How to cut shelves without disassembling?

[Kathy88]

Yes, I know, my pantry is a mess. It's just too deep and everything gets lost and I need to rummage around. I don't have time to reorganise every time with a clingy 1 year old :D.

So I'd like to make it less deep. Kind of like c shaped and add shelves at the top and bottom.

My question is, can I just cut the already assembled shelves without disassembling them and just use an iron on tape for the front bit that I sawed off. Is this possible? If yes, what tool do I use?

[EricL]

Hello @Kathy88 

Thanks for sharing your question about your pantry shelves. I'm afraid cutting it directly is not recommended; Your shelf has timber support at the front and at the center. By cutting through these supports it will make your shelf bow. I propose leaving them as is and finding out if  Practa Solutions 410mm Base Mount Slide Out Basket or similar will fit inside your pantry. Or you can try and build one yourself just like in this discussion - How to add drawers to a kitchen cabinet.

I understand you are looking for a bit of convenience one other thing you can try is to use baskets so that you can pull them out and see what is at the back.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Evening @Kathy88 

I went staight the the slide out shelf idea before I even read @EricL 's Same thinking about the support issue and also using what you have. The effort involved would be about the same as installing some pull out shelves or some baskets.

Best bit you could do one area at a time so you wouldnt have to empty everything out.

Just had a thought, My laundry cubes were chockers as well and I still wanted the stuff in them but didnt want everything falling all over the place.

Here is the project and in parcticular the last update with the sliding boxes down the bottom of the page.

Laundry makeover with timber benchtop 

These low boxes have worked so well. Def happy with them.

Dave

[Jason]

I also add my vote to not touching the shelves (they are in fact an asset) and adding some baskets, tubs or jars to organise your pantry and make items more accessible. 

Let me tag @Renowayoflife for her thoughts, as she has shared a popular recent walk-in pantry makeover. 

Jason

[Nailbag]

Hi @Kathy88 

I also would agree with both @EricL and @Jason in not modifying your shelves as you won't actually want any more storage space. Your top and bottom right spaces could do with additional shelving though.

The trick is to be more organised with storage container sets. These allow you to transfer many common food items from a mixed range of packaging to more easily stacked and accessed ones. Those slide out drawers that @EricL are a great way to access items that are heavy or in deep shelves. Their drawback is they do waste valuable space in both height and width for the slide mechanisms. This isn't an issue when you have apply space to spare a little.

Nailbag

[Kathy88]

Thank you @EricL @Jason @Dave-1 @Nailbag for your insights.

I was thinking to add drawers but I can only put sliders on the bottom. The sides are deeper that the door placement.

What type of sliders or runners should I use for this that can handle a heavy load?

I'm a complete beginner so sorry if it's an obvious question.

Also for adding shelves to the top, do I need to add a support in the middle and the sides like the bottom shelves? Or can I just install wooden strips to the wall and mount my shelf on it? My shelves will not be as deep as what's there. The wall is a plaster wall.

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @Kathy88 

There are a range of differant lengths of heavy duty sliding drawer runners Drawer Runners I didnt list one as I am not sure how deep you shelves are. Mainly to show you the range

I would go for a heavy duty runner, not necasary soft close ones. I know that under the drawer runners exist but couldnt find them in Bunnngs. If you search for "Undermount draw runners" in google there are a few options 

As for the drawers at the top, the heavy duty rails specify the weight that they can carry so in theory if the width is only carry under the weighted load then i dont see why you cant span the the whole width. It would be more convienent to split it in half so you are only pulling half a shelf out tho.

Dave

[EricL]

Hello @Kathy88 

After having a second look at your pantry, I definitely believe that you can install a pullout drawer in the space that you have. A little bit of space will need to be given to the drawer runners and the drawer itself, but the benefits will be tremendous as you'll now be able to access the very back of your pantry. I would also like to suggest adding one more shelf at the very top of your pantry. Looking at the space available, I believe an extra shelf will give you an extra bit of space for the items you currently have stocked at the top.

Can you please clear out one of the shelves in the middle and measure the interior size (height, width and depth) of one of the cubicles. If you can provide me the measurements, I'll draw up a drawer plan for you that you can use on your pantry.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.  

Eric

[Nailbag]

Hi @Kathy88 

The drawer design that @EricL will pull together I am sure will be very suitable. The difficulty for a novice is being able to build custom sized drawers and top shelf. Making drawers in particular are not the easiest project even for the average DIY'r. Plus it also requires a range of tools to do the job. Not to dishearten you at all, but for this project it might be worth considering using a handyman to do the install as per @EricL design.

Regards, Nailbag