Book shelving?

[FeatheredHeart]

I am trying to shelve about 5.5m for books. That's 5 tall bays, almost 4 metres long. I have a quote from shelfstore which does basic pine shelving and it's £712(!) and that's for bog standard shelving - no backboards, no side infills, no floor to first shelf fascia, nothing.

Can anyone recommend anything else that is not as expensive? The room is traditional georgian so I need something unobtrusive, probably that I can paint to blend into the walls. It is going to replace an antique bookcase that doesn't fit the space well.

Or does anyone know somewhere else that's good for advice on this kind of thing?

(height 248 cm, Width 385.5 cm, Depth 24 cm, approx 30 shelves over 5 bays)

We went to look at Ikea this weekend. We found a nice bookcase that could be added to to fit the available space. We only have a 2m x 2m space and that required 2 bookcases. I was rather shocked to find that this would cost £500. Not the cheepo Ikea option I had anticipated!

Could you find a local joiner to give you a quote - that's what I think we will do.

I made some myself, very cheaply. Cost about £40 for the timber - got it cheap from a builder's merchant. Definitely worth a few hours of my time.

I like the idea of it MP but I am someone who quakes at the sight of a drill. How did you learn to do it? Did you teach yourself / do a course / buy a book....?

Well it's very straight forward with shelves

You just measure it neatly and then drill holes and use big bastard screws to keep the shelves in place

If you search on the internet there are lots of useful DIY videos and articles about this sort of thing

Dp made ours. used plywood for the back and the sides.Screwed to the wall. the used floorboards (as we had loads lying around!) for the shelves with supports from B&Q. He got some trim from B&Q as well (I think)

It was much easier than I expected or would have been if the walls were square as each shelf had to be measured individually!

We have had a joiner in for some work and we pay him £20 an hour so probably work out cheaper than buying shelves and they would fit perfectly!

Look in the local yellow pages for a carpenter, and they will make neat shelves for you. My dad has made all of my bookshelves - 4'6 wide, ceiling height and varying space between the shelves so that I have paperback, hardback and large format shelves out of pine, and they don't take long to do if you have all the right tools (like a table saw). All mine have a fixing rail on the back at two heights so that they are screwed to the wall very firmly