How to Put Up Book Shelves With Baseboard Heating

You can still store books if you have baseboard heating.

Baseboard heating can make installing bookshelves problematic. The protruding heating element means you can't push the shelf against your wall, limiting its attractiveness and its stability. In some older heating units, it can also pose a fire hazard. Your best bet for bookshelves in a room with baseboard heating is to hang a shelf unit from the wall above the heater. This process works only when used with bookshelves that have a strong back firmly mounted to the shelves proper.

Things You'll Need

• Power drill
• Wood screws, 2 inches long
• Measuring tape
• Stud finder
• Level
• Wood screws, 4 inches long
• Washers to match the 4-inch wood screws

Instructions

Prepare the Bookcase

1. Confirm that the back plate of your bookcase is at minimum 1/2-inch thick and made of wood, not particleboard or cardboard. Models without a back this strong will not work for this purpose.

2. Check how the back plate of your bookcase is mounted to the side walls. If it's only glued, stapled or nailed, attach it more firmly with a 2-inch wood screw for every 3 inches of board length. Only a mount this firm will hold once the shelves are loaded with books.

3. Measure the width of your bookshelf. Work out how many holes you can drill through the back plate in a horizontal line if you space the holes 16 inches apart. For example, a 24-inch-wide bookshelf could accommodate two holes, while a 40-inch shelf could accommodate three.

4. Drill a level line of holes in the back plate of your bookshelf, spaced 16 inches apart. Center the holes in respect to the sides of the shelf. For example, a 24-inch shelf would get two holes, each 4 inches from either side. Use a drill bit the same diameter as your 4-inch wood screws, and place the holes on the midline between two shelves in your unit.

5. Drill additional lines of holes at the midline of each additional shelf in your bookshelf unit.

Hang the Bookcase

1. Locate wall studs in the wall where you want to hang the bookcase.

2. Mark the studs you will hang your bookcase from, one stud per hole in each of the lines you drilled.

3. Support the bookcase in position against the wall, the holes you've drilled lined up with the wall studs you've marked. If you don't have assistants to hold it up, set it on two chairs.

4. Screw the bookcase to the wall using one 4-inch wood screw through each hole and into the wall stud behind. Run each screw through a washer before driving it in to help distribute the weight once you're finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Mount your bookcase so that the bottom is a minimum of 24 inches above the baseboard heating unit. Any closer risks heat damage to your books or even a minor fire hazard.

References

• "Step by Step Basic Carpentry"; Ben Allen; 1997
• Mike Byers; General Contractor; Corvallis, OR