MDF or wood shelving for heavy books?

[goodgriefpenfold]

Apologies for the dullness of this question :( what happened to the young glam me...pre comfy pants and wrinkles. Anyway:

I'm getting some shelves made (1 metre long) for a lot of books & cds, they need to take quite a lot of weight. Joiner says MDF but I've heard it can sag.

So... wood or MDF?

Thank you for any advice (of the MDF vs wood variety, not "get a life"). I am away to reflect on how boring my life has become, possibly over a nice horlicks.

[annalouiseh]

would depend on the brackets your thing of using.
Floating? would need a few brackets.
both materials would do the job but with wood you do get a chunky nicer looking shelf.

[goodgriefpenfold]

floating I think, it's to go in a bricked up doorway. Re: finish, there's a lot of white painted wood in the room so although I love real wood, it would get painted whatever it is eg pine, plywood (?) or MDF. It's really just a question of what can take the books weight without sagging and keep a "clean" finish.

[fresh]

Thickness is the key. I used 38mm thick MDF for shelves wider than that. They've had books on for years and haven't sagged. I painted them.

[Ponders]

ikea Billy shelves are MDF - the widest are 80cm, & they don't sag

but if you got blockboard (? the thickest ply) it would definitely not sag!

[PigletJohn]

a trick to stiffen it up (and also perhaps approve the appearance) is to fix a wooden batten to the edges)

[tricot39]

Ikea billy bookcases sag like hell if you have big books!

Get your joiner to glue two layers of 18mm mdf together to make a 36mm thick shelf. Ours suggested it and it worked really well.

[sh77]

Oh bugger. I didn't know mdf sagged. Just spent a fortune on new mdf shelves.

[Ponders]

it doesn't necessarily - depends on the thickness & the load

[goodgriefpenfold]

OK thanks for the replies, joiner has said he's going to use 18mm MDF. How strong is this?

It's LOTS of big hardback books, btw, not paperbacks!

[PigletJohn]

where is it supported? Ends only (will sag a bit), but ends plus a batten at the back fixed to the wall (will be OK)

[bootsyboot]

hi have just had 18mm mdf alcove shelves fitted by a joiner 53 inch wide and the battens MDF around back and sides. I'm happy overall with them but I didn't ike the height of battens as 3 inches, so hard to hide, I will paint same colour as walls, he said they had to be that depth for supporting big shelves, I thought 2 inch would be enough. I am only putting lamps and records and a few ornaments on them, it replaced free standing bookcase. is he right or could I cut them down to 2inch thanks

[tizwozliz]

We have mdf shelves, constructed as a box, so wood frame inside, covered top and bottom with mdf. No issues with sagging at all, even the one that is not attached on one side.

We used 12mm mdf top and bottom with 34mm batons for the frame

[tizwozliz]

ikea Billy shelves are MDF - the widest are 80cm, & they don't sag

Ikea Billy shelves are veneered particleboard not mdf

[bootsyboot]

thanks they are already fitted I just need to know if I reduce battens to 2 inches will it still support my wide shelves