My Mum wants me to put up some long (8 foot) shelves up, using contiboard and 4 shelf bearers per shelf, lots of books on them!. Which is the best way to get the shelf bearers level? With a shorter length shelf I would fix one bearer and then using the shelf and the other bearer I would adjust to level and mark the holes. With the conti board being so long it will bend under it's own weight so I don't think this method will work. Any more ideas?
Cheers
John
LOL, stand the shelf on edge, rather than flat. You can let it tilt back a little, so it stays in place.
Yes, a laser ruler held in position on the wall while you stand back to view the level of the line.
Yes, but press it flat when youre drawing the line, as even at a small angle it'll bend about.
NT
Hmmm... 8 foot, 4 brackets, that's a minimum of 2 foot spacing. If you do that with conti board then put books on it, it will sag muchly.
It would be a good idea to put a strip of wood all along the back wall in addition. This will help to stop sag. Books are heavy.
Rob Graham
I make it 32 inches between bracket centres. Sag even more. But how thick is contiboard? One inch thick would be OK. I have a plain timber bookshelf 3 foot 10" wide and 3/4" thick and it has sagged 1/8 inch. Is plain timber a lot more expensive than timber that has been shredded into sawdust and glued back together again?
Use real timber. I have some here the same length you require (2cm thick) that are suspended at three points and completely full of A4 books and paper. No sag. I'd also think about screwing a 5-10cm lip at the back to give it rigidity. Also think very carefully about how the shelf bearers are fixed.
Yes, this is what we have too - all 4 walls of this room are completely covered in shelves made of 3/4" softwood, with 50cm bracket spacing. No measurable sag despite vast quantities of books.
Don't know if it's relevant to hanging long shelves at, say, 20" intervals....letting you peeps know, when I popped in -earlier- this week, my Netto had cheap picture-frame-hanging spirit levels for sale. About 700mm long, with in-line marker holes set above the ruler. Some possibly left over are hopefully still around in other stores. Jim
not completely sure I've understood your problem - do you mean along the wall or outwards from the wall?
2 ways to handle the 8ft distance:
HTH
Use blockboard instead of chipboard or MDF. Plywood isn't too bad, but blockboard has a better stiffness / money ratio. Books are _heavy_. Chipboard and MDF are no use at all.
Take a look at the Sagulator too (web search it)
It is the plumb lines you need to watch. A little out of level won't be too bad. You might choose to follow the ceiling and use a measure down from there for example. But 1 mm out with the uprights and they will always catch your eye.
If you haven't got a decent, longish level, use a plumb line to mark out where the uprights are going to be set every 26 to 23 inches or so
-if you put the outer bearers some 6 to 8 inches in from the ends.
You can make a plumb line with some string and a ring spanner or some such weight. Exactly how are they fixing to the wall?
Your levels can be drawn in, using something with a square edge. Alternatively you could use geometry. More accurate but time consuming.
Put your first shelf up and all the others will go to a measured distance.
Any sagging in the future can be rectified by putting a piece of architrave or some other moulding on the front edge. Pin it and use some sort of suitable adhesive, grip-fill maybe.
Another alternative is to put some 2 x 2s under the shelves. Pinned to the uprights maybe? Remeber to allow enough space to get the books out.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.