One-sided pull-out shelves

In message <VkA* snipped-for-privacy@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, Theo <theom+ snipped-for-privacy@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes

I was faced with a similar issue, thermal store with lift off door to one side, central heating controls at the back, underfloor heating manifold bolted to the other wall. All needing infrequent access and domestic lady wanting clothes airing space. I fitted 4 vertical floor to under side of header tank supports. Made up

How about shelves hinged to the side wall, and capable of being folded upwards? On the tank side you could then have a removable vertical panel, with batons to support the free ends of the shelves, with each shelf having a couple of steel pegs on the underside which fit into holes in the batons. That should make quite a rigid structure when the the shelves are folded down and plugged into the batons - but one which can easily be dismantled.

You would have to devise some means of supporting the shelves when they're in the vertical position, and the top shelf couldn't be any closer to the ceiling than the width of the shelf.

I suppose that the shelves could be hinged downwards instead - but it would then be more of a faff to plug them into the batons.

Far easier is to put one upright on the upper left of your diagram, which will be the front right as you look into the cupboard. Then you can have wood rails on both sides, with shelves just sat on them. No need to screw them in. Very easy.

It would be easy for the shelves, but not easy for the upright, because there are pipes in the way where the upright feet need to go. It would have to be this kind of shape:

| top | | | | ___| | |

which is not a stable upright.

Theo

The trouble with sidewall brackets is the brackets themselves obstruct access from the front. However sidewall-mounted hinges are an interesting thought in that they don't have any side-profile to them, and with a spur-style removable bracket in the back wall might be worth thinking about. Stacking them might be awkward though (if the space is 60cm wide, the shelves are going to be closer than 60cm vertical spacing, so they would overlap when vertical. Too much overlap and workspace in the alcove is restricted).

(there is also some electrical stuff on the sidewall too, so that wall isn't completely flat. That might be ok to obstruct if it's just occasionally for maintenance access)

I can't think of how to make them pull out though, since they'd expect to be screwed into the hinges. I'm not really a great fan of baskets, since their sides tend to take up a chunk of your width and it's nice to be able to lay things flat on the shelves.

If there was demountable version of this kind of thin side profile steel bracket:

Theo

Have you considered a pull-out larder unit, something like these?

Search for <larder cupboard>, or similar

Something like a trolley?

If you are wall mounting consider French Cleats. Correctly sized they could give you the stand off to go over pipes. In a workshop they would be made by ripping down the centre of a batten at an angle of 30° - 45°. Similar idea in metal can be purchased as cabinet hangers which don't have as much stand off.

What about a couple poles/pipes for the uprights on the side with the restrictions?

You could then use something like wardrobe pole supports fastened at various heights to support the edge of the shelf.

Do you really need 50Kg (>1 cwt) per shelf of 60 x 60 cm?

The floor area is not free, which is why I'm looking at wall-mounted shelves.

Theo

I can't make sense of the diagram. It is possible to fit each shelf with a short upright that sits on the shelf below if that helps. If an upright on one side is simply not an option, there are slotted metal uprights that could go on one side, & shallow brackets slot into them. Not seen them lately but I assume they're still around. And fwiw it is posible to suspend shelves on iron wire when all else fails.

That's a nice idea, I hadn't thought about those before. Not for pull-out shelves though.

I did have another thought: linear bearing slides mounted to the bottom of the shelves:

Theo

I was thinking more of a lift out system rather than slide out. Presumably it wouldn't be needed very often.

I was thinking of pull-out to make better use of the deep shelves. Like in kitchen cabinets where things at the back tend to get forgotten, being able to pull out the shelf like a drawer means you can make better use of the space. (this is for storage, not for drying clothes)

You can replicate that to some extent with boxes or baskets, but that limits the shape of what you want to put there.

Theo