Wanted: bookcases with thick shelves

Can't seem to find any under about $120. A few years ago I bought four typical 72", 5-shelf cases with thick 1" shelves. I don't remember where and I can't find them any more. Even those shelves are a little weak for my books. Any suggestions?

Try a giant furniture store, Ikea nearest you for this store have a wide range of bookcases.

Teakwood bookshelf is a good bargain, and I think it is available from used second-hand retailers.

Something other than Ikea, please.

Scanteak, a reputable furniture importer and manufacturer . This company have teak
bookcases to solve your storage problems in your home library. You check their office in New York
whether the bookcases are available locally in USA.

244 Fifth Avenue #Q-288
New York,NY 10001-7604

USA Toll-Free: 1-888-539-6818

Thanks, but they are expensive.

I'm looking for bookcases under $150 with minimum 1'' shelves. Why is that so hard to find? Surely there's a large enough market.

#5 by pranogajec>

Are you looking at plywood or particle board? In my experience (bookstore and home), plywood supports more weight than similar thickness of particle board or MDF.

One of the keys of minimizing the sag is to keep the shelves relatively short (24-30" max).

I tend to put the heaviest books on lower shelves though this may not work with your organization scheme. Art books and others with glossy paper are heavier than paperbacks or pulp paper books.

James

You might find the sagulator useful in working out what you need.

If you're constrained in price, it might be worth thinking about building your own, or maybe finding a (retired) woodworker in your neighbourhood to do it for you. That way you can pick the material you want (anything cheap you buy from a shop is likely to be some kind of fibreboard or particleboard, which is not a good choice for heavy books) and you will be able to make the most efficient use of the space you have.

Personally, I always use the Ikea "Ivar" system, which is cheap and very strong (solid pine shelves), but not especially elegant. I suppose you could make something better-looking quite cheaply if you got a bunch of Ivar shelves and built your own uprights for them.

The bookshelves in my library displayed in the images below were built in 2003, and all the shelves are still level.

Click on each image for information on how the bookshelves were built:

http://picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/2301027

Thanks, all. Unfortunately, we've gotten a bit off the track of my original query. I'd like to purchase bookshelves with sturdy, thick shelves rather than have them custom built. My only criterion is thick shelves. I just can't seem to find any under $200 anywhere. I bought four with 1" shelves several years ago (from Office Depot or some such place) for maybe $120 each but can't find them again. While they do sag a bit, they are much sturdier than the typical thin shelves you get on cheap ready-made bookcases.

There might not be any out there that fit your exact requirements for under $200. In my experience sturdy thick shelves indicate higher quality which probably just can't be had anymore for cheap, especially considering that you want to avoid ikea, which has pretty big range to choose from and pretty sturdy. You might try a u-finish-it place where they sell solid wood furniture that you have to paint or stain yourself. Good luck.

I would look outside the "specifically for books" bookcase market (especially new).

A baker's rack bought at a flea-market (for $90, delivery included) was possibly the sturdiest piece of furniture in my North American existence--iron frame and solid wood shelves. Unsaggable and unbreakable, terrific for really heavy books. The sides and the back were open, so I leaned it against the wall.

Storage bookcases I bought from a chemistry department were also amazing (solid wood again). Not sure who makes these, but it's not some home-furnishing outlet.

So, I'd scour fleamarkets, Goodwill, craiglist for bookcase-y structures, and inquire in hardware stores and the like about their own furnishings, either where they get it or if they'd sell me some.

Maybe you're uninterested in this idea, but if your reason for the thick shelves is to avoid sag issues, I've done so by using shelves made of metal or glass (or both). It usually ends up looking a bit industrial, but it works for me, and I never worry about sagging. I know you said no Ikea, but I like what this person did with Hyllis http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/08/custom-wall-of-shelvingcheap.html and those things are ridiculously cheap (though I can't vouch for their sturdiness).

If you already have shelves that are too thin for their load, accurately cut blocks of wood inserted between the shelves can help out. Note that if the bottom shelf is not on the floor, you will need something under it as well.

These dividers can also serve as bookends, at least for the small period of time that the shelves aren't crammed full!



Oh, that's where the light switch for the hall light is!

Have a look here: http://www.target.com/c/bookcases-home-office-furniture/-/N-5xtmy

They are having plenty of designs and in your budget.

Used Office Furniture For Sale

I have two of these bookcases in my apartment that I feel are about what you are looking for.


They are one inch thick shelves that are super sturdy. In this picture they are empty but in my new apartment they are full, with each shelf double stacked. And these are not bookshelves that will sag.

