# Any recommendations for a non tipping over bookcase?



## gbailey (Mar 10, 2009)

We have to get rid of the bookshelf we've had for over two years. It's starting to tip over and is rockety. Can anyone recommend a good shelf that's working for them?


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## cschick (Aug 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gbailey* 
We have to get rid of the bookshelf we've had for over two years. It's starting to tip over and is rockety. Can anyone recommend a good shelf that's working for them?

Could you get a bracket to secure it? Even my barely three foot tall and quite rock stable Ikea bookshelf informs me that it SHOULD be secured to the wall via brackets.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jun 22, 2006)

I agree with the PP -- we live in earthquake country, and the safest thing is to secure all bookcases and tall furniture to the wall.


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

Billy Bookcases from Ikea have notches cut out of the bottom of them so they slide over baseboards and lay flat against the wall, preventing rocking. And yes, definitely also attach them to the wall.... I am pretty sure they come with tethers as well.


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## cschick (Aug 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *just_lily* 
Billy Bookcases from Ikea have notches cut out of the bottom of them so they slide over baseboards and lay flat against the wall, preventing rocking. And yes, definitely also attach them to the wall.... I am pretty sure they come with tethers as well.

Yup, all the Billys come with brackets. I wouldn't even trust the short Billy unsecured, it's actually pretty light. Our library is built of Billys and they are all secured to the wall.

I have a 2x2 Expedit (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80135298) which also came with brackets, but I don't have it secured. It's a lot more stable than the small Billys. But that's about the biggest thing I'd trust unsecured though.


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## WindyCityMom (Aug 17, 2009)

We have a simple ikea bookcase/shelving unit and it's veryyy tippy. It's secured to the wall with brackets.


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## laurata (Feb 6, 2002)

We got our shelves off craigslist and attached them to the wall with eye bolts. They were not particularly tippy, but I know kids are unpredictable, and I hate the idea of a child climbing on them and getting hurt.


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## StephandOwen (Jun 22, 2004)

We had a tall bookshelf that my dad cut in half (lol) and screwed the two halves together in an *L* shape. Very sturdy and is not going to tip anywhere (and I can barely move it when I want to with the help of DP). Though I know most people aren't going to buy a bookshelf just to cut it in half


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## tankgirl73 (Jun 10, 2007)

My baseboards are taller than the cutout. It's completely useless!

We have in the past, made do without the securing brackets by putting shims under the front corners of a shelf, tipping it backwards slightly. That's not enough to prevent tipping if a child wants to climb on it, of course, but it's enough to keep an unstable shelf from falling over on its own.

If you really don't want to secure your shelves, I would imagine that those funky diagonal-leaning-back shelves would be pretty stable.


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## mbm (Jun 14, 2006)

Quote:

My baseboards are taller than the cutout. It's completely useless!
I actually took a coping saw to the bottom pieces to make the cutout tall enough for our baseboards, and then secured the Billy flush to the wall with brackets. It was not too hard to cut the particle board.


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