DIY Floating Shelves - SUPER STRONG + THIN

I built incredibly strong floating shelves in my kitchen using maple plywood and heavy-duty brackets. These DIY floating shelves will replace upper cabinets in my kitchen design. Learn to build and install floating shelves from start to finish in this video!

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[paulrybarczyk]

HGTV should be embarrassed that this content is 10X better than anything on their channel. Bravo Melissa!

[homeytheman]

For sealing those corners instead of using the screwdriver method try mixing some of that sawdust you generated with regular wood glue. Push the mixture into the cracks with your fingers, let it dry then lightly sand. You can still stain to match and you'll have seamless corners.

[danmarks]

Excellent job! I AM a professional carpenter and I glean new ideas from various channels all the time. I build floating shelves quite often and each set is different with different challenges and solutions. I like using strong angle brackets when I can, which I recently used on a closet perimeter shelf of 3/4" MDF. The "L" intersection is always a dilemma because of two support dimensions. If I use solid wood, such as I did out of butcher block a couple weeks ago, I sink 1/2" lag screws into a few of the studs and cut the heads off and carefully drill 9/16" holes into the wood and slide them into the holes with some construction glue along the shank. Since you left the bottom off, I might suggest that the top pieces could be biscuit joiner and glued at the intersection and all places on the brackets as a single piece. Then the complete bottom unit could be joined the same way and brought up as a single piece and clamped and attached like you did, but you'd need a helper. Then glue in the face segments. I would suggest that you try a 23ga pin nailer for that, rather than a brad nailer, and you'll never see any holes, especially because you stained it rather than painted it. Great suggestion on the maple plywood vs maple boards! I have to make maple floating shelves for a job next week and I'm going to steal your idea to lower the cost for the client 🙂

[ThisTall]

Great job, that will be extremely strong! I install floating shelves quite a bit, and have found the hardwood dowel or metal rod method to be my favourite.
In any scenario where the shelf is connected to two surfaces, like in the corner, if your shelf is hollow you can get unlimited strength out of just screwing thin wood cleeting strips to both surfaces.
But on an open section of wall where the shelf is fully floating, I get 1 inch maple dowel and use a laser to shine down the side of a 18” long 1” auger bit to make sure I drill a perfectly level hole in to each stud about 3” deep.
If you can hold the drill level while drilling nicely, the dowel will hammer in so firm you won’t be able to pull it out. And the shelf will be strong enough to climb like a ladder and will never sag.
A few upsides to this method is there’s no need for metal or drywall repair. And you can hammer in the dowel, and then just slide your shelf over and fire 1-2 brad nails through it in to one of the dowels. So you can have 100% of the up/down support strength, and still be able to remove it all from the wall if you really want to pull it apart, without destroying the shelf or the wall.
To anyone wanting to try this method, I’d simply suggest practicing drilling with the laser in a piece of scrap. In 4-5 tries holes, you should be confident you can drill smooth and level And if you really want to give yourself the best chance, I recommend the 3 blade Wood Owl brand nail chipper drill bit. Its not cheap but drills the smoothest without wobbling in the hole as you drill. Good luck.

[ryanmcgowan]

You could probably get really thin by routing out the top plywood for the brackets, no spacers, and and use 1/4" plywood as a veneer for the bottom. Good idea on alternating the brackets. As the brackets deflect, they would theoretically rotate somewhat, and by alternating, the rotation is cancelled out.
For the seams and gaps, don't stain until it's fully installed. Seal all the gaps with sawdust and glue. This also lets you give a slight bevel to the sharp corners before staining, then stain all at once with perfectly uniform coats.

[stevescuba]

No kidding, this is one of the most professionally designed and executed DIY's I've seen. I'm quite impressed, and I have worked in multiple trades for decades, around some amaizingly skilled folks.b great job, and they look awesome!

[billm]

A friend of mine has a saying that applies here. “ A job well planned is half finished. “. You did a nice job, Melissa.

[CannonballCircuit]

I appreciate the narration of your thought process!

[andrs]

Love love love this idea! I've seen people take sawdust from when you cut the wood and mix it with wood glue for the seam where the 2 pieces meet.

[wtmf]

Love the idea of recessing the brackets into the wall!! Great job!

[routecustoms]

In all the years I have been setting lasers over multiple days for a project or snapping chalk lines (not perfectly accurate btw) I’ve never seen the paint trick. This is incredible! Thanks for this tip for multiple applications in the future!

[jshepard]

The way you cut the drywall out for the bracket was pretty fancy. Nicely done.

[daviddennison]

I think your idea to alternate the up/down bracket supports is so obvious but I'd have never considered it! Great job!

[billroberts]

Melissa, you did a fantastic job on the shelves. They look like a professional carpenter installed them. I really like your videos because you do 'voice-overs' as opposed to other channels where people try to talk over engine or saw noise. Blessings to you and your family.

[minerblue]

Pretty slick shelves. I'll remember this method because it's about the best one I know of. I'm not a carpenter but I do some carpentry work at home.

[merlepatterson]

Expanding foam (scraped flush when dry) and then fiber tape over it to fill those holes in the sheet rock would work as well. One quick tip for butting two pieces of wood together is to pre-fit them where they are going to go and then scribe a cut line from one piece to the other so that the joints are always as perfect as possible. Sometimes walls aren't exactly 90 degrees on the horizontal or the vertical (specially in old house remodels)

[Mekazas]

really innovative way to build floating shelves and your work is quite nice! Congrats on a job well done!

[TacoViolator]

Man, beautiful, smart, handy...your man is super lucky. Great work!!!

[IsaacC]

Nice job. Using recessed brackets had been on my mind for a while now but I'd never worked with drywall so I was hesitant. Seeing your installation really helped me assess feasibility - so thanks! Also worth checking out: angle brackets that attach to studs for floating desks (the same brackets carpenters use for installing floating vanities). Keith Johnson did a video on it with some really nice results.

@10:52 Yup. To remove it, you'd have to use an oscillating tool to cut a hole where you've screwed the bracket to the shelf, which isn't terrible.


@3:09 Every DIY project you do on your home, take a video recording/pictures of what you've done. Give that to the next homeowner.

[billcunningham]

I just purchased one of those oscillating tools (Milwaukee M18). Amazing. Best $100 I have spent in the past six months. Did a dry wall cut and repair and a cedar siding repair (damn woodpeckers). Made the repair easier and seamless and clean initial cut. Highly recommend the tool.