Here Is An Easy Way To Hang A Shelf
When hubby is occupied with other tasks and there's no one else to ask, follow this easy solution for hanging a shelf on your own.
18/02/2021
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When hubby is busy with other things and you want to put up a shelf, why wait when you can do it yourself. Hanging a shelf is not a difficult project if you have the right tools and supplies to do the job. This article is intended for those who already have or are making a custom shelf for their home and the shelf is not already fitted with fastenings to hang onto the wall.
So what do you need to hang a shelf?
YOU WILL NEED:
A shelf, obviously
Drill/Driver plus assorted bits - one that can drill into masonry/brick
Painter's tape
Keyhole or Slotted Hanger, as discussed below
Screws
Nylon wall plugs
Spirit level
Tape measure and pencil
The flush keyhole plate, shown above, requires drilling out a rebate or hole at the back of the item to be mounted, as can be seen in the image below.
USING A KEYHOLE HANGER
When you pop into your nearest Builders store, you are looking for a keyhole hanger and the staff might not always know what you mean. Well, that's been my experience at least. But when you consider the hundreds and thousands of items you can find in a hardware store, I suppose knowing what everything is inside the store isn't an easy job.
A keyhole hanger gets its name from the fact that it looks like a keyhole, although it's fitted upside down, as shown in the image above when mounted to the back of furniture.
There are different types of keyhole hangers, one that sits flush at the back of the piece and needs to be drilled out before mounting (top image), one that has a raised keyhole (image above) and a slotted hanger (shown below). The slotted hanger below can be drilled out similarly as the flush keyhole plate mentioned above, or you can slightly bend and angle the hanger to make it possible to hang on a screw head.
HANGING A SHELF WITH A KEYHOLE HANGER
Whatever keyhole hanger option you select from the above, you don't want any guess work involved if you want to hang your shelf straight.
1. The easy way to eliminate hassles is to use painter's tape. Place a piece of painter's tape over where the keyhole hangers are mounted.
2. Use a pencil or marker to mark where the keyholes are located on the back of the shelf.
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3. Now you can transfer the painter's tape onto the wall to make it very easy to see where the holes need to be drilled for your wall plugs and screws.
4. Using the painter's tape as a template, use an appropriately sized HSS or masonry drill bit to drill out the holes for the wall plugs and screws. Note that the drill bit will correspond to the size of the wall plugs. If you are using 6mm wall plugs - use a 6mm drill bit, and so on for any other size of wall plug
GOOD TO KNOW: Before drilling any holes in the wall, check that the tape is 100% level using a spirit level.
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