Making large shelves secure

[potato80]

Hi all

Am building floor-to-ceiling (2.5m-high) shelves for books, across a 3.6m wall (potential designs attached).

The shelves will be made from 18mm MDF box unit carcasses, stacked up.

To make it secure I'm planning to affix multiple battens to the (very solid brick) wall behind, and then screw the layers of units to the battens one at a time, as I layer them up (and affix them together). The floor is level.

Anything else i need to consider at all, re safety?

Thanks

 

[foxhole]

Overkill, assuming it’s all secured together just need a few fixing back to wall at top, unless you plan on using as a climbing frame .

 

[potato80]

Lol cheers just making sure. Not done anything so big before, and books are heavy

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Just a thought for you- I'm planning a similar structure but the shelves will be timber not MDF (cos I like varnished timber and its much nicer to work with than MDF). Outline plan (similar scale to yours, 4m wide x 2.8 high) will have verticals routed so the shelves slot in, verticals roughly every metre.

 

[potato80]

Interesting. I'd be interested to see pictures of construction and finished product.

I've settled on:

An MDF carcass, which will be attached to multiple battens.

Timber lipping / fascia added to the front of each shelf.

Columns will be timber attached to the front of the carcass, with beading added, as in this picture ..

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Whilst multiple securing at multiple layers is likely OTT, it wouldn't do any harm to have it secured at both mid and top heights.

 

[potato80]

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I agree. No harm for the cost of a few quid.