Earthquake!

SnakBookcases: If You Build/Buy Them, They Will Fill

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Earthquake!

1bvs
nov 1, 2007, 12:33 am

After yesterday's magnitude 5.6 earthquake near San Jose and this afternoon's 3.7 aftershock a headline in San Jose Mercury says "San Jose librarians still shelving thousands of books that fell Tuesday night". It also has some pictures of library aisles covered with fallen books.

This is a good reminder (to all Californians at least) to secure your bookshelves! At work we were moving things around including bookshelves. Had we done this yesterday we may not have thought of securing them.

2keigu
dec 20, 2007, 10:54 am

I've had one filling a whole wall almost come down in japan. You should have seen me, Atlas of the book-case. Luckily, enough books fell off to keep the whole thing from pushing me over.

Back in the US in a region where there were no earthquakes, i was kidded for pushing things back from the edges of shelves.

from florida, where the land doesn't get so uppity

"Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!"

3Osbaldistone
feb 16, 2008, 1:59 pm

I don't live in an earthquake prone area, but, primarily because of small children, I attach my bookshelves to the studs in the wall.

I also add brass rods (steel is fine as well) about 1/2" above the shelf to keep books from being pulled off the shelves by accident. The rods are readily available in 3/16" (good for up to 30" spans) and 1/4" sizes. I simply drill the appropriate size hole (if not already there for adjustable shelves), cut the rod to the length of the span plus the thickness of one vertical panel, then slide one end into one hole until the other end can fit into its hole. The rods are flexible enough to make this pretty simple. When done, the brass rods look pretty nice. And if I need to retrieve a large book that won't fit over the rods, they are easily moved aside. They also keep small objet d'art relatively safe from falling off the shelf as well. Good enough in an earthquake? Perhaps (can't hurt), but you may need to set them a bit higher above the shelf than I do.

Os.

4maggie1944
feb 16, 2008, 3:02 pm

Very clever! A simple, elegant solution and certainly could be the beginning for earthquake resistance. I agree a little higher might help a little more; but if it is a really big shaker the most important thing to avoid is having the entire bookcase fall. You have accomplished that by attaching them to the studs. How do you do that? Do you drill through the back of the bookcase? What about bookcases without backs?

5Osbaldistone
feb 17, 2008, 10:26 pm

>4 maggie1944: re: attaching bookshelves to the studs

First of all, these are bookshelves, not bookcases, so the entire wall of shelves is one unit. When building them, I lined up one vertical support to a stud, and fastened it to the stud with an angle bracket. Then, if another vertical support lines up with another stud, I place another angle bracket. Whether or not that's enough to keep the shelves from pulling loose in an earthquake, I don't expect I'll ever know. But it does ensure their stability for everyday use.

Os.

6abductee
feb 22, 2008, 2:30 am

Excellent reminder about bookshelves and safety. As weird/wacky as it seems, I've had experiences when crouched low in front of some of my less-than-secure bookcases of terror.

7kcshankd
feb 20, 2016, 11:23 am

Reviving this thread after a quick search. One of my 'low-grade', but constant worries is 'The Big One' up here in the Pacific NW of the US.

My books are housed in nine barrister bookcases. Three of them are antiques (two Globe & Wernicke, one Macey) that have the modular, stacking shelves.

To date I have not bolted them to anything, as I know my current housing situation is not permanent (likely moving in 8-10 years). I can't imagine drilling into the antiques.

I am at a loss how to secure them all - perhaps some sort of external scaffolding? Has anyone ever had a better idea?

8JerryMmm
feb 20, 2016, 4:51 pm

I'd put a simple shelving bracket upside down tight on the top. When a box tilts forwards from the wall, the back side has to move higher. A bracket will prevent that, making it harder to fall over.

No fastening to the case would be needed.

9kcshankd
feb 21, 2016, 11:11 am

>8 JerryMmm:

That does sound like it would work. The stackable G & W and Macey sets would require a brace... maybe every other shelf.

Thanks!

10Frank_Zwolinski
jun 28, 2020, 7:51 pm

My situation is a bit different and I hope this request might spark some interest..

I have some bookshelves over the bed and am looking for a way to keep those books from falling in an earthquake; I live in California and we have frequent quakes. Some years ago, I found an attractive metal brass bar on brackets which was mounted on either side of the shelf and which was raised and lowered to remove books, but would keep books from falling in a quake. Unfortunately I did not purchase it then and would like to find a couple of them now. Since these are to be on beautiful wood shelves, I want something that is attractive, brass would be very nice but other metals are acceptable. All I have been able to find on line are rubber or elastic straps, but they are not attractive. Does anyone have any ideas or leads for this application? The span of some of these shelves are 4 foot or more.

