Attaching Bookcase to wall

The wife went out to ikea and came back with a 200 lb bookcase. After spending the better part of 10 hours putting it together, I was ready to mount it to wall for safety. The bookcase will be close to 700 pounds heavy when full. I stripped off the carpeting section, and actually took off the bottom molding to insure a close fit. The unit has two sort of L brackets(one at either top end )that is attached to unit with two screws and then they expect you to mount to wall with one large cutout hole, with a sort of washer/lock that has a big hole and small locking hole. For these jobs, I usually encounter a wall which is hollow after drilling through and I would use a toggle bolt to insure the safety with this weight. When I starting drilling in, after about an inch, I realized I was into something the drill bit wouldnt penetrate. It wasnt a wood beam, thats for sure, or a wood stud. I went to the other side of book case and tried that side(six feet apart) and got same result. I tried two smaller pilot holes in various locations and everything is that way, so I am assuming I am hitting concrete/cement, as a beam I dont think would be that large. How do I mount this unit, into concrete if that is what I am looking at. I dont believe its brick or metal. Thanks for any info provided. Much regards

Reply to
J.Lef
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There are anchors made just for concrete. Using a masonry bit, drill the proper sized hole. Insert the anchor, tighten down. There are many different types available. Do you know for sure what type of construction the building is? Is this an exterior wall?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Get yourself some "Tapcon" concrete screws and a masonry drill sized to fit them.

Or use screw type expanding concrete anchors and get a masonry drill to fit them.

This page may give you some more ideas:

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HTH,

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

There are special (blue) screws made specifically for concrete. Make sure you use the correct size bit to drill the pilot hole.

Reply to
Phisherman

Nobody else said it, so I will- OP should make sure this isn't a 'wet wall', and he isn't drilling into iron waste stacks or something. Is this a house or a condo? If the latter, I suspect he is hitting a fire break wall between his unit and the next one. (Concrete block wall, with furring and drywall over.) If a house, is this backing up to a chimney stack or something? Or is this an older house of actual brick construction, and he is mounting on old-style plaster over masonary work?

aem sends....

Reply to
aemeijers

Plus the other side of this wall , would be a stairwell. I guess that wall would be a good place to have a firewall. How do I know for sure, and what do I do if this is the case. Much thanks to all that have responded, and any further info much appreciated. Its just the weight of the bookcase has me concerned, and with grandkids running around sometimes, I want to make sure this bookcase stays put. Much regards

Reply to
J.Lef

Stairwells would have fire walls. It is probably 8" to 12" thick so you can use an anchor.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

You are wiser beyond your years to think about that and want to make sure it never falls.

Aboy ten years ago there was a tragedy at a day care center near us when a youngster climbed up the side of a bookcase (or maybe it was a locker setup, I can't remember which). He was crushed to death when it fell over onto him.

While that was the worst, the place looked even more culpable and despicable when word leaked out that the same item had been pulled over a few month's earlier, without any serious injuries that time, and the arseholes running the show just put it back up without doing anything to secure it.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

Thanks to all. My better half is a kindergarden special education teacher, so we know all to well the mishaps that need to be prevented. I took the advice(Much thanks to all) and went and got some concrete anchors and a masonery drill bit. The tricky part was knowing that the matching screws that came with the anchor would be too short, since I had over a half inch of drywall to go through first, plus the metal plate and bracket of wall unit, plus the length of the anchor. So I picked up some matching screws that were both a half inch long and three quarters of an inch longer. The bit (using my regular dewalt 3/8 drill, went right through the masonery with no problem. I measured on the drill bit, how deep I needed and adjusted the bit so it went to correct debth when drill hit wall. I then blew some compressed air into hole, to clear it out, and a whole bunch of black soot came out. Job went well and wifey loves me once again LOL, I do hate ikea. I really do. Not sure why, but just do on principal.:) My calls my suv the "ikea car", instead of calling it my truck. It has a long aftermarket roof rack on it, and she thinks I got it, just for her ikea shopping. That wall seems to be the only fire wall in my whole place, and I never touched into it till now, after all these years.

Much regards once again

Reply to
J.Lef

Ikea comes from a Swedish word meaning icky.

Reply to
mm

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