IKEA Billy/Oxberg bookcases

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

Has anyone got the Billy bookcases with the glass Oxberg doors on? have you found magazine files and box files that will still fit on the shelves even with the doors? I had just about decided that that is what I wanted to get, when I read somewhere that box files etc protrude by 0.5cm and the doors don't close! But I am not sure that they are always standard dimensions, and some of the files and boxes online say 25 or 26cm, which should be OK.

The depth of the bookcases are 28cm, the shelves are 26cm and I have read that with the doors on, there is only about 26.5cm of space.

I have loads of box files, magazine files, and lever arch files to put in them, and I wanted the glass doors to keep them dust free. I don't have room for any wider shelves, so this is my best option. I don't mind buying some new boxes/files to put stuff in if needed, though would be more ideal not to replace everything at once. I need them to be quite heavy duty. A4 pages and books aren't as wide as 26cm, so you'd think there would be some files I could get.

I have the older Billy bookcases and doors (they changed the design slightly a couple of years ago) and I have the ikea magazine files - the cardboard ones with metal corners and metal tabs. They fit perfectly.

Measure your box files and things and take the one most likely to cause problems with you to the store so you can see if the doors close.

They're packed at the moment! But I'm going to check out some in the shops. They are likely too big, as they're the standard size ones. But I was hoping that there'd be enough around that would fit - sounds like the IKEA own ones do, which is good, thanks for that. It's hard to know how accurate the measurements of files online are, when it comes down to a few mm mattering as to whether the doors close or not! Plus the actual space inside isn't given on any official site, but just something I saw someone measure and discuss on an online forum. I don't know if it was the old or new doors though.

I store a lot of box files very happily on mine - but I did buy them about 13 years ago, so if there's been a design change that recommendation may not hold.

thank you.
I did check some out in shops today, and it seems that the foolscap box files are OK, but the usual A4 ones aren't. But they will both fit normal A4 stuff, so I can get some of the smaller ones.

Same with magazine files; there seems to be a couple of sizes available.

Lever arch files seem to be too big, so those will have to be changed.

They'd all fit on with the tiniest of overhangs, without the doors. But I definitely want doors to stop the dust, and to just make it look a little neater.

Do you join the various bookcases together? Not sure I need to attach them to the wall or not. If they fell over, they'd just hit the other wall of the corridor, so I'd think that must be OK. Yes the books might land on top of me, but that wouldn't be so dangerous.

You can screw them together if needed. Mine isn't attached to wall but they are heavy.

I don't know if it's needed or not. It might give them more stability to be screwed together. Or maybe it would just mean that there was more to fall over, if they did start to topple! I don't think they'll be flush against the wall anyway because of sockets and so on, so might be hard to attach them anyway. Not sure what I'd use, either, as not positive what the walls are made of.

I have them and I use file boxes etc from ikea. They fit perfectly.
BUT PLEASE ATTACH THEM TO THE WALL ESSENTIALLY. Ikea just paid $50million in USA to parents of three kids killed by falling Malm dressers and Billy are far taller and far far faaaar vulnerable. Under no circumstances we could leave them upright without attaching to wall. Ikea ABSOLUTELY forbid it.
Sorry I am not exactly shouting but I just read about those three little boys today

I should add that after attaching them to wall, neither me nor DH could move them a mm, let alone topple or something. I have put a huge amount of stuff on them including some very heavy things and book collections. Look fab.

They will come with some little metal things you screw onto the top of the bookcase and then screw into the wall. Easy to do and worth it

thanks. My problem is that some of the bookcases won't be flush against the wall - partly because of skirting boards, partly because of plug sockets, partly because of funny jutting in and out bits in the walls...

and partly because I don't know yet what the walls are made of and what to anchor the screws with. It's a new build and I'm not there yet. Something about concrete frame with brick infill according to the plans, but that might be for the external walls, and some of the shelves will also be on internal walls which could be different (or walls between flats, which might be different again). I think I will have to hire someone who knows these things to attach the first ones for me...

But actually some of them might be OK without attaching, as they're in a corridor where there isn't room for them to fall over anyway without hitting the opposite wall! However I will still have the problem with the ones in the sitting room, or the Pax wardrobes in the bedroom.

I read something about straps that can anchor them if they're not that close to the walls, which might be a possibility.

(no chance of children climbing on them or anything, just me living there)

Mine came with a nylon strap type thing to fix them to the wall. You should be able to anchor them to any wall if you use the appropriate rawlplugs. I had the same problem with skirting boards but it's a pretty easy job with a small hacksaw to trim them so they fit flush.

yeah it's knowing what's appropriate plugs that I'm struggling with!! First flat, zero experience at DIY, scared of making a mess of new walls...! Skirting boards aren't so much of an issue when there are also plug sockets and stuff that will be needed, as well as jags of about 5cm where the wall goes back etc., so even if I could cut out space for skirting boards, it still woudln't be flush. But a strap might be OK.

