# Ikea bookshelves not fitting over skirting boards ?how to solve



## NicolaM

Hi all
I have just bought tall bookshelves from Ikea.
The bottom of the bookselves have a bit cut out, presumably to fit over a skirting board. However, my shirting boards(standard size) are taller than this cut out portion, so the bookshelves ar not flush with the wall, and in fact seem to be leaning further out at the top of the shelves , compared with the bottom, eek, which is slightly disquieting..
Presumably this must happen with a lot of skirting boards, if mine are a standard size.
I've 3 questions:
1) has anyone cut an extra portion off the end bit of these type bookshelves, to enlarge the cut out bit, so skirting board fits properly at base of shelving, and booksheves are flush with the wall? (range is Billy bookshelves). Did this make a mess of the bookshelves if so?
2) What's be the best tool to do this with? 
3) Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced drill that has a 'saw' type attachment (as well as regular masonary bits), that I could use, if this is an appropriate tool for the job?
I have to fix the bookshelves to the wall for safely, and want a drill that's be able to do the cutting job, as well as the drilling holes in the wall job.
Thanks for advise
Nicola


----------



## Petal

Nicola, I'm not aware of a drill that can cut as well! Your best bet would be to go into a tool hire place and rent a jig saw for the day. That will give you a fine enough cut and it is easy enough to use. Re the drill, it depends what your walls are made off - if they're heavy concrete walls you'd need a hammer drill, otherwise any cheapo drill will do. Alternatively you could get a hammer and chissel and have a go at the skirting-board and chissel out the bit that exceeds the cut-out bit of the shelf. I hope this helps!


----------



## NicolaM

Thanks Petal,
Appreciate the advise. The walls are solid concrete, so will need to look for a heavy duty drill then.
I can't cut bits out of skirtingboard (well, I could, but it's glued to the walls so would create a huge mess)
I'm sure a friend of mine had a drill that had a straight saw attachment bit too , but I have no idea where he picked it up. I used it before for cutting branches off a (dead) Christmas tree..I think the same drill had drill bits..
Bit anxious of causing huge damage!
Nicola


----------



## deadwood

I had a similar problem with ikea bookshelves. If you have an off-cut of a piece of skirting, place your bookshelf flat on the ground and trace the outline of the board onto the side of your bookshelf. If you're handy with a jigsaw, use this to cut out the shape. don't cut on the line though. Cut fairly close and sand the rest of the edge smooth to blend with the existing cut-out. Remember, measure twice, cut once!
Your shelves should have come with a little piece of webbed fabric to fix them to the wall at the top. If you have children in the room, i'd use this. It'll provide enough resistance for a toddler/child pulling it or climbing.


----------



## Bronte

You need a jig saw, I have a Black and Decker one, small and easy to manoeuver, my drill is a sepaerate machine, maybe you can get them combined, make sure you mark out with a pencil where you want to make the cut.  If you've never used one before I'd practice on another piece of wood first so you get used to the way it vibrates.  You need to be very careful as it's quite a dangerous piece of equipment.  I think taking off the skirting, buying new skirting and cutting a straight cut to where the bookcase starts might be easier, maybe in your local hardware store you cut get someone to do just the one cut with an ordinary saw if you have the measurements.


----------



## NicolaM

Thanks guys. Good advise all round, will investigate either jig saw or new skirting

Nicola


----------



## LadyJane

A bit off topic, but how to the shelves look? Debating about whether to get a carpenter to come and build some for us or to get IKEA ones.


----------



## Sylvester3

Maybe this is off the wall (so to speak!), but couldn't you create a small wooden ledge or step for the bookcase to stand on that will raise it a little higher and allow the notch to go above the skirting?


----------



## Petal

If you have concrete walls, get a hammer drill - it will go in really easily - you could rent that, too, as they tend to be a bit more expensive than your standard drill. Jig saw, I have a black and decker one, too and it's handy but as previously recommended, it would probably be good to practise on something first. Make sure you get a good blade for it as it very much depends on material and thickness of material and type of cut (fine or coarse) you want, so best to talk to someone in the hardware store (or tool hire).


