Sagging bookshelves

[garcia]

How do I ensure my bookshelves don't start sagging? I suppose you could brace each shelf somewhere in the middle but I've seen pictures of homes with shelves that go right across a wall, loaded with books yet perfectly straight. And somehow they did that without any visible brackets / mountings etc. My existing bookshelves from Ikea lasted maybe 2 mths before losing the fight with gravity.

[woofgang]

go back and visit those picture home in a month!!

[wildwood]

Could it be that there were no real books, but pictures of books?

The man-made board used for most shelving nowadays is most inappropriate and will always give way to sustained pressure. Sturdy (aluminium) angle iron screwed along the back of shelves will help to lessen some of the sagging. If the shelves are fixed to a wooden wall, doweling could be utilised between supports to fix the shelves to the wall every 12" or so, but it is quite a job to align everything. Ofcourse, proper natural timber shelving is a much preferred option, but a suitable hardwood is quite expensive.

[gilf]

What you need is good quality wood. The sort of stuff you get in Ikea etc is just cheap stuff.

[sft42]

Viagra?

[treaclefight]

when i was a kid i was given a job every summer holiday, i had to take all the books off the shelves, dust them and turn the shelves upside down, gave is odd look ing humpback shelves for a bit, but atleast they were straight for a while before they started sagging again. as a kid i didnt care, but it kept me out of trouble for a few hours. :-D

[dorisday]

My sister-in-law had a so called expert in to put up shelves. Not only do the bend in the middle but they also tip forward!!! Not a lot of help to you 8-) D

[dorisday]

Hi again Garcia, I have just a quickie search on Google, and what you want is floating shelves. These look really neat with no supports showing. Happy building!!!! D xx

[paulz]

get a strip of 1" x 2" planed, to measure the whole height of shelves. Cut a notch out at each shelf [measure at the ends where it doesn't sag] paint/varnish to match do it at front & rear of shelf you'll hardly notice it. Or cut similar dims of wood to exact [or a fraction over] gap - again measure at the ends, place in middle of shelf - where itll be hidden by books, secure at top, place "suppports" one above another as you go up the shelves.

[treaclefight]

v good paulz, and cheap too. but im sticking with child labour :-D

[garcia]

Paulz...that is so KISS simple it might just work, thanks.

[paulz]

Garcia - it's worked for me so far, no saggy bits [well not on shelves anyway] good luck. Treacle - Hi - couldn't get daughter to work for love, only money! glad u r ok! ;+D