Help Needed Building Alcove Shelves Kitchens, doors, rails, stud, tables, chairs, stair cases, garden furniture etc... Find answers and ask questions here!

[tkmk]

Hi guys

I'll admit upfront that I'm a diy newb. I'm looking to put shelves up in our alcoves. They will just be simple shelves supported by brackets, as we are going to place all our books on them (we have lots of books!). So I just wanted help in terms of...

1) Is this a simple job for a newb?

2) What tools are required? I think safety googles, mitre saw, wood, screws (solid wall), paint -- what else?

3) Where is the best place to buy thick planks to use for shelving that I can easily paint?

All advice appreciated!

Thanks
Tim

[thedoctor]

Hi

We do have a project page on how this can be done if you are interested, see our building shelves project here: https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/makingshelves.htm

Hope this helps

[tkmk]

Thanks. I did have a look and found some useful stuff. I was hoping for more personal input but will re-read.

[thedoctor]

The point of a 50,000 page website is to alleviate the burden on the 1000 questions we get every day. We try and cover every topic by reading every popular forum post and publishing answers in web page format. To act as a personal advice service for free would be a little beyond any tradesmans remit I feel. All the tools are here. You will need to drill for the bearer fixings, screw the fixings in, level the bearers in both directions, cut the timber square, sit the shelf on the bearer and fix it, cut round obsticles such as pipes etc if required, sand everything down and paint it.

https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/DIY-superst ... undle.html

[tkmk]

hey sorry, I think you took that the wrong. i wasn't trying to antagonise anybody. I get that the 50,000 pages are there to help and as mentioned I did read through them and in most instances they will no doubt help 90% of those that come across your great pages. But I think, and I'm happy for you to disagree, is that the advice is generic (like a one-size fits all) so I thought the purpose of the forums was to seek additional help, perhaps where somebody feels there is a gap. Otherwise, i guess you would not need the forums and you would just serve up the help pages. If I've used the forums in the wrong way then let me know and I'll try and improve next time.. I hope that makes things clearer. Cheers

[tkmk]

hey sorry, I think you took that the wrong. i wasn't trying to antagonise anybody. I get that the 50,000 pages are there to help and as mentioned I did read through them and in most instances they will no doubt help 90% of those that come across your great pages. But I think, and I'm happy for you to disagree, is that the advice is generic (like a one-size fits all) so I thought the purpose of the forums was to seek additional help, perhaps where somebody feels there is a gap. Otherwise, i guess you would not need the forums and you would just serve up the help pages. If I've used the forums in the wrong way then let me know and I'll try and improve next time.. I hope that makes things clearer. Cheers

[neil-the-handyman]

Hi Neil the Oxford handyman here,

I would recommend using standard shelving track and brackets at approximately 50mm spacing to deal with the heavy load.
Another tip is to use window board (if the walls are white as this doesn't need finishing and is waterproof). When the shelving ascends above eye level flip the shelves over so that the white side is visable.
Hope this helps.

[neil-the-handyman]

Hi Neil the Oxford handyman here,

I would recommend using standard shelving track and brackets at approximately 50mm spacing to deal with the heavy load.
Another tip is to use window board (if the walls are white as this doesn't need finishing and is waterproof). When the shelving ascends above eye level flip the shelves over so that the white side is visable.
Hope this helps.