• create a bracketless fitted finish look which is strong to carry any reasonable book weight and elegant for precious item display.
• whether choosing single, multiple or bookcase shelves, once installed each shelfbar kit is designed to be painted to blend with the chosen colour scheme to achieve a truly professional finish - create a wall with shelves, not just shelves on a wall!

• new look and new fixing system allows you to create your own high performance floating shelves
• strong fixing system with no visible brackets; no bend, no wobble, no sag
• precision engineered MDF ready for installation and painting to match or blend with your colour scheme for professional result
• for bookcase kits, new integrated super strong combined wire bookend/support system, you decide precise distance between shelves (max 35cms)
• minimal wall penetration, suitable for solid and plasterboard/stud walls
• practical to install with full userview accredited step by step instructions, fixing pack with screws and universal wall plugs included

This question can be answered a number of ways ........but we think “can they take my books?” is the load measure most people want to know.

All shelfbar® designs have been tested on a range of solid wall and plasterboard surfaces and we are confident that they can easily support as many books as can reasonably be fitted on them.

We have put the bookcase shelves (integrated wire supports which double up as bookends) through some extreme tests - take a look at this photo, but please do not test the shelves like this yourself, we just wanted to test beyond the bookcase shelves’ reasonable limits!

The wall needs to be able to provide a strong fixing and the shelves are best fitted to a flat, regular and solid surface.
The wallplugs supplied will work in most solid wall types and also plasterboard (see www.fischer.co.uk for more information/specification) The wallplugs have been tested by us on a range of solid wall and plasterboard (min 12.5mm thickness) wall surfaces.
Few wall surfaces are perfect and once the shelves are fixed in position use decorators flexible filler to fill any gaps, provide a good seal and thereby enhance the shelf’s strength as well as looks.

If you suspect that the walls may contain wiring or pipes, use a pipe & cable detector to check before starting work. If you are thinking about putting them in a bathroom or any area prone to moisture, as with any MDF product you need to ensure once installed the shelves are properly and entirely sealed/painted before they are exposed to any moisture.

Practically no further planning is necessary for a single shelf, the answer is anywhere there is enough good wall.

For the bookcase kits, only a little more planning is required - because installation always starts with the bottom shelf, it’s useful to think ahead where the top shelf is going to end up. So before starting, assess the overall approximate desired position of shelving on the wall. From an ease of installation point of view, there is no need to be fanatically precise about it because the bookend wire supports are designed to self-adjust then cut to fit precisely once each shelfbar support is finally firmly fixed. Take account of the gaps you want between the shelves (max 40-45cm) and remember to allow sufficient space above the envisaged top shelf for coving/ceiling etc, and below the envisaged bottom shelf for any furniture (chair/bed etc).

When planning how much gap to allow between the shelves – suggest a min 20cms for small paperbacks and a max 35cms for larger books/display items. Remember to allow for the thickness (22mm) of the shelf itself.

As a general rule it looks better to reduce (rather than increase) the gap between each shelf as you progress up the wall. Or you may decide to keep the gaps exactly the same.

Because all fixings (including the holes in the wall) will be concealed/covered by the shelf itself once it is fixed in position, there is no reason why the surrounding area should be damaged during installation providing you take care during drilling/fixing. Then once installed use masking tape (low-tack masking tape is best) to protect the surrounding decorations during painting. Warning: if planning to install onto a wallpapered surface, first check that even the low-tack masking tape will not damage the wallpaper when it is pealed off.

Yes. Although it is all intended to be straightforward we do recommend at least a quick read through before you start because you can get into difficulties if, for example, you skip certain stages in the instructions etc. Always check your measurements and do not be tempted to skip stages on the measuring, marking and drilling order

We recommend you do not use glue. Glue is not necessary and if applied unevenly it may even reduce the shelf’s strength. And bear in mind if you do decide to apply glue evenly and correctly, because of the strength of some glues, should you at a later date wish to take the shelves down, you may have to take the wall down too!

This won’t be too difficult providing you’ve followed the instructions by only inserting all the dowels at the final stage, ie once you’ve firmly and finally fixed each shelfbar support in its desired position. Either way, the best remedy while also protecting the wall surface is this: do not try to pull the shelf directly off its shelfbar support, but instead carefully slide a strong blade (eg set square/steel ruler) between shelf and shelfbar support and, working your way along the shelf length, gently prise the shelf away from the shelfbar support. (please see photo - click to enlarge)

We recommend they do need to be sealed and, to achieve the beautiful fitted professional interior finish, painting is worth the effort. All aspects of finishing, including using Decorators Flexible Filler and painting the shelves will add the shelves’ strength and fitted look.
But if they are for the studio or workshop, you may decide to leave them as they are...

To achieve the best ‘fitted look’ professional result: once installed and after decorator's flexible filler has been applied filling all gaps/joins and has been allowed to dry, first use masking tape where necessary. For bookcase kits this includes protecting the wires during painting - please see photo, click to enlarge.
Then paint the shelves with one or two coats of standard primer/undercoat. Choose good paints especially if using the quick drying type because the shelfbar identification stamp may show through after primer and undercoat but should disappear during top coats.
To quick smooth the shelf edges use the sanding pad supplied between coats (ie not before application of first coat), For long shelves, you may find using a mini roller useful.

For final coat(s), choose a satin or gloss paint.


(Tip for pro installers: A convenient time to apply masking tape to walls during the installation process is just after each shelfbar support is secured, ie just after step 5 of instructions - see photo, click to enlarge).

The alcove shelves are best fitted with the adjoining alcove walls at 90° right angle and vertical. The shelfbar® design allows for the fact that most alcoves are not as perfect as this and in most instances, providing you measure carefully, the shelves can be installed “as-is”. Alternatively, for difficult irregular angles or sloping alcove walls the shelves can be scribed (up to approx 5mm each end and more towards the shelf rear) to fit more closely the alcove wall profiles.

When measuring your alcove take into account the intended position of all the shelves (ie including the space required between each shelf). Assess any significant variation to the 90° right angle and the vertical slope of the alcove walls. Significant variation may also influence your choice of shelf depth.

If intending to install "as-is", always allow a gap (plus/minus 5mm approx) between shelf ends and the adjoining alcove wall to allow for clearance. This gap should be adjusted to allow for any further significant angle/slope variations. Once installed gaps of up to approx 10mm can be filled successfully with decorators flexible filler. If your alcove dimensions and angles are very regular, the minimum gap recommended at each end of shelf is 2mm.

IMPORTANT - MEASURING ADVICE ALCOVE
1. We will make the alcove shelves cut to the precise width measurement you give us.
2. Take several measurements within the alcove to assess both the narrowest and widest point on the width
3. If you intend to install “as-is”, remember to deduct a further allowance for clearance, suggest /- 10mm (ie /- 5mm at each end), from the narrowest width.
4. If you intend to scribe the shelf ends to fit more closely the alcove wall profiles, this will invariably alter the width measurement you give us; for example, you will more likely give us the measurement closer to the widest width within the alcove (plus or minus clearance allowance).

If you would like help with assessing the best cutting width to fit your alcove
Click here to download Measuring Cutting Width Form Adobe Acrobat Version
or
Click here to download Measuring Cutting Width Form Microsoft Word Version
please email the completed form back to alcovewidth@shelfbar.co.uk.

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14. What gap between shelves can I have in the bookcase and corner bookcase configurations?

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