talking about - the bikes are represented by leaning vertical lines with a cross-bar at the top supposed to be a handlebar. (And the humps aren't supposed to be getting taller toward the right of the rack, I'm just not good at drawing in photoshop.)
http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/bike_racks/sample_design.png
A design like this, with four "humps", could have eight bikes easily locked to it. All bikes will enter the rack from the same side - the front tire will be against a fence.

Anyway, I'm wondering what bike-racks are available for purchase for something like this. I know how to get regular bike parts, but don't know anything about suppliers or purchasing for this sort of thing.

Also, if there are designs which are preferable to what I proposed, I'm open to those as well.

Thanks for any information you can offer here!

If, instead of placing the front wheel into the old style rack, you put the rear wheel into it, you will not experience the wobbliness that occurs when parking head on since the rear wheel doesn't steer like the front does.

Newer versions of that old style rack have vertical bars spaced just wide enough for your tire to fit through, again, making them more stable.

I have parked using that new worm-shaped rack, but, when I do, it's always by leaning my rear wheel against the rack so that the tire contacts the rack at two "opposing" points - so that if the tire wanted to roll in one direction against the rack, friction at the opposite touching point would cancel out the tendency to roll. The points don't have to be 12 and 6 o'clock . . . sort of 10:00 and 8:00 can be sufficient.

I personally would never lean the frame of my bike against any rack. If my paint is going to get junked up, I'd prefer having it happen as a function of my using the bike, not from leaning it against some poorly designed rack.

Another little trick I've discovered is that if I "lock" either of the brake levers so that one of the tires cannot roll, the bike is much more stable when you lean it against anything.

Lately, I've given up on locks, and, generally will avoid stopping where I cannot keep an eye on my bike or take it into wherever it is that I'm going.

That's probably not very practical in the OP's situation - but I would certainly figure out some way to store the bikes so they aren't just sort of thrown into a heap.

Good luck - let us know how you work that situation out.

Caruso

In the photos you provided, i see a bunch of bikes with "steal me" signs on them. Bikes locked to wooden railings, as if thieves haven't cut through wooden railings to steal bikes before. Bikes locked with cable locks, as if thieves don't cut those day in and day out, 365 days a year.

Building a good rack is a good step, but the bike owners need to learn how to lock up or building a rack won't mean much.

As a solution to your problem, why don't you see if the city or UNC will install those racks for you? As an example, in Portland, if businesses ask for a rack, the city installs one.

having lived in grad student housing myself for a few years, i felt that it isn't worth my time or money to do much in the way of maintaining or improving the property. if you have the time and cash, go for it, but keep in mind that you are donating your services and money to your landlord.

if your house is university-owned, see if they will install a rack. i doubt any private slumlord would bother. also maybe your grad student association could fund this project.

i wouldn't want to lock up a decent bike out in the yard, exposed to rain, falling leaves, etc. your bike is better off with some shelter, a roof over it.

as mentioned, most of those bikes are quite ripe for the picking, whether whole or as parts. look at the situation through a bike thief's eyes, and take the necessary precautions. how about moving the bike to your room? a cheaper investment -- and more secure system -- would be to install hooks to hang the bike from your room wall.

If you get the worm-style - make sure that it is high enough to pass the rear wheel, and open enough that lots of bikes can fit. I like to pass my rear wheel backwards through the rack, and then lock my frame/rear with a U-lock and the front/frame with a cable. This holds the bike steady and has so far <crosses fingers> deterred thieves.

You could create more space by screwing hooks into the lean to roof and have some bikes hanging, possibly upside down. You will need some sort of loop to tread a lock through.