DIY mom

i have read and read articles on floating shelves and how to create them and i just can't find one that fits what i am looking for. I have about 3 -59 inch long, 17 1/2 deep and 1 inch thick boards that i want to use as a new shelf in my living room to put our networking home office equipment on. our current computer desk system is not working for us and has ran out of room and functionality. These boards i have were suppose to hold a flat screen 42 inch plasma TV but the vendor each time shipped me damaged board tops and i just couldn't display my new TV on something like that BUT i can use the boards for a floating shelf i thought. the boards are not too damaged just dents in the compisite wood material. i seriously doubt this is real wood but looks like a composite material with lamite board siding to cover the edges of the board sides.

How do i mount them? I don't want to have to use legs but i can't seem to find an article that fits what i am looking for that explains to me what to do. I am just concentrating on putting up one floating shelf the size of one of the boards long and maybe a few smaller shelves about the bottom shelf, meaning i will have to cut my other boards to make them smaller of course.

How do i mount the board to make it floating and not top heavy when i put the equipment on top of it? i can't seem to find any prefabricated floating mounting shelf brackets anywhere locally in my store.

I have looked into just putting legs on the boards but i don't want metal poles for legs and i can't seem to find wood legs anywhere nor would i know how to attach them if i found something i liked.

advice would be appreciated.

glennjanie

Welcome DIY Mom:
You might consider locating the ceiling joists over the area you want the shelves in, putting eye hooks in them and suspending chains. Then you could drill the shelves for the chain, slide them up to the desired heght, put a washer under the shelf and a pin to hold it in place. The chains could go through several shelves just pinning each one as you go.
Glenn

DIY mom

thank you. i did think of the chain suppended from the ceiling so I also mulled over that idea, but unfortunately my pride tells me i can do a floating shelf i just haven't learned how to yet

Square Eye

Strong floating shelves involve a cantilevered design in the framing (inside the wall) or other super stout attachment hardware like steel brackets made especially for this application. Even the brackets have a weight limit... I have no idea where to get them but you might try Woodworker's Supply
www.woodworker.com
They have a lot of specialized hardware available for residential and commercial applications.

__________________
[URL="http://www.houserepairtalk.com/announcement.php?f=39&a=6"][size=3]The Ten Commandments of House Repair Talk[/size][/URL]



[URL="http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=289528&ck="]Square Eye's home page[/URL]

handyguys

Square eye has it. You will need to determine the weight of the board and then of the stuff you want to put on it. If its not too heavy you may not need to open up the wall to install a bracket like SquareEye is envisioning.

Here are a few lighterweight options
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17507
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=51933&cat=3,43648,43649

I have dealt with both LeeVally and Rockler and they are tops in customer service. The LeeValley hardware and tool catalogs are a work of art.

__________________
The Handyguys Podcast [url]http://www.handyguyspodcast.com[/url]