Spur Shelving Questions...

[F1Boy]

Hello,

First post so go a little easy

I intend to install some spur shelving in our spare room. However the wall on which it is to go is plasterboard (with no sign of any studs within!).

The space I have to work with is approx 1360mm so length of the shelves will be 1220mm furniture board (what thickness would you recommend by the way?).

To take account of the plasterboard wall I intend to install a vertical batten (15mm x 68mm) the full height of the wall for each spur vertical. This will be attached on the outside of the the wall with these
www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=100067&ts=04020&id=11143 (and possibly 'No Nails' - is that necessary along with the hollow wall fixings?).

The spur verticals will then be screwed into the battens with regular screws. I guess the first question is will it work...? The second question is, what kind of spacing should I have between each vertical - I was thinking three verticals - one on each end approx 200mm from the edge of the shelf then one on the middle approx 410mm between the other two.

Thanks (and sorry for the long post),

Matt

 

[Scrit]

Hi Matt

When you say furniture board do you mean melamine-faced chipboard? If you do then this is normally 15mm or 18mm thick and difficult to obtain in other thickness, at least through retail outlets. Either way with "proper" steel Spur I'd suggest having your uprights no more than 18in (45cm) apart if you want to avoid bowing in thelong term. Spur uprights can be fixed into plasterboard using stuff like metal Redidrivas, so long as you've got 1/2in plasterboard these will hold a lot of weight (I have bookshelves in my office done this way - they've been up 10 years now and haven't fallen down yet - and not a batten in sight). The trick to using these things is to use a lot of them and put in extra uprights to spread the load - that and don't come out more than 250mm from the wall.

If your plasterboard is thinner than 1/2in it may be necessary to employ hollow wall fasteners or toggle fasteners to spread the load

Scrit

 

[F1Boy]

Hi Scrit,

Thanks.

Yes I do mean MFC and will probably go for 15mm to minimise 'dead weight' on the shelves, if you know what I mean.

Would you then suggest having four uprights rather than three (approx 280mm between each rather than 410mm) if going straight into the plasterboard with redidrivers...?

I assume the hollow wall fixings could also be used in 1/2" plasterboard instead of the redidrivers?

What is the standard thickness of wall plasterboard?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Scrit]

Yes I do mean MFC and will probably go for 15mm to minimise 'dead weight' on the shelves, if you know what I mean.

Actually 18mm is generally stiffer

Would you then suggest having four uprights rather than three (approx 280mm between each rather than 410mm) if going straight into the plasterboard with redidrivers...?

It depends on the loading and how much bowing you're willing to accept. There's an on-line calculator, the Sagulator, which can calculate the amount of sag you'll get. Why not try it?

I assume the hollow wall fixings could also be used in 1/2" plasterboard instead of the redidrivers?

Yes. I''ve found that metal Redidrivas have the best pull-out performance and have even used them for kitchen cabinets, in conjunction with long hanging rails and angle brackets.

What is the standard thickness of wall plasterboard?

On vertical walls it should be 1/2in or 5/8in. Some walls are 3/8in, though.

Scrit

 

[Thermo]

i think spur shelving recomend the distance between uprights as 500mm.