Alcove Shelves (Again...)

[bsr]

Hi

I'd like to fit shelves to my alcoves, the spans are 95cm and depths 30cm.

I'm planning on using bookcase/tonk strips chased into the plaster at both sides, allowing me to leave a 2cm gap at the back of the alcove for cables.

The cheapest way to get the shelves seems to be to buy a 28mm oak/beech worktop and saw it down. Using the values for white oak, the sagulator says this will have double the recommended deflection.

Any thoughts from you guys? I'd assumed 2.8cm oak would have been pretty strong.

Also, any suggestions to help me chase the bookcase strips with minimal damage to the surrounding plaster? I was going to score with a stanley knife and gently chase with a bolster.


Thanks

 

[foxhole]

Tonk strips need support from behind they are not designed for plaster mounting , they will bend and distort and the wall is unlikely to be parrallel making for a very poor fit and ugly job.

 

[bsr]

OK, thanks. I was going to use a U channel one like this:
http://www.hafele.co.uk/Hafele35a1/Templates/Hafele/Products.asp?param=5968&ig_id=33943

It looks pretty similar to the channel for shelf arms which I've fixed to plaster before. I've not recessed it though.

What would you suggest as a flush mounting on plaster?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I was going to use a U channel one like this:
http://www.hafele.co.uk/Hafele35a1/Templates/Hafele/Products.asp?param=5968&ig_id=33943

It looks pretty similar to the channel for shelf arms which I've fixed to plaster before. I've not recessed it though.

You'll have the same issue that you do with tonk strips. The library strip will conform to all the hollows and bulges in the plasterwork and will look dreadful!

Cabinet hardware like book shelf strips are designed for use with a perfectly flat and reasonably strong backer, i.e. a wood product panel. With the best will in the world plaster is relatively soft and plastering is rarely if ever even remotely flat....... You'll also have problems with screws - library strips are often drilled and countersunk for small screws, typically 3.0 or 3.5mm (#4 or #6), and the are a bit on the small side for screwing into wall plugs

What would you suggest as a flush mounting on plaster?

Put simply there is probably no such thing. If you are going to put in book shelves directly onto the plaster the traditional approach is to fix 2 x 1in PAR battens to the walls round 3 sides (brown plugs, 7mm holes, #10 screws - will hold a ton!) and screw your shelves onto those. If you want to disguise the battens you can always go for something like 4 x 1in PAR battens above the shelves (with chamfered or rounded over edges if you want to make a feature out of them) and screw the shelves onto them from the underside.

Failing that if you want the flexibility of using library strips then you'd be better off building an MDF "box" to slide into the alcove with a face frame mounted onto the front and scribed to the walls for a professional finish. It's what I'd do, but then I'm a joiner. An insert structure like that will allow you to hide the wiring at the rear or sides. It will also accommodate recessed tonk strips......

 

[foxhole]

For hidden supports you can drill, plug and put you screws in the wall leaving 10mm sticking out, place shelf over screw and tap to mark the position and then remove and make small cutouts where the screws sit, then when you drop the shelf down on top the screws disappear up into shelf. [Only suitable for thick shelving and not adjustable.]