Spouse and I: Would be nice to have a bookshelf in the dining room.
IKEA Billy was $70, nearest store was an hour plus round trip plus bridge toll. Target was around the corner and like $40. We have several Billys, they’re great, but convenience called. All of the saved time was spent assembling. Then we got it upright and the damn thing is crooked. The only lateral support was the paperboard tacked onto the back. Dissembled it. Returned it. Bought a Billy. Zero issues.
Girlfriend has quite a few of those shitty ones. They are NOT designed to hold any kind of real weight. If that cardboard backing breaks the whole thing collapses. I got her some nice steel ones on sale that are rated to like 200lbs per shelf.
I always considered IKEA quality flat pack furniture. (Or “what I wished the Walmart/Target flat pack was”) It’s as advertised, pretty straight and not too hard to assemble. But it is still (usually MDF) flat pack furniture.
I’ve gotten some damn good flat pack stuff before, but flat pack bookshelves seem to be universally dogshit. As mentioned before, the only lateral stability is a thin cardboard backing nailed into the frame. My gf tried to slide a(n overloaded) shelf to the side and the nails ripped through the cardboard and she barely managed to keep it from collapsing while I removed all the books.
ikea flat pack is great. sounds like you bought cheap garbage
Spouse and I: Would be nice to have a bookshelf in the dining room.
IKEA Billy was $70, nearest store was an hour plus round trip plus bridge toll. Target was around the corner and like $40. We have several Billys, they’re great, but convenience called. All of the saved time was spent assembling. Then we got it upright and the damn thing is crooked. The only lateral support was the paperboard tacked onto the back. Dissembled it. Returned it. Bought a Billy. Zero issues.
Girlfriend has quite a few of those shitty ones. They are NOT designed to hold any kind of real weight. If that cardboard backing breaks the whole thing collapses. I got her some nice steel ones on sale that are rated to like 200lbs per shelf.
I always considered IKEA quality flat pack furniture. (Or “what I wished the Walmart/Target flat pack was”) It’s as advertised, pretty straight and not too hard to assemble. But it is still (usually MDF) flat pack furniture.
I’ve gotten some damn good flat pack stuff before, but flat pack bookshelves seem to be universally dogshit. As mentioned before, the only lateral stability is a thin cardboard backing nailed into the frame. My gf tried to slide a(n overloaded) shelf to the side and the nails ripped through the cardboard and she barely managed to keep it from collapsing while I removed all the books.