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Thread: Bookcase stability

  1. #1

    Bookcase stability

    I'm designing a bookcase for a room with tall ceilings. It'll be 88x31", with a depth of 11" in the lower half, and 7" in the upper half. Does that seem sufficiently deep to avoid tipping worries? (It'll be secured to the wall, obviously, but I want it to be safe on its own.) It'll have a substantial back board (either 1/2 or 3/4" plywood), and it seems to me that the reduced depth in the upper half should move the centre of gravity toward the back when loaded. Should I be looking at a deeper bottom section than 11"?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    You don't say where you are, or whether you might have kids climbing up the front of the bookcase. Me, I live in earthquake country, so I'd be tying that bookcase to the wall. My usual approach is to put a 1x1 cleat on top of the bookcase at the rear. Figure out where the bookcase is going to stand, find a stud or two, drill a pilot hole through the cleat, and run a screw through the cleat into the stud. Easy peasy.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    Without anchoring as Jamie describes the only way that shelf will be safe is laying on its side. It is just to tall. Someone grabbing onto the side of the case to stretch up to one of the top shelves could upset the apple cart quite easily. I built a 36x54 or so bookshelf for my Grandson recently and played with loading it up without the anchors just to see. It was a short lived experiment and is now solid as a rock with appropriate anchors.

  4. #4
    Just curious, you say it will be mounted to the wall why are you concerned if it would be safe on it's own ?
    That bookcase will need to be anchored to the the wall.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    A case of those dimensions will not fall over on it's own, but it won't take much of a pull high up to get it moving, so your plan to secure it to the wall is the way to go. Keep in mind that many floors slope down a little from the walls toward the center of the room which means the case starts off tilted away from the wall a little (which means you may need shims under the front when you secure it to the wall.

    Regarding the depth; in general I find 11" to be shallow for a bookcase, especially if it will hold binders or photo albums or magazine files (for those that still have such things). I prefer 12 or even 13 inches depth for at least the lower section. (and that is shelf width, not counting the back).
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
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    Michigan, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    A case of those dimensions will not fall over on it's own, but it won't take much of a pull high up to get it moving, so your plan to secure it to the wall is the way to go. Keep in mind that many floors slope down a little from the walls toward the center of the room which means the case starts off tilted away from the wall a little (which means you may need shims under the front when you secure it to the wall.

    Regarding the depth; in general I find 11" to be shallow for a bookcase, especially if it will hold binders or photo albums or magazine files (for those that still have such things). I prefer 12 or even 13 inches depth for at least the lower section. (and that is shelf width, not counting the back).
    I'm with Paul. I have a pair of bookcases (commercially made) that are 32" x 84" with 11" shelves in front of a 1/4" or 3/8" back. With some trim on the bottom, they're about 12 1/2" deep at the base. These sit on a carpeted floor, and from bottom to top, lean ~ 1/2" toward the wall.

    With a tug near the top, I can make them wobble a bit, but no serious threat of tipping over. We have no rugrats in the house, and the grandkids are past the furniture-climbing stage, so I haven't bothered to anchor these - but a nylon or metal strap screwed into a stud and the top of each bookcase would be invisible and remove any chance of them falling.

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