Fitting Floating Shelves - Are these brackets Good or?

[MrDavidRoberts]

I'm going to be throwing the old kitchen cabinets out and replacing them with floating 1.5m x 45mm x 200mm oak shelves.
However I'm a bit worried that I still don't have a proper way to fix them to the wall (brick),
They will be used to just store regular kitchen stuff ,heavy stacks of plates/produce/cans and all that stuff, Usually these floating shelves are used just to store some lightweight candles and nicknacks?


I did some research and seems like most of the people are using such fixings
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Concealed ... op?ie=UTF8

at the First look, the support itself looks ok from the picture,however it comes with only a 60mm long plug which doesn't looks like the most sturdiest thing, not sure I would want to use that to hold such weight?

I have never fitted a floating shelf before so I have no idea whatsoever about fixing like these.
Maybe someone has used this exact same product before and can comment? Maybe any ideas about a better way to do this job?

This is the end result I want,however I don't want it all coming down if I stack too much stuff on it

 

[Beau]

As a belt and braces man I use threaded bar fixed in with injection resin. May be OTT but you know it's not going anywhere.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I think I've expressed my scepticism about floating shelves before. Probably many times.

If you really want to, use the most sturdy fixings you can. Bonded in studding does sound a good option. If the walls are tiled on top of 1/2" of plaster, a 60mm screw doesn't go as far into brick.

But IMHO, cupboards are better in a kitchen for keeping the stuff inside clean. If it doesn't all fall down, you'll be forever cleaning.

 

[MikeG.]

Wow. Physics really isn't on your side with this one. I hope luck is. I'd only put cheap plates on those shelves if I were you.

 

[cowfoot]

Shelves rather than wall cabinets are quite fashionable in kitchens at the moment.
Pretty impractical though, as they (and everything on them) collect a film of grease and dirt.

 

[Nelsun]

60mm doesn't sound like much. Especially for 200m deep shelves. Threaded rod as suggested or take a look at floating mantle piece hardware which should come in similar form but in beefier sizes? I'd still wonder about getting deep enough in brick (I'm picturing red bricks in my head) and err on the side of brackets. Shelves of those dimensions will be heavy enough on their own me thinks.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi - I think that the dimensions (esp. thickness and depth i.e. self-weight per metre run) of the shelf are quite large, relative to the diameter and wall depth of those fixings. I would expect the solid oak timber to move (potentially to bend/twist) over time, which may actually be the most destructive force, leading to unsightly cracking and/or eventual failure. I've made similar shelves, but using M12 threaded steel rod 'glued' into a 100mm deep hole in the brick wall with resin (and 100mm into the shelf with PU glue) at about 400mm centres along a 180mm deep shelf BUT the shelf was made of plywood, for dimensional stability, and lipped with oak (top surface was formica). Cheers, W2S

PS I suspect I over-engineered, but it's better that than the other way!

 

[sunnybob]

I would want those shelves fixed into side walls at each end. without that, I wouldnt even put a chocolate tea pot up there, let alone a half hundredweight of best china. fashion very rarely takes note of common sense.

 

[Beau]

If you do take the resin'd in threaded bar approach there is nought to worry about IMO as long as the bar is of a large enough diameter that it cant bend under the weight imposed on the shelf. The resin is ridiculously strong and the weight of the wall above the fixing counteracts any cantilever loads (sure there is a more technical term for that). The first floor of our house is held up with injection resin and M16 stainless threaded bar.

 

[Buckeye]

+1 for resin and threaded bar. I normally use M12 but depends on the weight.

 

[morfa]

Another one for resin and threaded bar here. I have a massive chunk of sycamore in my front room that's been there for 5 years on a few threaded bars into brick.

But I would echo the others that shelves in kitchens do tend to end up with covered in gunk. There's a good reason everyone has cupboards...

 

[nabs]

I used the ikea floating shelf brackets for my two floating shelves, although they only hold 'decorative' nick nacks* - like others on this thread I would not put anything heavy on them, despite the fact that the ikea design is rather good (2x wide tubes about 7'' long held together with a flat bar and 8 fixing points). Much chiseling/drilling needed to fit also if you use solid wood. These are a smaller version of a similar idea and mean you can choose fixings appropriate for your wall:

http://www.sdslondon.co.uk/concealed-sh ... lsrc=aw.ds

*they are a constant source of annoying dusting and cleaning, natch.

 

[eezageeza]

Yet another vote for threaded rod and resin / PU glue. Used it on floating shelves in our kitchen, and they're solid as a rock.

 

[hawkeyefxr]

I fitted a solid wood mantlepiece for a friend, i drilled the wall and fitted 1/2 inch stainless steel bar and use silicon sealer to hold the SS bar in place, the holes are about 9/16 and 3in deep. I them drilled the mantlepiece with corresponding holes 4in deep and just pushed it on to the SS bar, has never moved.

I would have though the kitchen cupboards would have to have pretty thick bases and be made of a solid material.

 

[ScottGoddard]

I used 18mm dowel, drilled through the breeze block and knocked the dowel in until it hit the brick wall.

Examples

How the shelf was contructed

 

[ED65]

Have to second or third what's been said above about the impracticality of open shelving for a kitchen.

They're for two types of people: those who never cook and those who like cleaning. Be realistic, if you or your SO fall into neither category you should reconsider.

 

[gasman]

I agree with almost everything thats been said here but I think you have one extra thing on your side
You have a wall at one end - so to help weightbearing you can screw a wooden batten on to that side wall. If the batten is 1/3 the thickness of the shelf, and you rout a slot in the end of the shelf but stop the slot before the visible front of the shelf (ie so the slot is concealed), you can slot the shelf onto that wooden batten and that will help enormously in supporting the shelves
Having said that I agree open shelves in a kitchen is dubious at best. Everything will get greasy in due course
Cheers
Mark

 

[RobCee]

+1 for resin and threaded bar if you need a bomb proof support. I have my wood rack supported on a thermalite block wall using this method. It was the only way it was actually going to stay attached.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Have to second or third what's been said above about the impracticality of open shelving for a kitchen.

They're for two types of people: those who never cook and those who like cleaning. Be realistic, if you or your SO fall into neither category you should reconsider.

We cook every meal we have, there are no cardboard junk boxes stored anywhere or stuff which just sits around ,just fresh produce/beans/grains in glass jars and what not ,hence not a lot of space needed to store anything. Everything is consumed and eaten with a weeks time,we never throw any food away because it may have gone bad..It just doesn't happens.
Might be a problem for someone who just buys prepackaged stuff,cans and just store it away without ever touching them.

I just checked every top of our cupboards -they are spotless even they are never specially cleaned.
I'm not sure in what kind of filth someone must live for everything to be covered in dirt or for this to be a problem.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

What about taking a LOOOONG coach screw + Proper Metal anchor plug and still fix it without using resin?
after the coach screw is in the wall ,you could just take its head off with an angle grinder and you would have just as good solution?