Can I successfully mount a pine book shelf with a plywood back up high on a brick wall?

[oscar_]

Hello, long time viewer first time poster. Appreciate any help and advice! 

My gf and I made this book shelf that we are very proud of. Our intention is to mount it up high on the brick wall in the dining area, but we are concerned it is too heavy. We have mounted pictures, floating shelves etc using our masonry drill before, but never something so heavy. For context, the pine itself is not so heavy but we have used a heavy duty structural ply for the back. We used this type of ply because we intend to drill through the backboard and into the wall, so assumed it needed to be quite strong. 

measurements 900 x 2 metres.

all thicknesses are 20mm.

Is it safe for us to mount this book shelf? Will it rip out of the wall? The book shelf will also, of course, be loaded with books. I would estimate it weighs about 60-70 kilo without books. 

What is the best / safest way? 

 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @oscar_. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about mounting a bookshelf.

Using a dozen Ramset 10 x 75mm Countersunk DynaBolt Plus Masonry Anchors would support the weight of your shelf with books, but you're getting in the territory of hanging something off the wall that it was never designed for. I would encourage you to speak with a builder or handyperson and enlist their services for mounting the shelf, as you certainly wouldn't want the brick to fail and have it all come crashing down.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[oscar_]

Hi Mitchell thanks for your reply. If we removed the back of the book shelf it becomes quite light (I can lift it with one arm). I’m wondering how we would mount it without a back? I read that mounting from the top is the best way, but I’m not sure what hardware would be best…. Brackets?

Are there some kind of male/female screws or sliding attachments you can attach so that the cabinet can simply “hook” or “click” onto the wall (if this makes sense, one piece of hardware mounted on the wall the other on the shelf and they connect)? Any advice about mounting a backless book shelf on the wall would be great, preferably in a manner where you can’t see the brackets or mounting points and the item is flush to the wall. Thanks!

[EricL]

Hello @oscar_ 

If you're saying that the frame of the bookcase is very light, this leads me to believe that the materials used for the construction of the bookcase is not very strong. This also tells me that the shelf is made for light duty use and you can't put heavy items on it.

I suspect that even if you were to use angle brackets or timber supports the shelf assembly will not be able to hold the weight you are planning on loading onto it. I'm in agreement with MitchellMc's suggestion to engage the services of a handyperson or builder to determine if the bookshelf can be mounted safely on your wall.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.    

Eric

[oscar_]

Hi Eric, the book shelf is definitely strong enough to hold books, it’s 20mm thick pine and screwed together well. By “light”, I mean it’s probably about 30 kilos without the back. I’ve made this sort of thing before and can tell it’s solid. I’m only really concerned about the wall mounting part. Assuming we do away with the heavy backboard, how do we mount it to the wall? The previous plan was to use a masonry drill to drill through the backboard into the wall. Now there is no backboard I’m not sure of the best way to secure the shelf to the wall in a way that is aesthetically pleasing but sturdy. Any tips would be great! Thanks 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @oscar_,

If you remove the back, you could Dynabolt a length of 70 x 35mm Pine directly beneath its location on the wall. This length of timber bears the weight of the bookshelf. You'd then use angle brackets inside the bookcase to connect the top, bottom and sides to the wall. These brackets pin the unit back to the wall, and as they are on the inside, they'll be hidden with books in place. You could potentially use just the brackets and not the timber length underneath, but you need to ensure there is enough to support the weight sufficiently.

Mitchell