How much weight will wall shelves hold?
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1indigosky
I currently have 3 wall shelves attached to the wall studs. These shelves contain Easton Press & Folio Society books, which can be pretty heavy, & I keep adding to my collection. Does anyone know how much weight a wall shelf can hold if attached to wall studs? Is it safe to even use wall shelves for books? Thanks!
2Nicole_VanK
Tricky question really. You will have to ask yourself:
- how strong are those shelves
- how strong are those studs
- how strong are the attachments
- what are to studs attached to (and how)
Nothing is stronger than the weakest link in the chain.
(As an illustration: I once knew a guy who glued some shelves to a wall that was papered. His glue was great (extra strong construction stuff), the wall was great, even the paper was okay - though that was the second weakest link. But the decorators' glue that held the paper to the wall simply couldn't take it.)
- how strong are those shelves
- how strong are those studs
- how strong are the attachments
- what are to studs attached to (and how)
Nothing is stronger than the weakest link in the chain.
(As an illustration: I once knew a guy who glued some shelves to a wall that was papered. His glue was great (extra strong construction stuff), the wall was great, even the paper was okay - though that was the second weakest link. But the decorators' glue that held the paper to the wall simply couldn't take it.)
3MoTown
If you anchor your shelves to the studs properly, you'll be amazed at the amount of weight they'll hold.
Most stick-built houses have studs that are either 16 or 24 inches on center. That's a much narrower span than the typical bookshelf.
Go to the local hardware store, and get yourself some heavy duty L-brackets. The size of the brackets will depend on how deep your shelves are, but a good rule of thumb is to get brackets that are at least half as long as your shelves are deep.
Get yourself some good quality screws to attach those brackets to the wall. Most screws are rated for "shear strength." The greater the "shear strength," the more weight a screw can hold before snapping. For $5 you should be able to get a box of 50 or so 3 inch screws that have a shear strength of over 300 pounds per screw. Assuming you place brackets at every stud and use three screws per bracket, you're talking about over 1000 pounds in shear strength every 16 or 24 inches.
Most stick-built houses have studs that are either 16 or 24 inches on center. That's a much narrower span than the typical bookshelf.
Go to the local hardware store, and get yourself some heavy duty L-brackets. The size of the brackets will depend on how deep your shelves are, but a good rule of thumb is to get brackets that are at least half as long as your shelves are deep.
Get yourself some good quality screws to attach those brackets to the wall. Most screws are rated for "shear strength." The greater the "shear strength," the more weight a screw can hold before snapping. For $5 you should be able to get a box of 50 or so 3 inch screws that have a shear strength of over 300 pounds per screw. Assuming you place brackets at every stud and use three screws per bracket, you're talking about over 1000 pounds in shear strength every 16 or 24 inches.
