How to Build a Built-In Book Shelf
- 1). Measure and mark off the placement of your shelves within a recessed area. Most shelves are spaced 12 inches apart, but you can choose more or less spacing, depending on your needs. Mark the shelf placement with a pencil, and measure from the ceiling, not the floor. Many homes shift over time, and the floors might not be level. Take several measurements for each shelf and mark all three walls of your recessed space, using the level to make sure each line is straight.
- 2). Mark the studs in the walls of the recessed area by using a stud-finder, and then penciling their positions on the wall.
- 3). Cut support strips from 1-by-1 wood. You will need two for each side, the length of the depth of the shelf, and a section as long as the back wall, minus two inches to allow for the side strips. You will not need these for the floor shelf.
- 4). Cut your shelves according to the length of the recessed space, and stack them together. They should be exactly the same. Mark dowel pin holes every 2 feet or less, about 2 inches in from the front edge, evenly on each board. Drill 3/8-inch holes--the same size as your dowel pins--through each board.
- 5). Drill 1/2-inch-deep holes into the ends of the dowels with a 3/8-inch drill bit. Push the dowel pins into the holes. Use a little wood glue to ensure the pins won't fall out.
- 6). Paint or finish the wood to suit yourself. A simple sealer and polyurethane coating will preserve the wood look or acrylic-based wood primer and paint are a couple of options. Let dry thoroughly, at least overnight, before assembling.
- 7). Screw all your support strips in place. This might involve pre-drilling the strips to prevent cracking, and installing anchors if you have a plaster wall. Use the markings you made earlier to set them straight.
- 8). Set your bottom shelf in place on the floor. Screw it down into the floor with long screws every 2 feet and set the first set of dowels into their holes. Stack your next shelf on top, lining up the dowels to sit in the holes in the front of the shelf, while the shelf rests on the support strips in the back and on the sides.
- 9). Brace the shelf to the wall by attaching L-braces under the shelf against the wall every two feet. Make sure to attach at least two braces through the wall into the studs for each shelf. Use the long screws for the wall and the shorter screws for the shelf hole of the braces. Repeat for the remainder of the shelves. Your shelves should be resting on the support strips in the back, supported in the front with the dowels and braced against the wall with the L-braces.
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