How to Build Wooden Utility Shelf

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Mark Blocker in this segment we are going to cover how to build a wooden utility shelf. Some of the things you are going to need to mount the shelf with are. I recommend having a level, a tape measure, a screw gun. The mounting hardware that you are going to need. You're going to need your brackets and of course the board for the shelf. Some of the things you're going to need to know before mounting the shelf. You're going to need to know where you're going to put it, the location of the studs in the wall. Because the brackets and the shelf are going to have to be attached to the studs to support the weight of whatever you're putting on the shelf. And you need to know the thickness of the sheetrock you're going through so you get adequate screws that will go through the sheetrock and reach the stud and properly anchor the brackets to the wall. Thus being said, once you have located where the shelf is going to go and where your studs are located. They're usually spaced out on 16 inch or 24 inch centers. Mount the brackets whether that be 2 brackets 3 brackets or 4 brackets depending on how long the shelf is and how much weight you want to support. When you pick up your brackets for your shelving they should have that information in a little pamphlet that comes with the brackets. And as I said before the brackets come in all different sizes. Depending on how big and how wide the shelf you want to put up and what kind of weight you intend to apply to it. So after we know where our studs are located. I recommend pre-mounting the brackets to the shelf itself. And that's using the small screws. And you want to use ones that are short enough that aren't going through your shelf bracket. So pay attention there. And I'm just going to tilt this up to give you a better view. Going to move this over. But what we want to do is screw that bracket on. By using the table standing upright we can locate where the bracket's at so we don't mount it too far up or too far down. To where it would damage the wall when we put it on . Once we have located you mark that with a pencil and then flip it back down. It makes it easier to put the screws in. When you mount the shelf you'll have both brackets mounted on there. Hold one end up to the wall. And it will help if you have two people. One person to hold the shelf and the bracket together while the other person anchors it to the wall. And by using one mounting hole only on one side. Mount it and leave the heads just a little bit loose on the screws. Don't tighten it all the way down. And then you're going to apply the level onto the shelf itself. Adjust the other side so it's absolutely level. And then put one screw in on that side. After you get one in on each side and it's hanging level you can go ahead and put in the other two screws on each side. And your project will be completed."