I'm adding a couple of melamine shelves in my husband's office closet and I'm wondering if I need extra supports. I'm using melamine because I just painted my built-ins and I'm not keen on painting again inside the closet. The shelves will be about 40 inches wide and 11 inches deep. I'm planning to add continuous supports along three sides. Should I also put a metal support in the center of the shelves?
3 Answers
Just a heads up, the front of the shelves might droop a bit in the middle. If you attach the shelves to the continuous supports, they’ll sag less, but keep in mind that over time, with weight in the center, they might still sag a bit. A neat trick is to cut the back support into two pieces and leave a gap for the wall stud. This way, you can easily add a bracket for extra support later if needed without having to do extra work on the shelf holders.
What thickness of melamine are you using? If it's at least 3/4 inch, you should be fine for a shelf that's 11 inches deep and 40 inches wide.
Check out 'the sagulator' online. Plug in your numbers to see how much your shelves might sag. It can give you a good idea before you start building!
I tried that and it looks like everything should be okay. Thanks for the tip!
That's a smart idea! This way, I can just add the support if I see sagging later.