

This is a very simple approach and it’s easy to put up shelves like these. The metal strips are screwed into the wall studs. These brackets fit into metal strips, placed vertically on the wall. It is often convenient to support shelves with brackets. To make this type of bracket work, you need to decrease the size of the shelf by twice the thickness of the “L” peg or make other modifications to take this factor into account. This is the case for both sides of the shelf. Instead of the shelf reaching all the way to the wooden support piece, it can only go as far as the edge of the “L” peg. The “L” peg takes up space along the end of the shelf. Issue With “L” peg – With this type of peg, the end is round and fits into the hole as before.If there are no side pieces, you might not want to support shelves in this way. You need side pieces – Cabinets or bookcases often use side pieces.This is a problem with cheap plastic pegs. As a result, the support can fail if there’s too much weight on the pegs (e.g too many books, or heavy garage items). Also, the part supporting the shelf is about that size. The pegs cannot support too much weight – These pegs only travel into the wood 5/16 of an inch or so.If this happens, all the items stored on the shelf can fall and break! The shelf itself is not very stable – Often a heavy weight near a corner can actually cause the whole shelf to tip and fall out of position.Also, you can easily adjust the shelf position to agree with the size of the objects you need to store. That is because the pegs make assembly easy, and are relatively inexpensive. The end part of the peg goes into the hole, the remainder extends outward and serves to hold the shelf up.Īctually, you find this approach used often with furniture from Target or Ikea. The holes on the other side piece must match. First, drill holes along the side pieces. These pegs do just that: They support the shelves.
Supporting bracket how to#
How To Support A Wooden Shelf: What Are Shelf Support Pegs? Many pieces of hardware can be used to support shelves. Possibly, they might look better when stained. They may be heavier than thinner plywood pieces. Wood Planks – These are less flexible.This is not a problem if the shelf supports light items. Plywood – This type of shelf will bow or curve.So, what sort of wood should you use for the shelf? Because of that screws are often a better choice.

However, nails can come loose with stress on the wood. You can use a nail set to recess the screw holes. If the screw holes are in a visible area, you might consider countersinking them and using plugs.Īnother option is to just use nails and glue. Glue or screw the side pieces into place. To do this, attach wood to the side support pieces of a bookcase, cabinet, or similar furniture item. There are really many ways to support a shelf.

Is the shelf decorative in nature? – If so, you’ll be concerned with the appearance of the wood project.What’s the purpose of the shelf? – Are you using it to hold heavy objects, or just display lighter ones?.It’s a good idea to consider how this will be done in the early stages of your project. This article shows how to support a wooden shelf.
