Mounting Floating Shelf to Wall

[Allan Lackas]

I have a large television mounted on the wall with all connects hidden behind it.  I would like to put a shelf right above the television.  Was thinking about 10-inches deep, 36-inches wide, and 1-inch thick.  Trying to make it more 'minimalistic,' so was planning on tapering the front so it appears thinner.  This would hold minimal items; mainly a new DVD player that is extremely light and the satellite-remote TV box, which again, is extremely small.  Question is, if I pocket screw this shelf to the wall on, say, 3 studs - is that enough to hold it up?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Allan

[Jay Boutwell]

Hi Allen, Where or not the shelf will hold will depend on some things such as how strong is the shelf material and of course how heavy is the material and what sort of leverage will the load exert on the shelf.  Contrary to popular belief items such as a shelf or a cabinet do not exert as much downward pressure from the load but exerts most of the pressure from trying to pull out of the wall.  Since this is known the weak point will be on the bottom point of the shelf if it is bored there and anchored using a screw the shelf will try to lift upward on the bottom and pivot outward from the wall.  Because the  material is weak at this point there is a tendency to split out the material at the screw  and when it does this the rear of the shelf will pivot up and off of the screw and fall onto what ever is below/

Since a falling shelf can be a dangerous situation should it hit some one and or hit the TV or other items and damage it, I think I would look at another method/  If it was me I would think about adding a piece that is screwed to the top of the shelf and extending upward about an inch or so and then using this  piece to screw into the wall.  Depending on the height of the shelf on the wall It could be almost invisible since it will also be hidden by the items placed in front of it.   The three studs I would not worry about it is the material,  and the leverage exerted by the weight of the objects placed on the shelf