What brackets for laundry shelf?

[Mary7]

Hi brains trust, 

I bought the CUSTOMpine 1800 x 595 x 16mm Carcass Shelving E1L White Standard Particleboard to create a shelf in my laundry cupboard. I would appreciate advice on which kind of brackets would work best considering the size of the board. I wasn't able to find any long brackets in store but would appreciate any advice. 

[EricL]

Hello @Mary7 

Will you be cutting the shelf to a smaller size? Will you be drilling small holes into the side wall of the cabinet and using small shelf supports such as the Taskmaster 6mm Pin Nickel Plated Metal Shelf Supports - 12 Pack? Or do you wish to drill into the side wall and using large angle brackets such as the Carinya 100 x 125mm White Heavy Duty Angle Bracket. My best advice is to double check the depth of the screw you'll be using on the cabinet and the panel. Always use a spirit level to make sure that your shelf is straight.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Mary7]

Thanks Eric. The shelf is the right size for the cabinet which is why I am not sure how big the brackets would need to be to support a shelf of that size. Would it be possible to just use a heap of the shelf supports? How much weight would that be able to hold? 

[JacobZ]

Hi @Mary7,

Is the cabinet 1800mm wide and you are hoping to have your shelf span that whole distance?

Do you have a photo of the cabinet that you can upload?

Unfortunately, this would not be possible with pins alone. In ideal circumstances, where there is not a heap of weight on top, 16mm thick chipboard can span around 800mm without additional support, but there is still potential for sagging.

If you wanted to span this distance, you would need to look at adding cleats around the perimeter of the shelf and then strengthening the board itself so that it does not sag.

You could install 42x18 timbers to the sides and back of the cabinet using chipboard screws of a suitable length to go through the timber and into the cabinet carcass without going through the back. These screws should be spaced every 300mm or so along the full length of the cleats.

I would then suggest adding 42x42 battens along the bottom of the shelf at 600mm intervals and along the front edge.

Adding these timbers will help to stiffen up the board and minimise the risk of sagging over time.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[Mary7]

Thanks Jacob! Appreciate your help