Floating shelves?

[Wade Lippman]

My wife wants a floating shelf, about 16". The shopbuilt ones have to be 3" thick what is too thick.

I can only use one stud; the second support would have to go in drywall. She has promised not to put anything heavy on it, but should it fall it would land on the toilet. Are they secure enough to do that.

She likes this one, because nothing at all can be seen.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C5PLL32/?coliid=I68OQLKV5CAPB&colid=D1ZRJPBDDMY2&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

My drillpress only does 3" and has nasty runout. It is okay for most things, but I can't see using it to drill the holes needed for the support above.
Since I will be glue together two pieces of 4/4 boards to make the shelf 2" thick, I had the idea of routing slots on both board and then gluing them together. Then I could drill the holes with a hand drill. The routed slots would ensure everything was straight and parallel. Does this make sense?

The support I like is:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DSZ3LFW/?coliid=I3KK3QBHLZXRLT&colid=D1ZRJPBDDMY2&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
I could route slots in the bottom of the shelf so the support won't stick out. It will be seen, but to my eye they seem much more secure.

So, whatcha think? Any advice on floating shelves would be appreciated.

[Michael Burnside]

Cut a hole in drywall and add a support. The proper way to install floating shelves is to cutout the drywall and attach the bracket directly to the stud or attach a backer piece of wood that is level with the drywall and attach to that. The reason being is that even a little weight, perhaps even the shelf itself depending on material, will compress the drywall and it will eventually sag and look like crap or worse. You gotta cut a little drywall anyway, so adding a backer shouldn't be to difficult. I've done it.

For the hole, I've used a simple drill guide and a drill, no drill press a couple of times and it wasn't hard at all. Yes I prefer to use my drill press but it 100% is not necessary in the slightest. The first one you linked is great, but I've not used it. I've used a couple of very expensive ones and a few from Rocker. For a small shelf, the Rockler ones work great. Just search "floating shelf" in their search bar.

The expensive brackets I've used are https://www.sheppardbrackets.com/ and the reason I like them is that you don't have to cut the drywall for light-duty, though for the shelf I did that was 1-3/4" thick I did.

[Mark Visconti]

Another vote for sheppardbrackets. I did some 2" shelves into studs (longest is maybe 60"). No sag yet, but won't be surprised when it happens.

[Tim Best]

Hey Wade,


My wife asked for similar shelves a couple years ago. I intended to use the supports by Sheppard but they were unavailable at the time and I did not trust the ones available on Amazon so I improvised a solution of sorts. Like you I was only able use one stud. I used a zip toggle on the other end of each shelf. Apologies for the rotation but working from my phone. These are Ash and are a fat 13/16 thick/3+” wide/longest is 16” long. Lightweight for sure but they have held up well.

495558 495559

[Jonathan Jung]

Sheppard brackets! If you have to hang off drywall, try Fastcaps drywall anchors.

[Randy Heinemann]

Rockler's heavy duty floating shelf brackets require a minimum 1 1/8" thick shelf. They also have standard duty brackets. While it's true they are made to be anchored in a wall stud, it may be possible to anchor one support in the stud and the other in the wall.

Also, have you considered making a french cleat? It may be possible to recess the part of the cleat on the shelf so the shelf is tight against the wall. It is a little bit of a concern that there is only 1 stud for anchoring, but I would assume the wall mounted cleat would hold with a single screw in the stud and 2 other wall anchored screw. I've never used a french cleat for this but don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with a little forethought on design. Just a suggestion . . .

[John Kananis]

Install long 5/8" grade 5 bolts through a 3/4 maple backer. Install the into "two" studs (sorry, I would just make the shelf longer than 16" if I had to) or, open up the wall and install a mini-header type setup and attach to that. Once the shelf is in place, you can pretty much stack every dish in the kitchen onto it.

[Dave Roock]

Building a little longer -20 inches would be ideal. I have used a self centering Doweling Jig with great results. For dowels, I cut a 1/2" steel rod into 4-6" dowels. If it has to be 16", then cut out the drywall and run a 2 x 4 perpendicular between the studs where you need shelf. 6" steel dowel will hold a 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 with zero problem.

[Bradley Gray]

I agree you need 2 studs. I did some floating shelves some years ago. I made a drilling template on my drill press to drill @ 90 degrees and drilled into the back of the shelves with it and used it to drill through the drywall and into the studs for 3/4" steel rod. Worked well.

