Strong Floating Shelves - The Strongest Option 

A little lucky on that one, dkny! Haven't nailed one like that since! Thanks for watching!

I was thinking the same thing. Plastic ones.

Haha There's a special place in hell for people like you! ;)

use card board to make the brackets and staple them in lol

LOL, genius :) Have one L bracket hanging askew from the shelf, where the wall screws tore out of the drywall.

that is totally hilarious!!! Never thought of doing that....2 snaps up and a bag of chips!!!!

Honestly! Before the scene cut, you can sorta hear him huff into a chuckle. Very relatable...

Yeah, my luck, EVERYTIME i start a project, I hit a nail/screw...

That's probably right before I said something a little too "relatable" that I couldn't leave in the video, Matthew!

Yep, Jelte! The more we work with tools, the more we understand that stuff like that is going to happen all the time!

Literally subscribed because of the truth.

Yep, there are always mistakes and challenges Duke! Sometimes it seems like all day long, all I do is adapt and improvise! Thanks for your comment!

A magnet will help tremendously when locating screws and nails. I've been using a telescopic and rare earth magnets for years. By locating the screws, you will, by default, locate the studs. Just move the mag vertically and horizontally.

That all works until the wife says can't you make it....

Formidable..

Oh... how quickly that frustration can grow. Lol

He's beginning to irritate the nuclear mole people from the center of the earth as well.

Ha,ha,ha,ha,

This woodworking book is really detailed, t.co/SGIXIPXR0z ! With the aid of this plan, I was able to use words, drawings, real images and different diagrams. It is really an informative product. I am presently making furniture together with my brother and thanks to this product, I feel like helping him is possible.?

@@christopherking5076 Another Ted Link. The one who goes around the web stealing plans from other woodworkers. You need to realize, all true woodworkers don't like Ted. Just thought you might want to know.

Funny

Great to have you, Cloudy Eight! I rarely have any job that goes perfectly and my guess is few others do either! Thanks for your comment and for watching!

@@RustyDobbs My dad always said, and this is true today as it was 50 years ago, its not the mistake that makes you good or lack of but how you deal with one that makes you really good. if you do not show or talk about it and they can't find one your super good.

Your dad was right, Bob! It's very rare that everything goes right on a job. The really good craftsmen are the ones who can fix those mistakes so that no one can tell any difference.

LOL

You are right about that! Always good have a plan B in construction because you are probably going to need it!

Thanks for your comment, Timothy. I worked for a builder in Abilene, TX when I first got involved in construction in my early 20s named Noel Smith. He and his brothers were painters by trade. He and his sons framed every house he built, ran all the trim and could step in to any trade as needed to make sure the job kept moving. I set all of his tile, installed laminate on kitchen countertops and laid all his vinyl and wood flooring. These were the normal finish materials at that time in the 70s. I always viewed him as a mechanical genius and figured it was probably a good idea that I learn as much as I could from Noel and people like him. Most of the time it was me asking him questions about various trades, but there were also those few occasions that he asked me to explain something that I was doing and that always made me proud! One day he walked into a bathroom where I was setting tile and tossed me a key. In his gruff voice, he said that was a key to his shop at his home and that I could use it anytime I needed space or tools that I didn't have. Great guy that I learned a lot from. He was the real boss who knew how to get things done!

Thanks so much for watching, Shelley! I'm glad you're finding this video helpful for your own kitchen remodel! I always enjoy hearing from people like you who take on projects of their own. And you are right, there is a lot of fun in exercising our creativity by doing projects like these! I appreciate your comments!

Yes, Shojo, off-camera I'm sure I said "Come on" and a few other choice words too!

Been there, done that.

@@fredbecker607 And you'll do it more later!

Bet after a year you are still trying to get all that to line up properly. Yeah your idea would work but good luck making that come out straight

I use these rods to set posts for stairs and hand rails, protect the threads with a bolt and with a hammer you can bend it slightly to make it plumb or level if it isnt to start with.

Yes, Chris, I have had a number of contractors comment that they do what you do or have some rendition of that idea that they use. No doubt switching to some sort of metal rods makes a huge difference in strength over other methods I have explored. Thanks for watching and commenting!

I am looking to install three 17" deep floating shelves on both sides of a fireplace/TV surround I built. When you drill holes in the studs for the lag screws, how do you ensure the lag screws are straight (90 degrees on all sides), so that the shelves are level and the screws go into shelf with ease? Please forgive my beginner ignorance. I am a weekend DIYer. Thank you.

