Have fun. Sorry your friend passed. I bought the collection of a friend whose wife/widow kept them in an air conditioned room dedicated to LP storage for 14 or 15 years after he died. She had attempted a few times to sell them and I finally said, "why don't I just buy them?" I paid her well, partly b/c it was a sentimental thing in memory of my friend, with whom I spent many hours listening-- he was the pulse of the NY Audio Society or whatever it was called back in the day. When the movers finally brought everything up to the floor where my hi-fi and records were (I had a lot of space then), I was overwhelmed.
I wound up hiring a cabinet maker carpenter to build shelves in a number of different areas. I also wound up having a sort of uncompiled area that filled a walk in closet that I would dip into to find stuff. It kept me going for a few years, just finding things--probably a few more records than the 4,000 you just inherited, but still- that's a lot of vinyl! And heavy too.
Enjoy the process. And be careful of your back---
I wound up hiring a cabinet maker carpenter to build shelves in a number of different areas. I also wound up having a sort of uncompiled area that filled a walk in closet that I would dip into to find stuff. It kept me going for a few years, just finding things--probably a few more records than the 4,000 you just inherited, but still- that's a lot of vinyl! And heavy too.
Enjoy the process. And be careful of your back---