Those inclined to build your own shelves-DON'T!!!!

[Captain Faramir]

There was an earthquake? I never even felt it. I guess I'm a little too far south. Where are you Dave? I'm in southern Orange County, maybe that's why I felt nothing.

So sorry to hear about all that. Hope it all works out soon for you Dave.

 

[Darklord Dave]

The quake was in NOrthridge again - in W. Hollywood we just felt a little jolt, just a 4 something I think.

It was just into the dry wall - I thought with 12 expandable thingies it would hold. But nope.

Could have been a lot worse though - the TV could have fallen over, the Bride and Arnold could have been damaged, Cap and Maul could have had the TV fall on them. The worst off stuff is still readily available. No insurance for this kind of thing. But it's only money after all...


Oh, BOB...!

 

[Captain Faramir]

Man, poor Northridge--I really admire the people that still live there. 4.something isn't bad though; fortunately it wasn't any worse. I hope the damages weren't too bad for other people, so sorry to hear about yours. At least you're not hurt.

 

[Natrix]

The quake was in NOrthridge again - in W. Hollywood we just felt a little jolt, just a 4 something I think.

It was just into the dry wall - I thought with 12 expandable thingies it would hold. But nope.

Could have been a lot worse though - the TV could have fallen over, the Bride and Arnold could have been damaged, Cap and Maul could have had the TV fall on them. The worst off stuff is still readily available. No insurance for this kind of thing. But it's only money after all...


Oh, BOB...!

There is your problem, I hate to say it but you were asking for the shelf to come off the wall.....NEVER just screw shelves into drywall always anchor them into the wall studs, that is asking for problems.

I am surprised it held up that long with that much weight on it.

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

Sorry again to hear that.. Like Natrix said studs are the only way to go.. I bet I can sit on mine and they'd still hold...

 

[occulum]

Dave ... drywall? ..... lazy arse .....

 

[Bonehead15]

That sucks Dave.

I had a similar accident myself with a shelf so now I only use bookcases to display my items.

 

[MONSTER]

There is your problem, I hate to say it but you were asking for the shelf to come off the wall.....NEVER just screw shelves into drywall always anchor them into the wall studs, that is asking for problems.

I am surprised it held up that long with that much weight on it.

Yeah that was a ton of weight being supported by screws and drywall.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

im planning on building some shelves for some of my stuff. my dad is a regular bob vila so im confident that nothing will collapse. i don't plan on putting too much on the shelves so that i don't overload them.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Well it wasn't just screws into dry wall, it they were all anchored - I now have massive holes in the wall - (my landlord will be oh so pleased).

 

[Rogue Trooper]

I hate storys like this, to come home and find your some of your collection destroyed is bloody terrible.

 

[HAPPYBOY]

Well it wasn't just screws into dry wall, it they were all anchored - I now have massive holes in the wall - (my landlord will be oh so pleased).

Hmm....sounds like you are in need of a drywall man. *Raises hand* Um, I'll do it real cheap for ya, but traveling expenses from VA is gonna be crazy high I'll be waiting on my plane ticket and see ya soon.

 

[Rook]

That's a horrible lesson to learn.

Despite your warning, however, I am still in the process of designing and building an L-shaped corner wall shelf, 42" long on one side, 52" on the other, and 15.25" deep, for all of my Star Wars PFs. I have four cast-iron brackets that are 15"x15", each of which is rated at 80 pounds of support (but only if secured into the studs, which I will be doing).

I promise to scream bloody murder here first should things go awry...

 

[dunedain]

Damm Dave that sucks. Luckily the Captain America and Maul PF are OK.

 

[The ill Jedi]

Damn, so sorry Dave, I feel your pain!

 

[figuremasterles]

Whoah! Earthquakes?!?! Man! And I was worried about some wildfire!
Earthquakes don't stay 10 miles away....they come right on in and shake your shelves right on up! That sucks! (Only thing worse might be a tornado? The greatest fear of all collectors....)

Sorry Dave. Hope you get any damaged things replaced.

 

[Natrix]

Well it wasn't just screws into dry wall, it they were all anchored - I now have massive holes in the wall - (my landlord will be oh so pleased).

Right, but drywall anchors aren't rated for that much weight (might work fine for action figure shelves but not for statues) which is why you need to anchor shelves to the studs for anything heavy.

 

[pjam]

We had an earthquake the other night. It was the first one in my area since a really big one about 12 years ago. It was just a small jolt and an Aquaman action figure fell over, but nothing else happened. I was very pleased, because I expected a major statue-catastrophe for an earthquake.

But today, just sitting here, no earthquake or even a big truck rumbling by and the home built shelf over my TV just collapsed, the wall bolts pulled out from the weight. The shelf plunged behind the TV pushing it forward at a 45 degree angle. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV was my Captain America PF and my Darth Maul PF. On the shelf were 2 GG Harry Potter busts, GG Maleficent, GG Bubo, DCD Lynda Carter, PF Boba, PF Bride, Cinemaquette Arnold. Miraculously the Bride survived, no damage at all. Arnold lost his arm that seperates and I can't find that; Voldemort is a total loss, Wonder Woman busted her ankles, Maleficent lost her snout and castle, Bubo was fine and Boba's jetpack came off but nothing else is damaged on him (thank heaven for PVC!) But the best part is that because of the speaker in front of the TV, it didn't fall over so Cap and Maul and the TV were fine.

But I've learned my lesson - no self-home improvement...

Yeah, we sure did, Woke up to my furniture rattling at 3am or whenever it was. Always fun to see inanimate objects ANIMATE!
And sorry to hear about that brother Dave, why I don't have shelf displays here in Hollyweird, just a matter of time fro tumblage and I was here for the big one too. I basically have two or three displays on fixed surfaces, bureaus, tables, etc and keep all the figs on stands. I simply rotate displays from time to time. Not the best solution but it minimizes catastrophes like that... none of my stuff fell over, but first thing I did was check for damage, but the figs held fine on their stands, nor big stacks of boxes collapsed, but they certainly could have...

I guess there's not a whole lot we can do about it...

 

[BadMoon]

Sorry to hear that Dave. I think that is pretty much everyones worst nightmare. I hope some of it can be repaired.

 

[Fritz]

Sorry to hear about that Dave. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

To those of you reading this. Take heed in the previous suggestions to screw right into the wall studs. I know there are some good anchors out there but I would never trust them no matter how many there were.