Anyone here used any of these for a bookshelf? I want to fit shelves at the side of a chimney breast - about 900mm wide - and they look ideal for the job (cables in the wall at either side, so don't want to fix anything there). The problem is one of load - books could be up to about 50 kilos (I guess), would they be up to it?
Depends on how you float them... you can get triangular section ali supports that screw to the back wall, and have a slot you push a lump of suitable thickness shelving into. These will take a significant load.
The alternative would be studs resined into the wall, and then matching holes in the back of the shelves. This relies totally on the bending resistance of the studs - so you need a fair number for a heavy load.
Traditional spur type brackets will obviously take shelves supported just from the back, but you can see the mechanism of support, so it does not really quality as floating.
The strongest solution is fixing thin wood battens to the back and both sides, then routing a rebate into the back and ends of the shelf to allow the shelf to sit over the battens, and hide them completely.
If you're expecting 50kg of books, it seems to me that making the shelves float (usually for aesthetic reasons) is unnecessary. Any rear brackets would do.
Do you know the position of the cables in the wall? Is your opposition to fixings into the wall such as to prevent battens under the whole depth of each shelf?
If I were doing this I'd stick to a simple approach; I'd in essence put vertical 'legs' into the back and front corners of the alcove and make those support the shelves (perhaps using bookshelf strips if I thought I'd ever want to change the heights of the shelves). I'd paint the legs the same colour as the walls if I wanted them hidden or make them match skirtings etc. Rather than fixing them securely to the sides of the alcove (to bear weight) I'd have them go right down to the floor to transfer weight there. The shelves and/or rear legs would probably need modest fixing to the back wall, but only to stop the whole edifice from toppling forwards.
Once filled with books not much of this is going to be noticeable.
Standard off the shelf B&Q type floating shelves - no chance whatsoever.
Have a look at the Sagulator for a bit more info
If you really need 50kg capacity I'd fit support on all 4 sides of the shelf, and use 18mm chip or better to avoid sag. If you like you can route the front support so the shelf sits flush in it. The result is like a floating shelf with a frame.
NT
50 kilos per shelf? Jeez, are the books made of lead?
For that sort of weight I'd rather do a well-supported free-standing unit with shelves supported at all corners and with strengthening across the front/centre.
Easily achieved if they are largeish books - especially if they have colour illustrations on glossy paper (recipe books, art books, photos of angle grinder accidents etc etc). And ISTR I once met shelves spec'd for over 100 kg/m - mind you that was for foolscap bound in leather.
Many thanks for all the replies.From the comments, it doesn't seem that floating shelves will cope with the weight - although, I think my 'guess' of
50 kilos was probably a bit high (around 20kg would be more likely).Although floating shelves would give the appearance I'm looking for, I think I'm going to have to come up with some way of supporting them at the sides.
Looks like it's back to the drawing board!
Thanks again for the suggestions.
Here is a simple technique for alcoves etc:
Thanks - very interesting. My problem, though. is not so much being able to see the support battens as not wanting to drill into the sides of the alcove because of the cables - although I think if I drill towards the extreme edge of the chimney breast I'll almost certainly miss them.
I do like the idea shown, but not having a router would be a bit of a problem!
way with screws and wall plugs etc.
^no
Yup, cable detector and being careful is the only real way of getting round that one.
Table saw? Failing that a hand held circular saw. (or, look at it another way, and excuse to buy a router!)
If doing with a saw then just take out the rebate section in two cuts right alone the edges of the board. Then plant a lipping on the front to hide the battens.
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