----------



## NicolaM

Hi
The shelves look really nice, was very impressed with selection in Ikea: and very cheap: I think the larger shelves I got cost less than £30 (202 cm height)! Fairly easy to assemble too.
Bit of a problem fitting them in the car though, barely got them in(and minimum £100 for delivery to republic)
Definitely much cheaper than getting custom made.
The only negative thing I'll say looks wise is that there are holes visible on the inside of the shelves, down both sides, where the stays for the invididual shelves can be fitted in.(more holes than shelves, so you can vary the amount/position of shelves, if you know what I mean). 
The stuff looks much more impressive in the show rooms than it does on the Ikea site, and seems surprisingly well made.
I hadn't considered renting the equipment, but that's quite a good idea,
Thanks
Nicola


----------



## deadwood

For the little holes inside the unit, you can get plastic plugs in a diy store but ikea stuff is often "unique" in dimensions so standart fittings often won't match. I'd use a wood filler. It's a bit like putty, you just use an old credit card or similar and scrape the stuff into the hole and wipe away the excess (stop laughing at the back). Easy and looks ok because the holes are in the shade. Use a darker colour than the wood.


----------



## Leo

NicolaM said:


> 2) What's be the best tool to do this with?


 
Best tool for this job would be a router. Next best would be a jig saw with a good shallow blade (designed to cut curves). As jig saws cut on the up-stroke, the cleanest cut will always be on the side opposite to the one you run the saw across. Break out will occur on the face the saw runs along, so take this into account if possible.

Are the walls cast concrete or concrete block? If block, then you will need a mains drill, the majority of cordless drills just aren't up to it. If it's a cast concrete wall as featured in many ex-corpo houses, an even more powerful SDS drill would be ideal.

I'm a guy who likes his power tools, but I'm not aware of anything on the market that allows both rotary drilling action along with reciprocating sawing. There are a number of 'multi-tools' available, but these are all rotary. You can get spiral 'saw' bits to use with these, but I wouldn't recommend them here.
Leo


----------



## S.L.F

A coping saw would be the easiest and cheapest tool to use in this particular case.

In order to stick something permanently to a wall you could use something like no more nails.
Get the unit up to the wall, fitting where you want, then pull it away,
Squirt no more nails onto the back of it in blobs,
put it up to the wall press it against the wall,
put it away again for about 5 mins,
then push it back up against the wall.
No drills no fuss.


----------



## NicolaM

Hi all
I'd never heard of a coping saw: Just googled it, seems like it might just do the job!
Woodfiller good idea too (shelves are white, so regular filler might just do).
Cheers for all the practical tips too, very useful. 
I'm going to have a think about it, and work out what is easiest to do

Nicola


----------



## Petal

Just be warned, it might take some time with the coping saw! But no harm in giving it a try...


----------



## simp

I ran into this issue as well.  So I just trimmed the base of the shelves with a coping saw.  I also cut holes in the backing board to give access to plug points - a sharp blade or scissors will do the trick there.  I would not go to all the trouble of trimming the skirting - it's an awful lot easier just cutting the chipboard!  And no matter how bad a job you do, it will not be visible down there.

Regarding securing the shelves to the wall - Ikea provide an L-plate to attach to the wall and to the top of the bookcase - in my view, gluing the entire bookshelf to the wall would be overkill.

(The Billy range also have optional height extenders which are handy)


----------



## bacchus

NicolaM said:


> and in fact seem to be leaning further out at the top of the shelves , compared with the bottom, eek, which is slightly disquieting


 
Is there a fitted carpet under the shelves? more than likely caused by the gripper strip.


----------



## NicolaM

Hi
No fitted carpet, it's on a wooden floor: I think they are leaning because the bottom is being pushed out by the skirting board,they looked slightly ready to topple when I put them up last night! Reminescent of Leaning Tower..
I have the Ikea attachment to secure them to the wall, but they are at a distance of several CM from the wall as stands,more so at top, due to skirting board problem.
What fitting did you attach to the Ikea L Plate Simp? I have to stick whatever it is into a solid wall (presuamably concrete)
Thanks all
Nicola


----------



## simp

I would advise you to firstly cut space for the skirting at the bottom - then the top should go against the wall.  There are two screws provided - they go into the top of the Billy.  Then select a suitable screw to go into your wall at the other end - in your case you'll need to drill a hole and put a rawl plug into your concrete wall (I was going into a dry lined wall, and so could secure a wood screw into a batten).  Have fun!


----------



## S.L.F

If you have dry walls then use a dry wall fixing.
The way I told you would be the easiest for a novice to get right.


----------



## NicolaM

Thanks SLF for that, I bought a coping saw, and used it to saw off some of the end of the bookshelves (successfully, if not very neatly).
Petal, you weren't joking about it taking time! (And muscle power!!)
Simp: I've bought some masonry nails for the wall, which hopefully will do the job to stick the Ikea L plate (means I now don't have to buy a drill)
Would you believe it, the bookshelves are still not flush with the wall: ie, the walls mustn't be true!!!
Cheers all for all the good advise,
Nicola


----------



## JoeB

Yeah, you got there before me... the bookcase will only touch the wall at the top if the floor and walls are perpendicular... otherwise there will be a tapered gap running from top to bottom... or most often running from bottom to top. 