They were found here: World Market, Cost Plus.

I have a lot of their furniture and love every piece. In fact, in the picture of my old apartment, everything but the lamp is from this store. If the current selection is not for you, you can always try again when they've renewed their products.

Currently they have this that could work, available in wood brown or black, at $250.

This one is way past your desired budget at $700 but it shows the sturdyness of their bookcases.

To comment on the Target post right about me, I have the smallest version of this from Target which looks very similar but I wouldn't use it for books personally. I use mine in my closet for folded clothes.

I used to have it as my primary bookshelf and although it held, my current bookshelves are just too good to keep my books on the Target ones.

see:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/158568

I've been served very well by these:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10008634&N=&Ntt=java

They are hard wood (oak), stackable, and come in a few different finishes (I like the java color). I am partial to hardcover books, and these shelves do NOT sag at all!

These line the wall (stacked) in my downstairs library. So, for a floor-to-ceiling effect you would need two shelves, which would total about $120.

The bookcases are stackable. Space saver.Wonderful. Not available elsewhere , except USA,Canada.Good design indeed.

I have these: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/madera-stacking-cabinet.do?&from=fn. You can stack them 2 units high, and the shelves are deep enough to double-stack (or put decor in the front and books behind). They look "sturdier" than they are - you should inspect one in the store to see what I mean, it's hard to explain here - but they're solid enough once assembled (I used wood glue with the dowels, just to be sure). And the shelves themselves are short, so i haven't had any trouble with sagging - even where my books are double-stacked.

I wasn't able to find any that didn't sag in the middle or cost a kidney. Thankfully, I married an awesome man who said, quote "You always said you wanted to live in a library, so why don't I just build you shelves".

And that's what he is doing! ~ L

Bless him!!

Sounds like he's a keeper! :-D

I was enjoying the idea that the empress was so fanatical about her library that she was willing to marry someone to get decent shelving - but I was willfully misreading the post ...

Bwahahahaha, I admit I'm not above doing that. I didn't, he had many other fine qualities, but him being able to build shelves for me did come up in the pre-nuptial discussions. ~ L

My dad built me some really excellent book cases (the wooden ones in the posted album), but in my new house, we installed tracks on the wall and laid shelves across brackets (white shelves). Having several tracks (I chose 3, but in retrospect should have gone with 4) mitigated sagging, and boards can be purchased in myriad lengths and thicknesses as long as the width is the same as the brackets you buy. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.978297841260.2794087.13943862&type...

ETA: The shelf/brackets/track system cost probably $300 for the ones in the photos plus two more walls-ful in another room.

EmScape, I have to say, my jaw dropped a little at those pictures. I love them! Well done on using that space you have, so clever! ~ L

Thanks. Those pics were taken about 5 years ago. If I had taken more before I moved out of that house (in the last couple of months) there wouldn't have been any space on the shelves, and I'd have taken pics of the upstairs room that had two walls with floor-to-ceiling shelves all filled. I'm really upset at myself for not taking pictures of "all the books" before packing them up and putting them in storage.

I recently saw an interesting idea for strengthening shelves. Depending on their material, it might be possible to rout a groove in the underside of the shelf about 1/4 inch deep and maybe 1 1/2 inch wide and insert a piece of steel bar stock. A little paint and it might blend it well with the shelf finish. You won't have any sagging problems!

I want floor to ceiling shelves in our living room. The ceiling is about 12 feet high and the wall I want covered is about 20 feet long. What wood would you suggested using? Would you recommend 8 inch width or 12 inch?

Twelve feet might be a bit high, as you would need a library ladder to reach the upper shelves. Eight foot might be better; you could use a footstool to get to the upper shelves.
I have some ideas for building shelves that you might consider:

1. Use 3/4 inch oak or birch plywood. Oak for staining, birch for painting.
2. 30 inches is a good width. You could fit eight into your 20 foot width.
3. Seven fixed shelves, the top four 11 inches high, the bottom three 13 inches. These should accommodate most book sizes.
4. Build the base of the bookcases from 2 x 4s with cross-members to help distribute the weight.
5. For extra strength, rout 3/8 inch rabbet joints in the sides to hold the shelves. Glue and nails are cheap.

Total height would be 92 1/2 inches. Figuring an average book width of 1.5 inches, one bookcase should hold about 125 books.
Check with a local cabinetmaker for an estimate. Ordering a large number of bookcases might lead to economies of scale in production.
I wish I had drawings to send you, but I don't have a CAD program on my computer.