@@joelflowers1361 typically just throw a short torpedo level on top of the drill to ensure its level just before drilling a hole. Once the lags are in to the appropriate depth we used a rubber mallet to tweak them if needed... An alternative is to use brackets from companies like RightOn Bracket or UltraShelf

Thanks, how2q! I appreciate your comment! Looks like you also understand the time and effort involved in making videos. Good luck with your channel!

Bando Bando that may be taking it too far

@1234 chill.

I'm sure @1234 wrote that from a library computer. After the long arduous trek from his tent in the woods. Living without using over engineered things is not easy.

Nope! That wall it's been compromised.. The two studs are weak and probably shelve rod will impale you right on the head if you are seating close around! 😳🙄😁.. Just kidding! But truly we live in a universe of predetermined circumstances we just don't know it!

Hahaha...my wife calls me ‘Overkill Bill’! But I say ‘no-one ever died from overkill!!’

Or just glue it in ??

Probably the correct way, boring out studs is a bit dicey, replacing a stud is no small task.

Thanks for watching, Clfdriven! Yeah, my issues on this video would have been pretty difficult to edit out, so I am glad you appreciate the reality of what happens in real life, every day!

Unless you use a Greenlee nail-eater auger.

Thanks, Nick! I appreciate you watching!

Curiosity gets the better of me sometimes, John, and I have to try something new! Plus people suggest other design ideas that sometimes I like to try out. Always good to hear from you!

Happy to do it, Amanda. Thanks for watching!

Yep, we've all been there, Alexis!

Yeah Cain 🍪

Who isn't?

Because solipsism

I’ve been building for 20 years and never had good results with zircon. Best results so far have been stud finders from Costco

@blogan1200 I just actually bought one from Sam's Club a couple of months ago and it works great, too! It's a Sapphire 7500 by Franklin Sensors. I share your opinion of Zircon.🙂

Thanks for your comment, Paul! Interestingly enough, I ended up having a good relationship with every architect I worked with, I think? We may have just gotten lucky, too!

Thanks, Trevor! Yeah, I was real pleased with the simplicity of how it all can work. If I weren't talking and explaining the process in the video, I could've installed the rods in just a few minutes.

You are right about the “happy wife” comment, Crackerjack! I’m really glad to hear that you were able to make this basic approach work for your situation! Thanks for watching and for your comment!

*my third and final attemp.. lol

Me too - Rusty, have your relative sell them - I'd pay for one today in 3/4", 1/2" and 3/8" (I make diff size shelves.) (I don't own the equipment to weld, nor want to mess around with figuring out how to weld.)

Same. I don't have the equipment to make the rod handle. If you decide to make some and sell me us know.

I’ll take one too!! I would like to try this method instead of hoping something off of Amazon will suffice.

And then hopefully you end up in heaven..😉

ikea products

Thanks for your comment, Glenn! Yes, it was pretty hard to work around a couple of buried objects in the wall and not tell on you guys about it!

Sounds like a good approach, Stoph! Thanks for your comment!

That's how I installed a floating mantel for a client! Used 5, 1/2" lags, and a cheap drill press attachment for my drill. Worked great!

Yup same here, I’ve used lags before to for mantels and shelves.

I like your approach better, I feel the coarser threads of a lag screw would be better suited for this application

With the lag bolt approach, the strength comes from it being threaded into the stud. With a floating shelf there is a lever action trying to pull the lag bolt out of the stud. With the all thread approach most of the strength comes from the threaded rod resisting being bent. The nuts only keep the shelf tight to the wall. I used a similar approach the fix down my stair railing end posts.

Hey, menchelke! Thanks for watching and I appreciate you subscribing! Hope this approach works out well for you!

Thanks for watching, Nonie! I appreciate it!

Hey thanks, 42lookc! I hope this works out well for you when you decide to try them! Yeah, I have experimented with lots of different approaches to floating shelves and have done a number of videos on different strength tests I've tried, but that was all with wood. Introducing the steel all threads changes the whole game completely. I haven't tried a three-quarter inch all thread, but I can only imagine the additional size adds another strength dimension to the mix. I appreciate you watching and thanks for your subscription, too!

Actually, you'll know where the drywall guy just barely threaded into the stud. Try to put a larger fastener there, and the stud breaks.

@@unclebedhead9099 so true, though the stud finder can do that to you too. That's why if you're going to put a big rod/bolt in, you would need to verify the sides with a screw (it will all be hidden anyways). It was good to see him open up the wall a bit to verify there was no electrical going through that stud, though a smaller hole would have been sufficient and no need to patch.