If it's a nightmare with wall sockets etc, why not do shelves on rails? Like these:

yes that's a possibility. I need it to look quite smart though, and prefer the look of the shelves with doors, but I might cut out the back of them or something for access.

I think I need to find someone who can tell me exactly what the walls are and what sort of plug/screw to use for putting stuff up. Hopefully when I move in, the welcome pack they are supposed to give me might say. The only info I had so far was from the mortgage survey.

Then it woudln't really matter if they were away from the wall - it's the jagged edges, where it suddenly goes back 10cm to get round a pillar or something that is the bigger problem, as it can be nearly flush against one part of the wall, but not the other. I guess a strap to attach them would work, if I can figure out the kind of attachment. Ikea says it doesn't come with the wall plug part, because they're all different, which doesn't help! I am thinking of getting a person to assemble them as there will be a lot, and maybe they will know. Though I'd then have to go out and get them while they are there assembling!

There is no shame is paying an odd-job person to do it for you - you Dan then ask them what they are using and they will tell you, you'd know for next time.
Personally I just knock on the wall and if it sounds hard, I select a rawl plug for the size of screw I have and get drilling. If the wall sounds hollow you might need the specially shaped plasterboard rawl plugs.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, but nothing's fallen down yet.

I will tap and listen when I get in , but my experiments on my rented house showed that I couldn't really hear any difference!! :) Maybe they were all solid walls.

I think they are quite solid so hopefully I could get a selection of plugs and screws and they'd be able to use whatever I had. I will definitely get an odd job person if I can find one. I was going to get a flat pack assembler too as there will be a lot to do, but whether or not they'd do that aspect of it or not, I'm not sure. But I'd also need an odd jobber to put up shelves on the wall, maybe a medicine cabinet, coat hooks, that kind of thing, so they could attach shelves to walls at the same time I'm sure, if it wasn't already done by the assembler. I guess the odd-job people might bring screws/plugs with them and I'd just pay for whatever they used.

Dont' have a drill yet, but it's on my list eventually!

You can wedge them underneath- get a wooden clothes peg and break it apart into 2 wedges, then gently tilt the bookshelf back and wedge the peg underneath. We have done this with our bookshelves , you can't see the wedge but it prevents it toppling. We did it with our pax wardrobe too.

that's a good idea, I'll do it with the Pax wardrobes for sure (getting a few of them for the bedroom!). Not sure how far back I can tip the Billy bookcases as I don't want them to fall backwards but might be just enough.

I haven't decided yet whether to get the really tall Billy and Pax ones, which would for sure need some kind of fixing. I could use the space, definitely, but they might also feel very overwhelming in a small place, and I'm not 100% sure yet whether they'd fit. Maybe just the smaller ones, and put baskets or boxes on top to look neater if I do put stuff up on top.

For solid walls a selection pack like this would go a long way
Get someone in to so as many jobs as possible at once, likely to be much cheaper.
But really things like coat hooks are easy - and you get a great sense of achievement when it works! Big jobs and you might be pulling your hair out.

oh that's good to know, thank you. They are cheaper than I imagined, and I'd no idea you could get a pack with lots of sizes! I would eventually like to do some of it myself, but having never done any of it before, it's a bit daunting. I will have shelves, picture frames, mirrors, hooks, medicine cabinets, and who knows what else in the end. I don't know how much I will have ready at once but some of it I can save up and get it all at the same time.

You'll have such fun in your new home! With diy, try one small job first and see if it gives you confidence or if you want to run a mile.
Don't pay someone to hang your pictures though - just get hooks similar to the ones in this picture, and you tap the nail in with a hammer. Bigger picture = bigger picture hook and nail. Foolproof!

The newer Billy bookcases are shallower than older ones so I think the only way to be sure is to go on say the WHSmith website and compare the depth of their box-files to the depth of the Billy bookcases as currently stated on the Ikea website.

Having said that I use my newer Billy bookcases for music books (bigger than A4) and they fit fine.

is that really all? I assumed you had to do all the same stuff as for hanging cupboards and so on, finding pipes and beams and whatever! Maybe it's easier than I think :) Thanks for that. I think it's just the unknown that puts me off and once I've seen someone do a few of the things, I probably can. don't want to hit a pipe or electrics or make the wall fall down when there are other people in the building.. Or to damage new clean walls with clumsy holes and cracks or anything. I tried to hammer into my rented walls once and the plaster just chipped away.

So many little things to think about that keep occuring to me. Like mirrors on the inside of the wardrobe door, or bins on the inside of the cupboard, or hanging rails on the tiles in the kitchen, etc. that will need different screws and attachments as cupboard and wardrobe doors are Ikea type stuff. But it can't be that hard to learn, really.

I want to build in as much useful storage and hooks and so on as possible, as it's a tiny new build place that comes with nothing!! but it is exciting, too, as well as daunting.