Shelving and Display Advice!

[danmar85]

Solid advice. Thanks. Yeah, I would be hiring someone. The place we bought is a 30 year old townhouse and nothing has been done to it since it was built except a coat of paint, so there are many renos we need to do. We plan to do everything at once if possible before we move in, so we'd get our contractor to do the shelving and all I have to do is give dimensions of what I need.

One more bit of advice if you want to be very thorough with this. Don't be afraid to ask your contractor questions throughout the process. They should be willing to give you a detailed plan of your requirements in a draft. Ask about sag and how they will eliminate it. Make sure they know exactly how much weight these custom built-ins would be holding at max capacity. You should have an idea of how you want to finish these shelves as well and if it's book friendly. I think stain should be fine, but I believe some types of paint CAN be a problem in regard to items placed on the shelf sticking to it. I don't think it will cause damage, but it's probably something you want to be careful with. Ask your contractor if they have advice in regard to finishes that work best on shelving. Never assume your contractor knows every answer or that they're experts on every facet of woodworking.

[GenericUserName12]

I know this has been mentioned before, but with the reboot of CBR, maybe the knowledge has been lost to the ages. How do you display your books? Some people place post-its or cardboard under the pages to keep the stress of gravity off the spines. Others store their books horizontally. I personally just display them like libraries do and haven't yet felt the disappointment of the pages sagging from the spine. What are your opinions on this?

[canadianaidan64]

On a shelf vertically. The only books I store Horizontally are my Dark Horse big books; I stored my Marvel and DC omniboo horizontally for a while but I couldn't stand the way they looked. I plan on making some supports to hold up the page blocks of my thicker books, but I haven't yet had the time.

I'm hoping to eventually get shelves with glass doors to keep the dust out, but they're very expensive (and don't look very good with modern spine designs).

[Cold Water]

In a bookcase on shelves. Vertically.
I move my books around so much that I simply dust when I move them.

[wrkngclasshero]

I'm looking to purchase a few plate holders to display some OHCs. Any idea what size I should buy? The one I am looking at comes in a bunch of different sizes. The standard OHC is roughly 11" high so I am assuming the 7" might be good? But I would like to retain flexibility to store larger things (looking at you Wednesday Comics) so let me know what your thoughts on Easel size are (and no i cannot buy multiple sizes, my OCD requires them all to be the same height).

Here is a link to the Easel in question but Mods feel free to delete if it is agains the TOS.

http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Wooden-Pl...s=plate+holder

[Canucked]

How do you all protect the tops of books from dust? There is construction going on near our apartment and I have the windows on lockdown. My partner is fine with it now, but come summer it's not going to be very fair.
The comic store suggested boards from singles, but I'm unsure. It's not exactly the easiest thing to dust either.

Input?

[canadianaidan64]

How do you all protect the tops of books from dust? There is construction going on near our apartment and I have the windows on lockdown. My partner is fine with it now, but come summer it's not going to be very fair.
The comic store suggested boards from singles, but I'm unsure. It's not exactly the easiest thing to dust either.

Input?

1. Buy an air filter, preferably one with an ionizer (or de-ionizer?) - they take the static charge out of dust particles so that they don't cling to surfaces;

2. Invest in shelves with doors, OR put something atop your books (backing boards would work), OR cover entire shelves with a light blanket or cloth;

3. Dust often.


I currently do none of these things because I'm poor and lazy.

[danmar85]

How do you all protect the tops of books from dust? There is construction going on near our apartment and I have the windows on lockdown. My partner is fine with it now, but come summer it's not going to be very fair.
The comic store suggested boards from singles, but I'm unsure. It's not exactly the easiest thing to dust either.

Input?

1. Buy an air filter, preferably one with an ionizer (or de-ionizer?) - they take the static charge out of dust particles so that they don't cling to surfaces;

2. Invest in shelves with doors, OR put something atop your books (backing boards would work), OR cover entire shelves with a light blanket or cloth;

3. Dust often.


I currently do none of these things because I'm poor and lazy.

If you or your partner have asthma or respiratory problems, be wary of ionzer's. Just google it and there are concerns with the ozone effect it may cause. Just a heads up. I would probably recommend the same solutions as canadianaidan64. I think the cloth solution is probably the most convenient. You can just fold the cloth to size and wash them when enough dust has built up.