@@MyFortressConstruction - To add to your smaller hole would be sufficient, one would note the scope cameras that light up and can see all up inside a wall that some pros have acquired for their toolboxes. Would also like to defend the stud detector he is using as well. I got the same one from Lowes and it does an excellent job of showing you the left and right sides of the stud. If you take your time, you can mark both sides and determine the center of the stud. Which, if you drill where you "think" is dead center, can't you take a tiny nail and test the left and right side of where your hole would be drilled to "verify" that in fact you are center? I'm not a pro, so please keep that in mind before you educate me! I don't verify much. I gamble and for the most part, I have better luck than if I were to go to Vegas! Other than tools and parts jumping out of my hand and I have to play fetch often during my projects, that is...

@@kennyhalsey961 Yep, you're definitely thinking in the right direction. A small boroscope off of eBay is cheap and could save you from electrocution or a plumbing leak, however, I find that I can see without one 99% of the time. Using a nail to find the sides of the studs would also work like a screw. And I wasn't saying a stud finder isn't a useful tool, it can just be mis-calibrated, run out of batteries and take longer than a simple rare earth magnet. Sounds like you're thinking through things so keep on keeping on, and I'm sure those tools will stop jumping out of your hands eventually. 😉

Great idea, Fortress! And to keep them on an air compressor or some other metal piece that you have with you all the time out on jobs would keep them handy when needed. Thanks for passing on the idea!

Made my day, Country Barnert! I'll bet you are a character and are also very cool!

Great to hear from you, Danny! Regards to you as well! I appreciate you watching in the UK and thanks for your comment!

@@RustyDobbs Hey Rusty, your welcome 😉👍

I mis understand how the wood is able to be threaded like that especially with machine threading on the rod? Just curious how that would even holdb

@@ethanschutz6092 the stud is a soft wood. The pilot hole is 1/16 inch smaller diameter than the all thread and the metal threads can thread into the soft wood with sufficient force while turning the handle

Thanks for your comment, Nicholas! I appreciate it! I definitely think it has good applications for storage shelves in the shop, too. Thanks for watching!

817 MS damn, that’s genius!!!!

Redi rod is quite a bit cheaper than lag bolts.

@@mikeedmonton6841 really depends on where you buy. We have some online shops who sell them very cheaply here in the Netherlands. Threaded bars are quite hard to find unless you go to the professional stores (you have to be a business owner to shop there). And hardware stores similar to the homeless deathspot are crazy expensive here. So for the average consumer it's probably cheaper and easier to buy bolts

Thanks so much for the nice comment, Mark! Encouragement like yours helps make it worth the effort to do these videos! Yeah, I have done floating shelf strength test videos with 5/8" oak dowels and they work great as well. After trying the threaded steel rods, though, I think I am a convert to use them going forward. But, I still need to tweak my approaches for building and attaching the shelves. Thanks again for watching!

Thanks for watching and for your comments, ARC! Good thoughts all! I’ve had lots of guys suggest strong magnets for locating drywall screws which is a great idea too, so I have one stuck to my cup holder in my truck these days. I did clip a wire with my drill bit about a year ago which was the first time I have ever done that in my life. I was installing a mantle over a fireplace on a fake rock/sheetrock 2x6 wall that was 12 feet tall. It was a total fluke that I hit it and couldn’t do that again in a hundred years but I did this time. Had to open the wall up and put in a couple of junction boxes and new piece of wire. Probably 3 hours lost, but actually wasn’t that big of a job. Haven’t figured out how I would handle the rock face issue yet if I ever run into another one of those situation again, but it got my attention, as you can imagine! 😬

You know, Brent, I have seen that sort of thing advertised a lot but have never thought about getting one, yet I have the need for it routinely. I think I’m going to follow your lead and check into it! Thanks for watching and for the suggestion!

You can also detect what' s behind walls using a thermal imaging camera. Blackview now make rugged phones with thermal detection! ...So relieved that I'm not the only one drilling 500 holes before securing stuff; only to discover it's a blinking dot n' dab wall with zero studs!!

@@MappingAmy Thermal imagers will only work with with locating things other than studs if they are also touching the drywall and have a sufficient heat differential to be detected, or are cold or hot enough to be significantly changing the temperature in the gap between the studs. Otherwise the endoscope is the way to go.

BBQchickenxlrg Is here great idea!

Are,your studs not behind drywall? Otherwise, can you explain how you get the lock nuts and washer past the drywall. Also, how do you use an impact wrench to put the threaded rod in? I cant visualize it. Thanks in advance.

