A floating shelf is a shelf that has no visible mounting or supports showing and looks as if it is “floating” on the wall.
Types of Floating Shelf
If you want to fit a shelf of this type you have got several options:
Make your own: It’s potential to make your own floating shelf from a couple of fundamental materials. Although we do not yet have a project on this (we have now one in the pipeline) there are several good guides online, one in every of which might be discovered here.
Buy a pre-made kit: As I’m certain you will be aware, just about every dwellingstore, supermarket and DIY shed will stock a floating shelf kit. The kit usually includes a wooden shelf section and a bracket. The bracket fixes to the wall and the shelf slides on
To these ends, in this project we are going to cover fixing a floating shelf kit to a wall.
Types of Wall Fixings for Floating Cabinets
The primary job is to check the construction of the wall and from right here you’ll then know what type of fixings you will want:
Solid brick or masonry wall: For this you will want red wall plugs (for 6 – 10mm screws). For those who would more information see our fixing to masonry partitions project right here
Plasterboard and studwork wall: Ideally the best solution is to find the vertical studs in the wall and screw directly into these though generally this is not possible. In these cases you have to to use both a Redidrive, spring toggle or nylon toggle fixing (as these are usually one of the best at supporting weight). For info on the best way to use these fixings see our fixing to plasterboard project
Fixing a Floating Shelf to a Wall
Upon getting determined your wall type and have acquired the right fixings for use you possibly can progress to installing. For the needs of this project we might be fixing to a solid masonry wall so we will run via this process and cover relevant information for different fixings where required.
Check the Space with a Stud Detector
Before drilling any holes it’s a good idea to run over the area you will be drilling into with a stud, pipe and cable detector. This is a useful gadget that detects any pipes or wires that could be buried within the wall so that you just don’t inadvertently drill through them. Not only is this potentially deadly however it is also very expensive!
Finding Plasterboard Vertical Studwork
After running over your installation area with the stud detector to check for wires and pipes the next task is to drill your fixing holes. If you’re fixing to a plasterboard wall, as said on the top of this project, essentially the most stable fixing is to screw straight into the vertical upright stud timbers.
You should use the affore talked about detector to find the edges of the studs and after you have, mark the perimeters on the wall with a pencil in order that you recognize exactly the place the studs are.
Regardless of what surface you might be fixing to you will want to drill some holes. Firstly, take your bracket and place it on the wall in the location that you want your shelf.
Using a pencil, mark the highest left fixing gap in order that you already know where to drill. Put the bracket to on side for now. Once more, depending on what that you must drill, choose the proper drill bit from the list under:
Masonry wall: For this you have to a 6mm masonry drill bit
Plasterboard and studwork: In case you are screwing into the stud then you will need to drill a small pilot hole. For this use a 2.5 – 3mm common or multi-purpose drill bit. If you are drilling into the plasterboard, the drill bit required will rely on the type of fixing you are using. This ought to be stated on the packaging
Insert the require drill bit into a drill (may be both corded or wireless) and place the tip of the bit directly on the mark you made on the wall. Start the drill off slowly and increase in velocity as the bit bites into the surface. Drill to the required depth after which pull the drill bit out
Inserting the First Fixing
Earlier than inserting the wall plug its a good suggestion to hoover out the dust after which take one in every of your red wall plugs and push it into the hole. If it doesn’t go all the way in which in, tap it in with a hammer.
As soon as the wall plug is in place, take your bracket and place the top left fixing gap over the wall plug, insert a screw and screw it up, but not all the way. Make sure that the bracket can swing freely as you will want to move it around.
By way of what screws to make use of, for this job we have used 4 x 30mm screws, possibly slightly oversized but when they’re slightly bigger you’ll be able to ensure that they may pressure the wall plug to develop and bite into the wall giving it a superb anchor.
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