112wonderY
jun 28, 2020, 8:17 pm

Could you not buy whatever material piping at the hardware store, cut it to length and build slots on the inside walls of your case?

12thorold
jun 29, 2020, 2:19 am

>10 Frank_Zwolinski: Try talking to boatbuilders, perhaps?

132wonderY
jun 29, 2020, 7:48 am

There are a couple of products you could consider for mounting to hold a rod.

There is this US Futaba Metal Open Flange Closet Rod Support - For 1-5/16" Rod - (Matte Black)



You can tip it slightly when mounting it so the rod slides in at a back slant. Any weight of the books would hold it more firmly in place.

Or horseshoe shims, for a lower profile, deeper pocket and a smaller rod.



You could drill mounting holes or glue into place. The inside dimension is 5/8" diameter.
They come in various thicknesses. I've got a bucket of them in my garage. I could mail you some, if you'd like.

14Frank_Zwolinski
jun 30, 2020, 1:52 am

Thank you all for these suggestions. I may use/try them, however, I was hoping for something in brass and a bit more elegant. Keep those ideas coming folks.

Thank you

152wonderY
jun 30, 2020, 8:47 am

Do you know what dimension of rod you would want?

https://www.grainger.com/category/raw-materials/brass/brass-rod-stock

1/2" is kind of expensive, at $12/foot. 3/8" drops down to $6.66/foot and 1/4" is $2.70/foot.

16manatree
jun 30, 2020, 11:25 am

17Frank_Zwolinski
jun 30, 2020, 10:41 pm

>152wonderY:
These would work fine IF I could find the mechanism that would drop down as described above.

Thanks,
Frank

18lesmel
jul 2, 2020, 11:43 am

As mentioned in the other post...

Try searching for something called "gallery rails" -- they are common in marine or RV situations.

19DVanderlinde
Redigeret: maj 16, 2021, 1:37 pm

You have a problem similar to that aboard a ship. Perhaps you can find some brackets to hold a wooden bar (say, 3/4 by 1 1/2 inches) that can be slipped into the brackets, and taken out when you want to access your books. It doesn't have to be a complicated design, but can still be made to appear attractive.

20Keeline
nov 3, 2021, 2:22 pm

We moved in Feb. 2021 to a larger home. This afforded the happy occasion to buy more bookcases for our 9,000-book collection. Many of our cases were purchased from generic "oak furniture" stores in San Diego county, California, USA. We found a cabinet maker who made many of these and we were able to get some very similar cases made to our specifications to fill in spaces in the new house.

We are now in Riverside county and while we have been lucky about earthquakes in the 30+ years that we have actively collected, it seems prudent to take some steps where we can. One of these was to find a way to attach our taller cases (6-7 feet tall) to the studs in the wall. The backing boards are very thin so not especially strong. But the top of the case is about 3/4 inch solid wood. We attached 2x4 wood along the top edge with drywall screws into the top panel of each case.

For the tall sides we used 1x2 wood which was screwed into the uprights of the case. For some of these we had to make cut-outs for the chair and baseboard molding. When done, this made a box that allowed the case to be rested square against the wall.

We found the studs and marked them on the wall with blue painters tape. Then we could drill and screw long (4 inch) drywall screws through the backing and 2x4 into the wall studs. We have thick hardwood floors and used other screws at the base so they would not "walk out" during a temblor.

These cases are very solidly installed. Of course any books on them are likely to be ejected from the cases during a larger earthquake (5.0+). We have not yet taken steps for this but are reviewing the suggestions here.

Our shorter and antique cases are not attached to the walls.

I won't take the time to round up photos of the installation process. I don't know if I have every step illustrated but can work out something if there is serious interest.

We have not had an earthquake of any size since moving in so it is unknown how we will fare. But we have taken some steps and that is a bit better than we did in the previous house of 23 years where I used large 1-inch screw eyes and wire to attach the taller cases to the wall studs where I could.

James

21maggie1944
apr 25, 2022, 2:27 pm

I am living in an earthquake prone part of Washington State. Luckily, I am not living along the coast where the threat of tsunami waves is very real, and does not depend on local earthquakes.

I am in a small apartment, and should we have an earthquake of sizeable proportions, I no doubt would have a hard time getting out of the apartment aftewards. I am on the ground floor, and absent a building collapse, I do have some easy access to the outdoors.

However, I need to get on the idea of attaching my bookcases to the walls, and also use some sticky stuff to help the pictures hang on to their spots on the walls.

I am retired school teachers and the last earthquake happened while I was in a classroom filled with teenagers. We all did well, we jumped under our desks and held on. Then, fortunately we were able to exit the building while our building engineers checked the building for structural damage.

Glad to see this thread, as it will help push me towards doing what I need to do to make my apartment safer.