@@mrkoolio8494 I think he's saying that the two nuts and lock washer are the end that he's using the impact drill on, so he has something to put in a socket fitting of some kind. They aren't going into the wall, just used to spin all thread into the wall.

Thanks, Jeffory! That was pretty much unintentional, but like you, many other have commented about being appreciative I didn't edit the real stuff that happens out. Thanks for watching!

Rigg Amore cut away the material covering the supports and hire a guy to weld two threaded rods up. , or get a little welder and do it yourself.

Thanks, Rigg! I appreciate you watching! I wish working with steel framing was as easy as working with wood when installing floating shelves!

Good ideas, Domush! Thanks for passing them along and for watching!

Or add a drop of silicone to the hole before you slide the shelf to the wall. Then you could yank it off if you ever wanted to remove it.

Thanks so much for your comment, Jesus! I’m glad to see this method worked out so well for you. I’m sure you have found that once you get used to it, it’s really a very quick install process too. Best of luck to you in your business!

Those all thread rods are in bending...and they will always be in bending no matter how much you tension them. I don't see how post tensioning would benefit a cantilevered system. What exactly did you have in mind that I'm not seeing?

@@internettoughguyCurrently only the top of the threaded rod is taking the stretch. Any time you bend some thing you have a stretching side and a crushing side. The thing about steel is it is springy so it gets more resistive to stretching the more you stretch it. So if you design in some nuts that can stretch the all thread against the frame and studs before you load the shelf then the shelf will hold more weight before it bends. The full diameter of the bolt will take the tension and the frame and drywall takes the compression load. As opposed to currently where the bolts just bend and slip out of their sockets. You will have to design a box to cover all of this, if you want to. And that is what we carpenters do to make things look like magic. Thanks for asking.

A similar phenomenon will happen to the wood and drywall. As you compress it it will compact and become harder so there is less deformation if you preload the contact surface. Therefore you will observe a stiffer cantilever.

@@markharmon4963 strong cantilever Anything is of interest to me. Thanks!

@@markharmon4963 With respect I disagree. That won't happen in this context. By applying tension to the rods you will reduce the compression stress on the bottom fibers but the total stress in the rod will increase. The deflection will not change. The shelf will be just stiff as if you never applied any tension. I'm ignoring the drywall and frame as they are soft materials. If we assume a 100 lb downward load at the tip of one rod and the rod is cantilever from the frame 12"...it will see about 50000psi peak tension stress and about 47000 psi compression stress on the bottom fibers. Deflection is about .424in. Applying 3000 lb of tension to the same rod with the same downward 100 lb load results in a peak tension stress of about 60000psi but the compression stress on the bottom fibers has been reduced to about 38000psi. Deflection remains at .424in Since the deflection remains the same you will not observe any change in stiffness. If you're interested see pics below: ibb.co/yV1N6V1 ibb.co/3YGpNpX ibb.co/s1ygcW4 ibb.co/VQqGpMC ibb.co/dpFqcFK ibb.co/FDqRNQ2 I'm more than just a pretty face. Cheers.

Thanks so much for watching and for your comment, Do Go! I'm really impressed with your furniture designs as well! You do great work!

Yeah, Zixq, I just tried to search for the comment you are referring to but unfortunately RU-vid's search functions on comments are not as robust an you might think they would be. I remember getting several comments from people in the general vein of this type of application and ultimately, to me, the heavier duty threaded rods like in this video make the most sense for floating shelves, so thanks for your input. When you stop to think about it, it's about as simple and straightforward an idea as one could come up with! You have to be a little more creative when it comes to designing shelves for the rods over brackets mounted to the wall, but the strength of the rods is much better. Good to hear from you, and thanks for the comment!

I had to have someone suggest it to me or I'm not sure I would have ever snapped to it on my own! But it really is a great setup for floating shelves. Thanks for your comment and for watching, Gordon!

I had a similar thought - the shelf retention into the wall is limited by the strength of 3 1/2" of wooden threads. Just can't think of an elegant way to sneak a nut back there given there's probably another wall of some kind on the other side. The simplest might be some sort of adhesive so the metal is bonded to the full wood surface or treat tapped hole with some wood hardener to give the threads a better chance. At some point all this becomes more effort than its worth and you just need a tapped insert...

@@TestSpaceMonkey oh I was thinking about the front edge, not inside the wall. But you do raise a good point. If one is willing to ruin their wall a little bit, they could embed a nut into the stud. I don't think there's a lot to be gained though.

@@TestSpaceMonkey Tapped rod insert in stud would defo be the ultimate approach. With recessed nut at the shelf edge tightened to introduce some torsional strength, covered with a wooden plug, glued and sanded in line with the grain. Pitty the fool who has to disassemble that in years to come, especially if painted!

