It’s time to design a walk-in closet for our house. The room is 10′ x 6′. I’m planning on 3/4″ birch or maple plywood (maybe pre-finished) on vertical and fixed members. Fixed ply joints will probably be rabbetted and/or biscuited, and glued.
- What’s a max. span for 1/2″ ply on horizontal shelves (clothing and shoes)? Probably arctic / baltic birch.
- Any guidelines for spacing / layout?
- Best template jigs?
- Tips on attachment to back wall?
- Reference on trimming edge tape on plywood edge?
Replies
Daveinnh,
Clothing is heavy and therefore I suggest that you will not be happy with 1/2" shelving. If you really want to use 1/2", then I suggest you screw a stiffener under the shelf running its full length. The stiffener can be a piece of similar ply about 1 3/8" thick placed on end under the center of the shelf. If you go to some clothing stores you will notice right away what happens to the shelving. Even 3/4" shelving can benefit from a stiffener.
You determine the length of your shelves by folding the clothing you want to put on the shelves and measuring the space required, then decide the length of the shelves. Similarly for shoe shelves, except those are usually angled with a linear stopper screwed to them so that the heel catches and the shoe stays put.
Hanging hardware is set by measuring a pair of pants and the support (add a bit of clearance, and do a similar thing with shirts. The shirts can usually be hung on a bar above the pants. A shelf above the hang rails is up to you.
There are no real standards. It depends on your available space, what it is you want to put where and the height of the people using the walk in. JL
Try out this site. some good info http://www.easyclosets.com
hi there,
I have a few suggestions for you that I hope you find helpful. I was looking in the lee valley catalog and they had this pant rack. and you can build a permanant one like this. You need 8/4, maybe 4 inches wide. and you make a bunch of holes every few inches and glue in 3/4 dowels into the holes. There is you built in pants hanger. And it will look good better than fussing around with hangers or stacking them.
For the plywood shelves. space some cleats in the back and sides. You don't need a continous cleat. or you can. I the front you can buscuit / spline a say 3/4 hardwood face and for longer spans maybe a bracket in the middle somewhere there is a stud.
1) don't use 1/2"; use 3/4." Your widest shelf will probably be under 24", anyway.
2) Do what fits your needs. A 10x6 closet is pretty narrow, so you will probably be stuck with an L-shape layout, though you might squeeze in narrow shelves (like for shoes) on one long wall. For hanger poles, 22" works (pole centered at 11"), but if you can afford 24", go for it.
3) for what? drilling holes? I recommend getting a metal template, or a lexan one that works with a 1/4" (or 5mm) vix bit.
4) Either use nailers or a museum cleat. Museum cleats are great as you can remove an entire section later if you want.
5) reference? You iron it on, then trim it. For shelves I'd recommend using 3/4 x 1 1/2" strips to reinforce the shelves (you attach it so the wide dimension is up/down, making the front of the shelf appear 1 1/2" thick).
Good luck. If this is a closet you will share with your wife, be prepared to use only 25% of it.
I recently did a similar project. I concur with the use of 3/4 ply, and I reinforced all shelving with a rabbeted piece of birch on the front edge. For fastening to the wall, (and to add strength to the tops as we have high ceilings), I placed a 1X3 under the back edge of the top, and we drove screws through this piece into the studs.
Bill
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