[canadianaidan64]

If you or your partner have asthma or respiratory problems, be wary of ionzer's. Just google it and there are concerns with the ozone effect it may cause. Just a heads up. I would probably recommend the same solutions as canadianaidan64. I think the cloth solution is probably the most convenient. You can just fold the cloth to size and wash them when enough dust has built up.

Wow you're right, those things are toxic. Forget the ionizer.

A regular old fashioned filter-based purifier should still be safe, right?

[Cold Water]

If you or your partner have asthma or respiratory problems, be wary of ionzer's. Just google it and there are concerns with the ozone effect it may cause. Just a heads up. I would probably recommend the same solutions as canadianaidan64. I think the cloth solution is probably the most convenient. You can just fold the cloth to size and wash them when enough dust has built up.

Funny, when my allergies flare up in spring due to a certain bush near our house that blooms (cannot recall the name of it) an air purifier/ionizer is the ONLY thing that saves me. Same when I had pet rats (I became allergic to their urine, which is common).

[danmar85]

Funny, when my allergies flare up in spring due to a certain bush near our house that blooms (cannot recall the name of it) an air purifier/ionizer is the ONLY thing that saves me. Same when I had pet rats (I became allergic to their urine, which is common).

I think the concern has more to do with the fact that an ionizer can create ozone around itself while functioning, thus potentially being harmful to those who have asthma or lung issues and not to those who are specifically prone to just allergies.

In all likelihood, the risk is probably minimal, but I just wanted to give Canucked a fair warning just in case. Having a brother who is asthmatic, I wouldn't risk it personally.

Wow you're right, those things are toxic. Forget the ionizer.

A regular old fashioned filter-based purifier should still be safe, right?

I'm not familiar with purifiers, but I would imagine a filter-based system would be safer.

[Cold Water]

I think the concern has more to do with the fact that an ionizer can create ozone around itself while functioning, thus potentially being harmful to those who have asthma or lung issues and not to those who are specifically prone to just allergies.

In all likelihood, the risk is probably minimal, but I just wanted to give Canucked a fair warning just in case. Having a brother who is asthmatic, I wouldn't risk it personally.

I am not asthmatic, but when my allergies flare up I can be.

My pet rats would keep me up at nights sneezing, coughing and wheezing. It didn't seem to matter how often I cleaned their cages.
The air purifier/ionize and benedryl were the only things that saved me.

[titansupes]

So thanks to you guys making me jealous and my running out of space (and renovating!) I just bought my first Kallax (and it looks great, looking to get two more). However, I've put in on it's side. So, instead of standing up it goes long ways along the wall. Is it as sturdy this way? I'm looking att he first cube, and it's got four omni's on there and filled out with several OHC's. Is this safe this way, or two much weight to bear on its side?

[kodave]

So thanks to you guys making me jealous and my running out of space (and renovating!) I just bought my first Kallax (and it looks great, looking to get two more). However, I've put in on it's side. So, instead of standing up it goes long ways along the wall. Is it as sturdy this way? I'm looking att he first cube, and it's got four omni's on there and filled out with several OHC's. Is this safe this way, or two much weight to bear on its side?

It depends on how it's structured. If the horizontal wood pieces are the long ones with the short vertical in between ones providing support, that's what you want. If it's the opposite with the long slats being vertical and the short slats functioning as the horizontal shelves, then you really risk overloading them and they could potentially collapse if the pegs or screws give out, especially if this is all press board wood.

[titansupes]

It depends on how it's structured. If the horizontal wood pieces are the long ones with the short vertical in between ones providing support, that's what you want. If it's the opposite with the long slats being vertical and the short slats functioning as the horizontal shelves, then you really risk overloading them and they could potentially collapse if the pegs or screws give out, especially if this is all press board wood.

This is indeed how it's currently set up, since it was my first time setting one up and I just followed the IKEA instructions. So it's possible to switch it around so that the longer panels are horizontal? If so, I'll try that. (I'll wait for an answer though, so that I don't unload and disassemble the whole thing and realise it's not possible).