Hanging shelves

[cmoewes]

OK, not beer related but I know alot of people here are pretty handy.

My wife would like me to hang some narrow (3 inch) shelves behind out bathroom door but I can't for the life of me figure out the best way to do it.

Most of the brackets I've found are too big. Could I just drill and counter sink them in an inch and connect them right to the wall? They are mostly for light weight use.

I looked at these but at $20 a pop, that $60 for the three shelves she wants.

Any thoughts?

They'll go in place of the photo and inside the door trim line on the attached photo.

 

[Zuljin]

Check Hobby Lobby or some such. Maybe a builders surplus type place.

Now. What the hell kind of freaky Muppet suit stuff are you two into with those Muppet suits hanging on the rack?

 

[Hello]

I had gotten some glass shelves from ikea ages ago. They hung similar to those brackets you posted. Your best bet is that or to screw wooden shelves right into the studs.

 

[HefeHood]

Attach a thin strip of wood to back of the shelf giving urself an edge to drill thru and attach to the studs using cabinet screws. We used a 1 x 2 trim strip, glued and screwed. That gave me about an 1 inch edge to screw thru to the wall.

 

[MartyStone]

Maybe an option? I hate visible hardware.

 

[Homercidal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NuTuw2yJGo

Maybe an option? I hate visible hardware.

Those would be great for very light stuff. I can't imagine they could hold much weight.

 

[broadbill]

OK, not beer related but I know alot of people here are pretty handy.

My wife would like me to hang some narrow (3 inch) shelves behind out bathroom door but I can't for the life of me figure out the best way to do it.

Most of the brackets I've found are too big. Could I just drill and counter sink them in an inch and connect them right to the wall? They are mostly for light weight use.

I looked at these but at $20 a pop, that $60 for the three shelves she wants.

Any thoughts?


They'll go in place of the photo and inside the door trim line on the attached photo.

Shelves behind the door aren't a great idea as the door will constantly bang into them, knocking the stuff off the shelves.

A better (although more difficult) option would be to locate a stud bay in the wall behind that door, remove the drywall and frame out the bay for recessed shelving. Assuming that is a 2x4 wall that will give you your 3 inch shelves and the door won't bang into them.

This does require some experience with finish work (you will need to trim out the opening, cut miter joints, trim out the inside of the bay, cut shelves, etc).

If you do decide to do shelves that protrude from the wall, I would suggest adding a door stop to prevent the door from banging into them.

 

[Homercidal]

Yeah, depending on what's on the other side of the wall, I'd advise that idea.

If you still need to hang shelves behind the door, consider installing a door stop to keep it from banging into the shelves. You might try to find a floor mounted stop, maybe of interesting design to not make it ugly.

I once saw a design for shelves that you could move around on a wall. They slipped into these strips of wood that you hung on the wall. It was neat because you could change where each shelf was placed and vary the location of the strips to suit the wall. It's not quite invisible, but still looked pretty good.

Check out google for other shelf ideas. There are tons of them.

 

[cmoewes]

There already is a door stop and the kids towels hang behind the door so I don't think there should be a lot of banging into them... though I was wrong that one time back in 1992 and it's about time again.

I hadn't thought about a recessed shelve, or maybe even a small cabinet.

Mostly just looking for some space to store small bottles and jars and stuff like that.


edit: I just found this idea... might be just the trick

http://glitzandpram.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/spice-racks-in-bathroom.html

 

[Grannyknot]

Floating shelves will hold decent weight if proper anchors are used.
I like the built in shelving idea that broadbill had.

To add to broadbill's idea, building the wall out with 2x6 studs would make a really nice set of built ins.
If you decided to do this, it is much easier to add furring strips to the existing studs.

 

[broadbill]

Floating shelves will hold decent weight if proper anchors are used.

I agree with this to a point, but the cantilever design is always going to limit the weight it can hold. I'm not sure I would have gone with them in the bedroom closet like that youtube video showed.

I would contend that floating shelves are designed more for aesthetics than for function, so they really belong where they can be seen, but not used heavily. For example, in the living- or bed-room, with soem some picture frames on them...no problem. I've even seen plans where they are built with a secret compartment under the shelf...I might have to dig that magazine out.

I fear with floating shelves that if you put them in the bathroom, load them up with liquid containers (that are constantly being removed and plunked back down on the shelf) and you might cause the anchors to pull out eventually.

If I were to use them here, I would seriously over-do on the anchors, going so far to remove the drywall to add blocks in between the studs to provide a solid anchor surface.

Of course, if you are going so far as to remove drywall you are back to my idea...:cross: The spice rack idea is pretty good; I like the strip on the front to hold the bottles on the shelf.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't see the anchors as the problem with them. The video I saw showed the guy attaching the thin plywood top to the bracing using small pneumatic nails. Over time, with heavy stuff being placed on there, the thin plywood might tear out. The anchor strips will still be there, attached to the wall.

There is nothing wrong with using floating-type shelves, even in that design, if the user is aware of the weight limitation.

 

[broadbill]

I don't see the anchors as the problem with them. The video I saw showed the guy attaching the thin plywood top to the bracing using small pneumatic nails. Over time, with heavy stuff being placed on there, the thin plywood might tear out. The anchor strips will still be there, attached to the wall.

There is nothing wrong with using floating-type shelves, even in that design, if the user is aware of the weight limitation.

I didn't watch the video, but those brads shouldn't be trusted for anything and especially not for weight bearing joints (even with glue).

There are attachment methods that would significantly increase the weight load of floating shelves. Even then there are limits (as with any type of shelf).

 

[Homercidal]

I didn't watch the video, but those brads shouldn't be trusted for anything and especially not for weight bearing joints (even with glue).

There are attachment methods that would significantly increase the weight load of floating shelves. Even then there are limits (as with any type of shelf).

But they do provide an (almost) invisible attachment method, which is one of the features of the floating shelf concept.

I'm not sure which method I will use, but I'm seriously thinking about building some interesting shelves for my house. I could really use a fresh look to the shelves I use to hold my beer glasses.

 

[Grannyknot]

I didn't watch the video either, but the floating shelves I've used have a heavy duty metal frame that screws into the wall on 16" centers. If you can hit studs you're golden, if not, using a toggle bolt anchor works very well.

Any of the plastic hollow wall plugs that likely come with a floating shelf kit are junk.

If you go with floating shelves, open the packaging, check to see if there is a metal frame, and if it flexes easily.
As others have said, floating shelves are decorative for the most part. Don't expect to be able to load them up with canned goods or bottled homebrew.
I still like the idea of built in shelves between the studs.

 

[Homercidal]

Yep, I agree. Between the studs is the better option. They are still visible, and yet out of the way.

I'd do that for my beer glasses, but I put 7/16 OSB over every wall in my room so I could mount almost anything almost anywhere. And it's next to the family room, so I can crank music and they can crank the TV and we don't bother each other.