The easy solution here is to cut an angle across the entire bottom of the bookcases, only a very slight cut.. easiest performed using a guided circular saw. Or use decorators caulk to seal the gap.

A jigsaw is the best tool for the cutouts.. or a coping saw as a human powered equivelent. It may not be possible to cut from the correct side, most likely you will have to cut from the outside of the bookcase which means any breakout occurs on that side. Unless you disassemble the bookcases.

I feel a router would be difficult, as you would need a template to guide the router.

Renting tools is always bad I feel.. as it is expensive. However if you only need the tool once... 

Buying cheap tools in LIDL is the way to go... they'd have good drills, jigsaws and other tools at great prices. Only occassionally unfortunately.

It may be very difficult to nail the brackets to the wall.. really you need to drill the wall correctly. Surely you have a friend or a friend who could do this?

Or you could glue it but I'd prefer to use screws and brackets for a more reversible job.

Don't use fillers to fill the shelving holes!!!! It is never done... the filled holes will look just the same as the empty holes, they won't vanish. If you are filling them you'd be best off using something like playdough for kids, it is soft, will fill the holes quickly and will be much cleaner than wood fillers. (Probably won't suffer from 'sinking' either)

Cheers
Joe


----------



## NicolaM

Thanks Joe
I have enlisted a friend to help with a jigsaw to cut the cutouts from the 2nd set of shelves I have (even thought the coping saw worked, and was cheap, it was a horrible experience, would have needed a work bench to clamp the wood on ideally, to try and secure it while cutting. The blades kept getting stuck (so kept losing grip on the chipboard, and coming off it, skinning fingers in the process). It was a good idea, but just can't face using it again!
I have considered the masonry nails again, and I think as you said, they would be hard to remove. Maybe not such a smart idea after all.
At least I have some war wounds to show for my trouble (tip of the day: wear gloves while using coping saw!!)
Cheers

Nicola


----------



## Bronte

I don't think you should wear gloves when using saws.  Don't fill in the holes, you won't even notice them when the selves are filled in and you never know when you might need to change the positioning of the shelves, I have Billy and I've changed the shelves from time to time.  I never attached it at the top to the wall, it seems to be fairly solid to me.  But if it's leaning I guess you do need to.


----------



## JoeB

Leo said:


> .... would be a jig saw with a good shallow blade (designed to cut curves). As jig saws cut on the up-stroke, the cleanest cut will always be on the side opposite to the one you run the saw across. Break out will occur on the face the saw runs along, so take this into account if possible.



Hi Leo, I have recently been made aware that it's possible to get jigsaw blades that cut on the downstroke, that would be very handy for kitchen worktops and all materials really, after all mostly the lines for cutting are made on the show side of the workpiece...



Leo said:


> I'm a guy who likes his power tools, but I'm not aware of anything on the market that allows both rotary drilling action along with reciprocating sawing. There are a number of 'multi-tools' available, but these are all rotary. You can get spiral 'saw' bits to use with these, but I wouldn't recommend them here.
> Leo



I have never heard of such a tool either... it may be possible to get a jigsaw attachment for a drill but it would only be any good if very well made... 

Those spiral drill bits or drill rasps are very poorly designed... drills aren't designed for sideways forces on the bearings (axial forces?)... when using the spiral bits the tendency is to push sideways very hard as they don't cut very well... this must be bad for the drill. It may be ok for very thin material, i.e 3mm.


----------



## Leo

JoeBallantin said:


> Hi Leo, I have recently been made aware that it's possible to get jigsaw blades that cut on the downstroke...


 
Interesting, must keep an eye out for those.



JoeBallantin said:


> I have never heard of such a tool either... it may be possible to get a jigsaw attachment for a drill but it would only be any good if very well made...


In the mean time, I remembered [broken link removed] combo tool from B&D. Might do the job for the very occasional user, but I'm not a big fan of combos.
Leo


----------



## deadwood

Bronte said:


> Don't fill in the holes, you won't even notice them when the selves are filled in and you never know when you might need to change the positioning of the shelves.


 
I've a table lamp in mine so the holes looked a bit industrial, but I hear ya. Still turned out pretty neat. I'm only a novice and don't take on anything I can't undo!


----------



## S.L.F

Leo don't know if this link thing will work for me or not but I'll give it a go

[broken link removed]


----------



## Leo

Thanks for that S.L.F.
Leo


----------

