Do Bookshelves Need To Be Anchored?

Spread the word

Wondering if that bookshelf or bookcase should be anchored to the wall?

Yes, bookshelves must be anchored. If they are not, they could fall and injure you or your family members or damage your collectibles. You can solve this by anchoring the bookshelf to the wall using a strap or chain that is easily hidden from view and using a heavy-duty screw that is drilled into a wall stud.

Bookshelves are usually placed on walls, but there are times when they need to be anchored.

Anchoring bookshelves to the wall is pretty common, but if you’re not sure if you need to go to the trouble or not, it’s important to know when it’s necessary. This blog post will show you how to properly anchor bookshelves.

By the way, before I get too far here, if you want to connect with other homeowners, DIYers, and builders and get more great ideas for your home to make your space the best, join my group free facebook private, Reshape Reality here.

Concerns of unanchored shelves for children

One scenario where you definitely want to make sure your shelves are anchored to the wall is if you have small children in the house.

Because of the way weight is distributed when a bookshelf is fully loaded, it can become heavy and easy for a climbing child to pull.

Concerns of unanchored shelves for pets

If you have pets, you’ll want to make sure you anchor the bookshelves, as they could easily topple them over.

For example, if you have cats that like to climb on your things, it might be easy for them to knock things over.

If your shelves are not anchored and you live in an earthquake zone

Do you live in a region that is prone to earthquakes and tremors? Having spent enough time in California myself, regular tremors are a part of life in some places, and even a relatively mild event can easily topple your bookshelves.

Anchoring the bookshelf to the wall is absolutely essential if this is your situation. Not only does it prevent them from falling, but it also prevents your shelves from moving unnecessarily and spilling all the contents of the shelf onto the floor and causing damage to your belongings.

You should anchor your bookshelves if you display expensive artwork or collectibles

Another scenario where you might want to anchor your bookshelf is if you’re displaying expensive artwork on it.

Imagine the scenario where you have something of great sentimental value to you that is literally irreplaceable displayed on your shelf, but someone bumps into it, smashes the shelf, and your priceless family heirloom falls to the floor, shattering in a thousand. pieces!

Or maybe it’s a picture frame.

Or your sports memorabilia.

Or that expensive bottle of liquor you got as a gift.

If you had only secured that shelf, the tragedy could have been avoided.

Just because it’s heavy doesn’t mean your shelf can’t fall over

Just because your bookcases might be extremely heavy when loaded with your favorite volumes, that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t fall over.

Heavy shelves just mean that the damage it can do when it falls is much greater and the chances of someone getting seriously injured are greater.

So even though it’s heavy, it still needs to be anchored.

The higher center of gravity is what causes the problem here.

How do you anchor a bookshelf to a wall?

An easy mistake to make when it comes to anchoring your bookshelf to the wall is anchoring it to drywall.

This is a huge mistake because what will happen is that the anchor will be pulled out of the wall, taking your drywall with it as it tumbles to the ground.

Even using a heavy duty drywall anchor is not the right solution here because it is still attached to the drywall which is more than likely plaster and cardboard.

Anchor the bookshelves to the studs

The best solution is to anchor your bookshelves to studs in the wall.

In the US, studs in walls are either 16 or 24 inches apart on center (center of stud to stud). The wood used for the studs is usually a piece of 2×4 that runs from the floor to the ceiling.

So there should be a wall stud within reasonable reach of your bookshelf, no matter where you want to place it.

Use a pin finder

To anchor your bookshelves, you need to find where the studs are in your wall.

The best way to do this is to use a stud finder.

Once you’ve located a stud to use as an anchor and know you’re in the center of the stud, use a drill to drill a pilot hole for the screw you’ll use to mount the anchor.

Anchor with straps

Most of the good racks you can buy today will come with mounting straps, especially the taller ones.

The trick here is to make sure you get rid of the strap when mounting to the drywall backing.

Corner anchor

Another effective way to anchor bookshelves to the wall is to use corners.

These are 90 degree metal brackets that you can screw into the wall stud and screw directly into your shelf.

Before you fret over the look of the metal brackets you bought at Lowes or Home Depot, they are easy to paint and can be hidden from view.

The security these mounts provide is worth the effort to get the job done right, especially if you have any of the aforementioned scenarios in your home.

How many anchors should I use for my shelves?

Of course it depends on how wide your shelf is, but you want to have at least two anchors.

Using anchors in the top corners of the bookcase will help add stability.

Here’s why it’s important to anchor tall shelves

If your bookshelves are tall, no matter what, it’s a good idea to anchor them, as they could tip over much more easily than a shorter bookcase.

In ours we have a lot at home of books – I like to read. And we have both tall (7 feet tall) and short (3 feet tall) shelves. Shorter shelves are not nearly as heavy as tall shelves.

Here’s why it’s important to anchor your bookshelves to different types of flooring

If your bookcases are on a carpeted floor, they are much easier to knock over! In this case, you definitely need to anchor your bookshelves to the wall.

But what if you have a hard surface floor like wood, LVP, or tile?

While your bookshelves will be much more stable on a hard surface than they are on carpet, even then, you should anchor your bookshelves to the wall. This will help keep your books and other belongings safe from being easily moved or knocked over.

Next steps

Want to join others creating the most amazing home redesigns and renovations and get more tips, tricks and hacks on how to make your home the best it can be?

Join my new free private Facebook group, Reshape Reality to connect with other people like you to make your space the best!