Alcove Shelves (Wide Span)

[Scottie7275]

Hi

I am a newbie and have tried to read as many of the posts about Alcove Shelves as i can before posting a question but I like to be absolutely sure before I go ahead and do anything.

I am wanting to put up some shelves in the two alcoves either side of our chimney breast (the spans are 1.7m and 1.5 m). These will hold mainly books and maybe the odd ornament or two. I am planning to use Ash or Oak (30mm thick) for the shelves and according to the sagulator (or at least I think I did it right) this will be ok.

My wife doesn't like the look of bookshelves that are built up and slotted in so she is wanting the shelves fitted directly to the wall (if that makes sense?).

My first thought was battens on three walls and screw the shelves down, however the walls are not perfectly straight and I am pretty sure that it is plasterboard over stone, so I would only have plasterboard to screw into and I am unsure whether this would be strong enough. My other thought was London shelf brackets screwed into the studs (if I can find them).

Can someone please offer me some help as to what is the best and safest solution for this? I don't want sagging (or even worse, falling down) shelves!

Thanks

Scott

 

[foxhole]

You would drill thru the plasterboard into the brick/stone work and fit plugs using longer screws.
If wall are not straight you will need to trim shelves to fit whatever your method of fixing.
Another method is to mark a level line around and fit screws with about 10-12mm standing proud of the wall, place shelf on top and tap down to mark screw position, remove shelf and rebate screw location to about 6mm. Refit shelf and tap down the screw heads disappear into the shelf with a few taps of a hammer and you have a secure shelf which appears to float.

 

[Scottie7275]

You would drill thru the plasterboard into the brick/stone work and fit plugs using longer screws.
If wall are not straight you will need to trim shelves to fit whatever your method of fixing.
Another method is to mark a level line around and fit screws with about 10-12mm standing proud of the wall, place shelf on top and tap down to mark screw position, remove shelf and rebate screw location to about 6mm. Refit shelf and tap down the screw heads disappear into the shelf with a few taps of a hammer and you have a secure shelf which appears to float.

I like the idea of floating shelves plus this would save me the money of buying brackets/wood for battens. Would this really be secure enough to hold books over such a large span though?

 

[foxhole]

Yes, you are just supporting the shelf directly on screws instead of timber held by screws.