Closets and Home Organization - Installing Home made floating shelf

Hello Everyone.

I just finished renovating my bathroom and I would like to install some floating shelves.

I have two (olf flooring - nopt factory made) shelves about 10 inches wide and about 20 inches long. I have predrilled holes to mount on the wall.

Does anyone know of the type of rod you need to do this? I have predrilled the holes in my shelves but the double threaded screws screws I got from the hardware store are not realy working out.

I was going to screw one end into the wall mounts and then slip the other end onto my shelf...I have now made four holes in my new wall and am not satisfied with the stability of the shelving unit.

Before I begin punching more holes does anyone have some advice for me?

thanks
Derek

I'm having difficulty picturing how you are working this
Usually with floating shelves, at least how I do them, there is a wood brace attached to the wall, then the shelves are attached to the wood brace

Admittedly I don't do a lot of them, but the shelves themselves are almost always a "box" or "boxed" around the wood brace attached to the wall

I'm not sure where any rods would come in, and the holes in the wall are usually covered by the wood brace

Perhaps you could provide a more detailed explanation?

A quick "How-To" describing pretty close to how I do it, from elsewhere on this site:

Q. Wondering how to make those shelves that just float on the wall?
A. Take two pieces of wood no greater than 12 inches wide. You can go as long as you want. It’s not a good idea to make a floating shelf longer than 48 inches. If you want to then you’ll need to connect it into the sidewalls. Lets say we want to make our floating shelf 3" thick. It is not recommended to make it sinner unless you’re using on of the sidewalls to help support it 12 inches deep by 36 inches long.
Your material list for the actual shelf will be:
2pc @ ¾" x 11 ¼" W x 34 ½" L
2pc @ ¾" x 1 ½" W x 11 ¼" L
1pc @ ¾" x 1 ½" W x 33" L
That will make up the actual shelf, which will slip over the skeleton support. So essentially you'll be making a hallow box with the back open. You will be putting a solid wood molding on the face/sides of it to cover up the exposed edges. Take one piece of the ¾ inch x 11-¼ inch x 34-½ inch. Stand the pieces of ¾ inch x 1 ½ inch up on their side. Glue and Nail these in. Now, take the top piece of ¾ inch x 11 ¼ inch x 34 ¼ inch and nail or glue that to the top of what you've put together so far.
When you're done you should have a box that is 3-inch x11 ¼ inch x 34-½ inch. The back will be open. You will need to cut strips that are 1 ½ inch- a hair. You will be making a frame that will slide into the opening in the back of the shelf.
So your cut list will be:
2pc @ ¾" x 1 ½"- a hair x 34"
4pc @ ¾" x 1 ½"- a hair x 9"
You will need to nail, glue and put one screw at each joint. Your skeleton frame should end up being 34 inches x 10 ½ inches. Take two of the four smaller pieces and divide it out equally within the frame. This frame gets screwed into the studs and the shelf slides over it. Then take your solid wood and miter it around the raw edges of plywood. Clamp on or nail this on and that's it.

I used two 1/2" course-threaded rods, forced into the predrilled studs with a pair of nuts and wrench. They were about 12" long in my case. Wood block "nuts" thread onto these rods - they fit snugly inside the hollow shelf and support it. Little screws (under) keep the shelf from creeping forward off the blocks.

If both rods are bent slightly, their eccentricity allows fine tuning of the shelf level.

If I understand correctly, you have simple flat shelf boards that you want to mount to a wall - without showing how they are attached (floating).

I don't know how thick your shelving material is, but if it was originally flooring, I'm guessing less than 1". What I suggest will have to be attached at the wall studs - since the shelves are 20" long (longer than typical stud spacing), hopefully that's possible.

Locate the studs, drill 1/2" holes 3" deep (enough for support, but not enough to poke out the other side). Make sure these holes are perpendicular to the wall both vertically and horizontally. Drill matching holes in the back edge of your shelf - again, perpendicular to the board (if they aren't, your shelf will be crooked, or will not mount nicely to the wall). 3 inches deep in the back of the shelf should be sufficient. Cut two 5 1/2" long 1/2" dowels. Glue them into the shelf (Elmer's will work fine). Slide the other end of the dowels into the holes in your wall - check for a snug fit (you may have to trim the shelf if your wall and shelf don't match well). Once you know it will fit snugly, remove it, place a small dab of silicone caulk in each hole, and replace the shelf. The silicone will keep the dowel from sliding out, but can be overcome with a strong pull, if you really need to remove the shelf later.

Be aware that there won't be much load-bearing capability.

Ah, I get it. The shelves are solid wood and relatively thin. Not torsion boxes.

If you can deal with having drilled through the shelf fronts, then perhaps a long auger ("installer bit") would ensure a level shelf. You can set up the shelf and then continue drilling through these holes into the wall.

I suggested drilling about 3" in each direction, because I doubt that anyone here can successfully edge drill through a 1x10, then into a wall - especially with hand-held tools. Besides, that would leave the holes/mounting exposed.

Another approach that results in "almost floating" shelf...
Drill holes into the studs to accept steel or aluminum round bar stock (most hardware stores sell it up to 1/2" diameter, and 36" long) - cut the bar into pieces that go 3" into the wall (same as before), but extend nearly to the outside edge of the shelf. Finish the exposed ends before you put them in the wall (bevel the edges/baloney slice/etc). Paint or polish them (easy with the aluminum), then put them in the wall. The shelf will just rest laying accross them. You will probably have to touch up the wall where you drilled for the rods, they won't be covered by the shelf like before. Hope this helps - gives you an alternative.