How do I hang a shelf?

How to put up a shelf that stays up — finding what's behind the wall, choosing the right fixing, and getting it level.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 1 hr
Read: 3 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Find out what the wall is made of first, because that decides the fixing entirely. Mark and drill the first hole, fix the bracket loosely, level it, then mark the rest through the bracket. Into masonry use plugs and screws; into plasterboard use proper hollow-wall anchors, never plastic plugs.

Do this first

How do I use a drill properly?

Shelves fall off walls for one reason: the fixing was wrong for the wall. Everything else — levelling, spacing, alignment — is cosmetic by comparison. So the first job is identifying the wall, and the second is picking a fixing rated for the load you intend to put on it.

Safety

Never drill into a wall without checking for cables and pipes. Use a detector, and remember that cables normally run vertically and horizontally from sockets and switches — the zones directly above, below and beside them are the highest-risk areas. Drilling into a live cable can be fatal.

What you'll need

Drill with the correct bit (masonry or wood/HSS)
Cable and pipe detector
Spirit level
Pencil
Wall plugs or hollow-wall anchors rated for the load
Screwdriver or driver bit

Step by step

Identify the wall: knock it. A hollow sound means plasterboard, a dull solid one means masonry.If a pin pushes in easily, it's plasterboard. This determines everything that follows.
Scan the area with a cable and pipe detector, marking anything it finds.Scan wider than the shelf. Check the zones above and beside sockets particularly carefully.
Hold the shelf or bracket up, check it's level, and mark the first hole only.One hole at a time. Marking all of them at once bakes in any error in your levelling.
Drill the first hole to the depth of the plug, using a depth stop or tape on the bit.Too deep is untidy; too shallow means the plug sits proud and the bracket won't sit flat.
Insert the plug or anchor and fix the bracket loosely with one screw.Loose enough that you can still pivot it to fine-tune the level.
Level the bracket properly, then mark the remaining holes through the bracket itself.Marking through the holes guarantees they line up, which eyeballing does not.
Swing the bracket aside, drill the rest, fix all screws, then tighten everything.Tighten progressively, alternating between fixings, so the bracket pulls up square.
Load the shelf gradually and check it's holding before trusting it with anything heavy.Push down firmly at the outer end — that's where the leverage on the fixings is highest.

Tips

In plasterboard, fixing into a stud is far stronger than any anchor. A stud detector, or knocking to find the solid-sounding line, is worth the extra two minutes.
Plastic wall plugs are for masonry only. In plasterboard they pull straight out — use metal or nylon hollow-wall anchors rated for the weight.
Long spirit level, not a short one. A 200mm level on an 800mm shelf can be dead level and still leave the shelf visibly sloping.
If the wall is uneven, level the shelf itself rather than the bracket — that's what the eye actually reads.

Common mistakes

Using plastic plugs in plasterboard — They have nothing to expand against and pull out under load, usually with a chunk of wall attached.
Not checking for cables and pipes — Potentially fatal, and at best an expensive repair.
Marking all the holes before fixing anything — Any inaccuracy in the first mark is locked into all of them.
Ignoring the shelf's load rating — A shelf that holds books is doing far more work than one holding ornaments — check what the anchors are rated for.

Questions people ask

How do I find a stud?

An electronic stud detector is easiest. Failing that, knock along the wall — the sound changes from hollow to solid at a stud. Studs are usually at 400mm or 600mm centres, so once you find one you can predict the rest.

What weight can a plasterboard fixing take?

It depends entirely on the anchor. Basic spring toggles manage a few kilos; heavy-duty metal anchors handle considerably more. The packaging states a rating — take it seriously and halve it for anything at the end of a long shelf.

Do I need to drill into brick or can I use the mortar?

Drill the brick, not the mortar. Mortar is softer and gives a much weaker fixing, though it's easier to drill and easier to make good later.