# How necessary is anchoring a bookshelf to drywall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800 "2013-04-26T22:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spotthegerbil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@spotthegerbil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spotthegerbil)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/21 "2013-04-30T08:38:27Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I do believe that anchoring the bookshelf to the wall will prevent the left/right collapse, but a much easier way would be to add one or two diagonals to the back of the unit. A thin 1- or 2-inch wide strip of wood is quite adequate, the longer the better. Nail it in at one corner, and the other end at the corner which is diagonally opposite. Putting in two in an X shape is even better. Use a ruler, and you can guarantee that the shelves are in at perfect 90-degree angles to begin with. The extra bonus of not anchoring to the wall is that the shelves can still be moved when necessary. On Ikea furniture, the back panel is a sheet of hardboard that slides into the chipboard sides, and it’s held in place by a couple of nails. In order to stop the left/right collapse you mention I use PVA wood glue. Before you slide the back panel in, run a bead of wood glue into the slot for the back panel. When the back panel is in place and the glue has set, this will reinforce the entire structure and have the same effect as the wood strips. Does anyone else use a set square to make sure their flatpacks are square or do they trust Ikea to cut at 90 degrees? More fun can be had at http://www.ikeahackers.net/ ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/22 "2013-04-30T10:12:11Z")
kids, earthquakes, and poorly distributed weight are reasons to screw it to the wall. 2 anchors into drywall should accommodate most anything. If you don’t have kids or expect earthquakes then it’s on you not to put a 36" tube TV on the top shelf overhanging the front. I myself have a number of freestanding shelves but I don’t expect kids into my bedrooms where I store books. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/23 "2013-04-30T13:39:48Z")
> [@spotthegerbil](#): > > On Ikea furniture, the back panel is a sheet of hardboard that slides into the chipboard sides, and it’s held in place by a couple of nails. In order to stop the left/right collapse you mention I use PVA wood glue. Before you slide the back panel in, run a bead of wood glue into the slot for the back panel. That’s how these are, and I’ve already assembled them (and used a lot more tacks than necessary). If anybody can think of a reinforcing method that doesn’t require disassembling, I’d love to read it. Of course I paid so little for these things (they’re not Ikea but from an office supply house that was going out of business) that they’re just in the “good enough for now” category. I regard them as placeholders until I find some well built bookshelves that aren’t priced like they came from Monticello. Bookshelves must have the most markup of almost any kind of furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/24 "2013-04-30T13:49:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Bookshelves must have the most markup of almost any kind of furniture. There’s a lot of wood and a lot of surface and edge to finish. You can get good ones, even custom-built to size, from oak and unfinished furniture stores. Just be prepared for the finishing time, even with a simple stain wipe. We bought seven seven-foot cases, 24 to 30 inches wide, and it took me the better part of a year (with delays for weather and other things) to get all of them painted gloss white and installed. I think the set ran about $1500, and having them finished would have been slightly more than that amount again. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/25 "2013-04-30T17:32:17Z")
[Do you have kids?](http://i.imgur.com/GlOx7y5.gif) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/26 "2013-04-30T18:09:27Z")
I have a set my grandfather built that are just varnished pine boards with no back that in the 40+ years I’ve had them have never fallen over. Once upon a time my sister, who was once attacked by a corner apparently and now thinks she has to put something at an angle in every one of them, pushed the bookcase into a corner angle and everything fell into out the back, but that’s the closest it’s ever come to following Of course the ones I assembled are pressed wood (the scourge of modern furniture) so I don’t expect to get more than one move out of them. Forget access to healthcare or credit scores: how assembled your furniture is when it arrives at your house is one of the most telling socioeconomic status indicators in the U.S. today. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800/27 "2013-04-30T19:26:48Z")
I was loading up my new ~6 foot tall bookshelves with books when they came crashing down, books everywhere. Huge mess. Anchor them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-necessary-is-anchoring-a-bookshelf-to-drywall/656800.md?page=1)