Floor to Ceiling Library Shelving System 1800mm Wide by 2400mm High in Solid Walnut

Shelving that runs from skirting to cornice, for a wall up to a standard 2.4 metre ceiling. Nine tenths of a wall of books in a footprint of 280mm.

The track system is the reason this shelving scales. Slotted uprights fix to the wall on a 600mm grid, brackets hook into the slots at 32mm pitch, and shelves sit on the brackets. Nothing is fixed at a height you have to live with. A shelf moves in about twenty seconds with no tools, no new holes and no filler, which matters more than any other feature once you have owned it for a year and the books have changed. The uprights carry the load straight down into the wall rather than trying to lever off it, which is why a track system holds far more than the same shelf on a pair of cantilever brackets.

Specification

• Dimensions: 1800mm wide, 2400mm high, 280mm deep, eight shelves
• Material: solid American black walnut, 30mm thick, finished in hardwax oil
• Finish: hardware in your chosen finish, timber oiled and ready to use
• Load rating: 73kg per shelf evenly distributed, tested to twice that before deflection reaches 3mm
• Span and bracket spacing: uprights at 600mm centres, floor mounted and top fixed
• Adjustability: shelves move on a 32mm pitch over the full height, so the bottom bay can take folios and the top can take paperbacks
• Suitable walls: timber stud at 400 or 600mm centres, brick, block and concrete. Not suitable for plasterboard on dabs without a timber backing batten
• Fixings: stainless screws and the right plug for masonry are included. Fixings for plasterboard on dabs and for metal stud are supplied on request at no charge
• Depth: 280mm, which takes a hardback face on and an art book flat
• Feet: adjustable, with 25mm of travel for an uneven floor
• Top fixing: a restraint bracket at every upright, required by the regulations and by common sense
• Total shelf run: 14.4 linear metres
• Packed weight: approximately 110.5 kilograms
• Ladder rail available as an accessory

What you get

• Four slotted uprights, 2400mm, with adjustable feet
• Eight shelves in solid walnut, 1800mm by 280mm by 30mm
• 32 shelf brackets, 280mm
• Four top restraint brackets
• A skirting scribe strip so the uprights sit flat against the wall
• Fixing packs for masonry and for timber stud
• A setting out drawing and a printed fitting sequence

Fitting

Two people, a drill, a spirit level and about two hours for a single wall. Mark the top line first and hang every upright from it rather than measuring up from the floor, because floors are never level and a shelf that follows the floor looks wrong in a way nobody can put their finger on. Fix the first upright, level it, then use a shelf as a straight edge to set the next one. The fixing pack, a paper template and a printed sequence are in the box.

Planning your wall

Work from the top down. Set the top shelf where it looks right, usually a little above eye level, then space the rest below it. Books want 320mm between shelves for paperbacks and 400mm for hardbacks and art books, and there is no reason for the spacing to be equal. A wall of identical gaps reads as storage and a wall of varied gaps reads as a room. Leave the bottom shelf at least 300mm off the floor so a hoover and a skirting board both have somewhere to go.