[Ken Krawford]

I ran into the same scenario as you did - only 1 stud. I ended up using these anchors - https://www.lowes.com/pd/TOGGLER-2-Pack-Assorted-Length-x-1-4-in-Dia-Toggle-Bolt-Drywall-Anchor-Screws-Included/3183821. They're rated at 1080 lbs but I sure wouldn't want to test that !!
What ever you do, DON'T use these "look a-likes" that Home Depot carries - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cobra-Anchors-1-4-in-x-3-in-Zinc-Plated-Driller-Toggles-4-Pack-367R/202531181. I thought they were the same and ended up having 2 for 2 fail.

[Lee Schierer]

How close to the center of the shelf is the one stud you have to work with? If it is close to the center you could use a steel rod drilled into the stud and into the back of the shelf to support the weight. Then to keep the shelf from rotating on the steel rod, use some dry wall anchor screws near the ends the fit into keyhole slots in the back edge of the board. The shelves below are supported solely on two 1/2" x 10" steel rods into two studs and the back of a 3/4" hickory board.
495661
As you can see there is quite a bit of weight on the shelves.

[Jim Dwight]

I put up several floating shelves in a utility room off my garage and plan to add some in the garage. The ones that are done are 3-6 or 7 feet long. They will support full cans of paint - they are pretty sturdy. They use no fancy brackets. I did not originate the idea, I got it off a forum, not sure if it was this one or another. You first make up a structure of 1X material, solid or plywood. Solid is sturdier. It will not be seen so it doesn't have to be nice looking. The structure is a piece about 1 5/8 wide and as long as the shelf you want on the back and front connected by cross pieces every 12-16 inches. For the OP's case, I would use three with one in the middle. This structure gets screwed together and to the wall. For the case with only one stud, I would use that stud and a toggle bolt on the other end. Those "togglers" are handy but an old fashioned one is just as sturdy but a little more difficult to install because you have to put the nut on the bolt before putting the nut in the wall. Anyway, after you put up the bracket you make up the visible part. I used a 3/4 front piece and ends and a top and bottom of 6mm luan plywood. You have to allow at least 1/8th and 1/4 clearance is safer for this structure to slide over the frame pieces on the wall. You could use 1/4 plywood for the top and bottom. But it doesn't need to be anything thick and if it is, the shelf will look bulky at least to me when you are done. So if the inner structure is 1 5/8 and you allow 1/4 clearance and have 6mm top and bottom you end up just under 2 1/2 inches thick. For what I am doing that is OK. You could cheat the 1 5/8 a little but it is the structure for the shelf so I would not go real light. Maybe 1 1/4 minimum. For a short shelf, 1/8th clearance is probably fine. A narrow shelf will also need less structure. Mine are 12 inches. You probably want less over the toilet. The weakest part is the joint for the frame pieces that project from the back plate away from the wall. I used pocket screws and glue on those. I think I just brad nailed the fronts of the structure on and did it after the back and projecting pieces were on the wall (it's easier that way). I just used a few 23 gauge pins to tack the visible slip cover in place.

One stud plus a toggle bolt should support a reasonable amount of weight, I would think it would support at least 30 or 40 pounds on a 12 inch wide shelf. If the shelf is narrower it will support more.

[Wade Lippman]

I looked at the Sheppard. They have screw "holes" 1" apart. Are you supposed to use two per stud and angle them in so they catch the stud? It says they include the drill guide, but that seems odd as they drill gauge is more expensive than the supports. Am I confused?

I would have to make my shelf 26" long to catch 2 studs, and I was hoping to make the shelf about 16". It claims that one stud will hold 35 pounds. The shelf should be about 5 pounds, so that ought to be adequate if it is accurate.

[Derek Meyer]

Those zip toggle anchors are super strong. When I worked at the computer store we did an install of a bunch of industrial monitor/computer arms for a local hospital. The manufacturer recommended 10 of the zip toggle anchors to mount each arm. We were skeptical, but they showed us a video where they mounted an arm using this method, then brought in a forklift, tied it to the arm, and pulled it off the wall. None of the anchors gave way - the drywall itself tore and broke apart a few inches out from the arm. I would trust these anchors for a light to medium duty shelf.