How do I attach shelving temporarily?

[Wouldy]

I am going to buy some shelving from Bunnings to put up in this room. It is not allowed to be a permanent fixture. I am wondering what I can buy from Bunnings in order to put the shelving up temporarily. Keeping in mind that the shelving may be very heavy as well so will need something that is going to hold it well. I am open to recommendations for shelving that doesn't have a huge width so it protrudes out too far. It is a small room. 2 metres by 2 and half. Thanks. 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Wouldy,

Could you possibly provide a little more information for our members about what you would consider permanent? Details of the weights and types of object you need to hold on the shelves would also be beneficial.

To install heavy shelving on a wall, you would need to use Dynabolts and drill into the concrete. Some would consider that permanent, as Dynabolts can be quite difficult to remove from a wall. Alternatively, you might like to have a look at our range of free-standing shelving units. These are easy to set up, hold some substantial weights, and would be considered a non-permanent option.

I look forward to hearing more about your project and providing further assistance.

Mitchell

[Wouldy]

@MitchellMc 

I am not really interested in the free standing shelving. It is too expensive for this project and I need to keep my costs down. 

I am looking at something like this. https://www.bunnings.com.au/flexi-storage-900-x-240-x-38mm-white-matt-floating-shelf_p2580885 I would buy a couple to put up. 

I cannot drive anything into the walls. This building is ancient. It is a historical building. I cant find what I am looking for but it is like plastic holders. They sit underneath boards like the one in the picture to be able to hold the board in place. I can try find a picture but until then I assume you may know what I am talking about. 

Wouldy

[MitchellMc]

That's understandable @Wouldy. However, the Handy Storage 137 x 71 x 30.5cm Galvanised 4 Shelf Unit which has four shelves that can each hold 50kgs costs less than half of that one floating shelf.

By their very nature, floating shelves need to be anchored into the wall. The only time I have ever seen little plastic pegs or arms hold a shelf is when they're connected to brackets fixed to the wall or are in a pre-built shelving unit. Unless there was some kind of stick-on bracket, I'm really not sure how you could fix a shelf support to a wall without drilling into it.

Let me mention @TedBear to see if he has any solutions.

Mitchell

[Wouldy]

It is just that this particular galvanised steel shelving is not appropriate for what is going on it @MitchellMc It is my artwork and it just simply would not compliment it at all. The free standing shelving wood need to be wooden or a wood type of some sort. 

I will also see if someone else you tagged has any suggestions. 

[TedBear]

An interesting challenge! The only solution I can imagine is to create your own, removable, free-standing wall to attach the shelves to. That would mean creating a 3 sided unit, perhaps using MDF as the wall and a frame each side to keep it square & upright. The side frames could point backward or forward of the artificial wall, as suits, but forwards would be more stable. Perhaps you can put some artwork on the side frames too? Then decorate it to suit & attach the floating shelf to your own, non-heritage wall. This will make attaching the shelf easy, since you can get behind the "wall" before pushing into place. 

I hope this description makes sense. Is that an option for your circumstances?

[redracer01]

Hello @Wouldy 

I have a general idea of what you wish to achieve. Expanding upon @TedBear 's idea you can build an artificial wall or a display wall where you can attach prebuilt floating shelves or make your own custom size ones. Below is a possible drawing of Ted's idea. I've added some extra support so that the wall will be self standing and should support art work in both vase form or framed works. You may position the shelves in accordance with your displays.

1 x MDF sheet 2400 x 1200 x 16  $36.00ea ( wall and the off cuts as shelves )

3 x Non structural pine 2400 x 70 x 35 $5.00ea x 3 = $15.00

1 x small packet Zenith chipboard screws 8G x 40 $3.60ea

1 x small packet Zenith chipboard screws 8G x 75 $6.00ea (est.)

6 x Carinya white strong hold bracket 150 x 200 $2,78ea x 6 = $16.68

1 x can of 4L Spring white paint $16.50

1 x ordinary paint brush $4

Total Budget to make 1 wall with shelves : $97.98

Tools needed :

Timber Saw ( manual or electric )

Electric hand drill

Philips screw bit for electric hand drill

Tape measure

Pencil

Time & Effort

Now each of those floating shelves is $32.55 if you purchased 3 you would still need somewhere to hang it on. I hope this suggestion helps, there are other ways to display your artwork but what I've drawn is based on an assumption that it has to be on a shelf. Should you require other ideas for a possible display please post and we will try to make other suggestions. Good luck and stay safe.

Red

[Wouldy]

Hi @TedBear 

Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I actually just have no spare time at all to build anything. I'm flat out at the moment. I have just ended up buying free standing cube shelving from Bunnings. It was the perfect size and will work better in my space. 

Wouldy

[Wouldy]

@redracer01 

Thank you for putting so much thought into my issue. I would have loved to build it if I had the time. I truly am so busy. I ended up buying free standing cube shelving from Bunnings. Very pleased with the purchase and glad the issue is sorted now. 

Wouldy

[TedBear]

Thanks for the follow up. I'm gad to hear that you've found a good answer to the problem.

The cubes rely upon the back to keep it all stiff, but they only supply a few squares of backing, with many of the cubes having no back.

If that's stiff enough to hold your display items safely, then all good. 

However, I'd recommend also buying a panel of thin board as a backing. (Even Project Panel Corflute 2400x1200 just $13/sheet, would do - as long as you pin it at many places (at least the corner of every square). Panel pins are cheap too. You can see through it enough to see where the wood of the shelves is so you know where to hammer the pins in.)