Shelf Sturdiness?

[Corrose]

Not sure where this kind of question might fit best, so I'll try here and see.

I preface this with saying I know jack-crap about construction.
When I had my house built, I worked with the builder on having my custom wall unit built that holds the bulk of my statues.

At the time I barely had enough to put a few in each section, and now I'm a few spaces shy of being full on each one.

The question I have is how sturdy might these shelves be. I obviously have tried to reach the builder himself but he's impossible at returning any calls, so I was curious if anyone with knowledge on this could help.

Ive attached a photo of the framework, and one of the framework after the sheetrock/drywall was added.

Right now each section has about 7-9 statues in each section. If I ballpark each statue at about 10 pounds each, thats about 70 lbs a section, maybe 100 lbs tops. Is the photo enough to tell one of you who knows this business if I'm just fine or if I might be putting too much weight on these?

Any opinions by someone who knows this stuff would be appreciated!

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

That third pic, amazing!!!

I'd love a setup like that.

Congrats!

 

[barryo]

with the cross braces in place structurally they look sound and you should be fine imho. are the top of the shelves where your statues sit sheet-rock as well or are they some type finished plywood?

 

[Lejuan]

That is one beautiful set-up you have there Corrose, congrats mate

For me the sturdiness would be better gauged by knowing how the shelves were fastened to the wall, ie whether they've been screwed into the studs or just the drywall. My understanding is that studs are typically 16" on centre in the US, so I'd be surprised if a good number of the shelf screws in your unit aren't screwed directly into the studs.

If this is the case, each shelf section should be able to support at least 100lbs. I'm no builder either, just a dabbler really, but I'd be surprised if the sections couldn't easily support twice that.

 

[Corrose]

Sheet rock, does that have any bearing on your previous answer?
The ultimate question is I could probably fit another 1-2 in each section if I re-arrange a little bit, am I still beyond fine or is that pushing it a little?

 

[Lejuan]

Sheet rock, does that have any bearing on your previous answer?
The ultimate question is I could probably fit another 1-2 in each section if I re-arrange a little bit, am I still beyond fine or is that pushing it a little?

Ply is much stronger, but your supporting structure has enough bracing that I wouldn't worry about how well the sheet rock would hold up. I'd say 1-2 more statues would easily go on those shelves no problemo - if the shelves are fastened to the studs.

 

[barryo]

well if the shelf is sheet rock and not plywood it may be a bit weaker but that also depends on the thickness of sheet rock as well. if its a 1/4" i might worry on the centers of the unbraced portion but not so much if it was 1/2" to 3/4".

 

[jonny88]

That shelf looks amazing

Anyway your spacing for the shelves looks fine. If it was me though l would of added one more cross beam under where the shelf will go on top, to three instead of two, just for extra strength, it will be fine though. Plywood would of been a million times stronger though. The only thing is how the shelf is fastened to the wall, the weight could flip the whole thing forwed (doubt it), but it should be attached to the wall studs just for extra support and protection.

To answer your qustion on how many more statues you could put on there with out the sheet rock breaking you would have to tell us, the lenght of each peice of sheet rock, the thickness of it, the measurements of the gap in between each cross beam under the sheet rock and the total weight of the statues.Then l could tell whether the sheet rock would crack where there is no support under it. From what l can see and imagine l don't see it being a problem.

 

[Corrose]

I really want to say that I believe it was attached to the wall, I circled what looks like where screws went in.

2nd photo shows sheetrock which looks to be 3/4" to 1"
I would also say those cross sections are approximately 1.5 feet or so apart.

Also I have been in this house now for 14 months and have had no issues with it yet, I just tend to get skittish from time to time and ask these kinds of questions

 

[Kal-El]

Love the display

 

[jonny88]

Yes it looks like those screws go into the wall studs. You should be fine putting more statues on there. From the pics though, again l think there should have been 3 cross section added instead of only 2, that way the gap in between them would be smaller and that supports more suface area of the sheet rock and makes it stronger, but you can't change that now, but regardless you are fine to add more weight.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Load it up, Corrose. It ain't going anywhere. That unit could be free standing, meaning not attached to the wall at all, and it would easily hold 250 to 300 pounds spread across each shelf. That thing looks to be built like a tank.

Beautifully simple design too and I love the lights.

 

[EVILFACE]

That is a fantastic display!

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Also as a side note, should you ever want to further guarantee the sturdiness of you're shelves you could add a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood or MDF on top of the sheetrock shelf and you would never have to worry about a statue breaking thru it...ever.

 

[Corrose]

Thanks for the complements.
Forgot to mention this. This room was finished before I added the wall unit, so there is framework right behind the back wall of the unit.

The red shaded ares shows where the back of the shelves are, so basically sheetrock separates the original framework from the added framework, so I cannot imagine he didn't just bolt the 2 together.
Basically the wall is "extended" out 2 more feet into the room and has its own framework...if that makes any sense.

I feel better hearing you guys giving the green light.
Thanks for all the quick input

 

[Cocoboloboy]

That makes perfect sense and the unfinished pics of the unit really show the sturdiness of it. 2x6 frame work? That's stout dude. I've been in construction/woodworking for 20 years now and he did the that right.
The only thing that's a head scratcher to me is that he used 1/2'' sheetrock for the tops of the shelves. Are you sure that's what was used or was it just used where the can lights were installed?

 

[Corrose]

I'm not 100% sure because I'm not saavy at this kind of stuff, here are a few more pics close up, can you tell anything from this?

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Yep, that's 1/2'' sheetrock for the shelves. That's the only thing that I would have done differently. Chances are you'll never put enough weight on it to break thru it. The middle of each bottom shelf is going to be you're weakest point. Other than that I wouldn't worry too much.

Like I mentioned before, if you want to guarantee to never break thru just have someone glue a sheet of 1/4" plywood to the top of the sheetrock on each shelf with contact adhesive. It doesn't have to be any thicker than 1/4'' so as not to be noticeable. That will add an incredible amount of strength to it believe it or not.

 

[Corrose]

Even without the added plywood I would still be good to bump each section up to 100-150lbs max by adding a couple more statues right?

Where in OK are you? Might talk about some garage shelving contract work with you if interested. Shoot me a PM

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Yes, you'll be fine with that. The weight is distributed in such a way that the 1/2'' sheetrock will be plenty strong.