Enjoyed reading the line of thinking, oobligah, that you and @PointLineBox were taking on this idea! All I would add is that I ultimately think about how much weight is going to be on one of the shelves, realistically. This method using the all thread rods probably gives me 3 to 4 times or more capacity of weight than I would ever consider even putting on a shelf. But the selling point for me is if I'm just drilling holes and installing the rods and not talking about what I'm doing, I can do that faster than pretty much any way I can think of otherwise. Thanks to both of you for watching and commenting!

Great to have you, Steve! Yeah, exploring floating shelf ideas has been an eye opening experience for me!

Thanks, M! Yes, it was such a ridiculous coincidence to have that happen that people immediately relate to it. Something like that has happened them or they imagine that would be just their luck! Hey, thanks for watching!

signupisannoying absolutely, this method is tried and tested for drywall screws. That deeper screw though, might require either a trained touch or a very very strong magnet

Or steel wool.

@@HeyCesarA4 steel wool? How?

@@HeyCesarA4 how do u use the steel wool? Please.

Yes please, explain using steel wool

Thanks for watching and I appreciate the comment!

Thanks for watching, Daze, and for your comments! Yes, if you have problems like I had in this video, you are living in reality! Rarely does everything go right for me on projects. 😬

Whatsup judi? Which state u in? Mr.caribbean in nyc ( email:guitarpiano@aol.com

Thanks, Lewis! I appreciate you watching!

You may have already completed your project, VinnY H, before I got a chance to reply! Hope it turned out well! Thanks for the comment!

If you say so, Jason. But if I'm not explaining, I'm drilling a hole, running in the tap and screwing the rod into place. That's pretty easy also! Plus I can pull it if I ever need to.

@@RustyDobbs How would one go about this process without that metal contraption you created to twist the rod?

@@aheadatime you could probably get away with epoxying a nut (especially a cap nut) into a sturdy piece of wood as a tap handle.

@@aheadatime just put 2 nuts on the end of the rod and jam the together. Then put a socket on it and turn it in with a ratchet or impact screwgun.

Is that for wood or metal surrounding material?

@@ryleynoyes first proper comnent question here

that's what she said ;-)

Thanks, Smidge, I appreciate the comment! Yeah, the previous methods work great as well, but if you can find the studs and miss the wiring, this method is really easy. I still have some work to do on the actual shelf construction to streamline that some, but I'm probably a convert to this in most cases. Thanks for watching!

I was looking because I want to put a home theater projector on the wall and no one makes a bracket in my price range that will hold its weight and how I want to mount it. I also have bookshelf speakers to put up on the walls that weigh about 13 lbs each the projector weight about 40 lbs these are overkill for what I want/ need but I watched it anyway because its always good to learn new stuff. or try differnt things What I think I will do is build a set of shelves hollow with 3/4" walnut so the wood grain matches up on all 4 corners and put that together with Lock Miter joints on all showing sides then install french cleats to hold it on the wall No end grain showing. But the more I look at them and I like a floating shelf the more I'm thinking of a shape for the shelf's These look kind of industrial or modern I might change to an Art deco look. Kind of like old movie theaters. Even add some low voltage LED lights to the brackets for dim down lighting. Behind the Screen a light show using track led lights. Sorry no popcorn maker after all this is my living room. I don't want to get to fancy.

It looks like it should be able to support a carefully sat bum of #250. The problem is if someone flops down, creating a much larger force. A shelf has to handle enormous leverage as the farther from the wall the weight is placed, the greater the effect upon it. Sitting your bum on the very edge of your seat while flopping down quickly would be catastrophic. For a seat, I'd go with square metal tubing. I've seen beds free floating using I beams set in the wall. They look great, but there is a $$$ cost.

Probably pushing the limit. I've used steel tubing forming a "tee" within the wall attached to the studs and protruding through the sheetrock for a long floating countertop. I imagine it can work with a bench seat as well.

Paul, to help strengthen your bench, you could attach a vertical board sandwiched between the sheet rock and the bench. This would help spread the load and prevent the gypsum from crushing at the lower edge. I’d also recommend a corner installation if possible and utilize a transverse anchor of the same method. That would increase strength considerably.

You would need a steel L bracket mounted to the studs to do that.

Hey, Paul! I would be more inclined to use a welded "L" bracket that's bolted to the studs for a seat, as some others have suggested.

Thanks for watching, Trevor!

Or a narrow compact car, Veritas!