How to Hang Shelves in a Rental Without Losing Your Bond

You can have shelves in a rental. You just have to pick the right fixing

Most people renting decide early on that shelves are off the table, because a hole in the wall sounds like an argument with the agent at the end of the lease, and I understand that completely. The thing is that the argument is almost never about the hole itself, it's about a hole that has been patched badly or a chunk of plasterboard that has come away with the bracket, and both of those are avoidable if you pick the right fixing for what you're hanging.

So I'll go through it in two parts. What you can do with nothing going into the wall, and what to use when something does.

Nothing in the wall at all

Adhesive hooks and strips have got a lot better than they used to be, and for a spice rack, a light timber ledge or a couple of framed prints they're honestly fine. Two things decide whether they hold. Clean the wall with methylated spirits first so the pad is sticking to paint rather than to dust, and read the weight rating and then halve it in your head, because the rating assumes a straight downward pull and a shelf does not do that.

A freestanding ladder shelf or a lean-to shelf leaning against the wall gets you the look with nothing going into the plaster at all, and if you're moving every twelve months that is a genuinely sensible answer rather than a compromise.

When something does go into the wall

This is the bit people get wrong, and it's the same mistake nearly every time. A standard nylon wall plug is a picture fixing. Push it into plasterboard, hang a shelf full of books off it, and it pulls straight out with a cone of plaster around it, which is a much bigger patch than the hole you were worried about.

Your plasterboard is about 10mm of compressed chalk and paper, so the fixing has to either grab behind it or reach the timber behind it.

• Into a stud. Best by a long way for anything heavy. Knock along the wall with a knuckle and listen for where the hollow sound goes solid, then confirm it with a fine pilot hole low down where a shelf will cover it. Studs usually sit at 450mm or 600mm centres, so once you've found one you can measure to the next.
• Butterfly toggle. Plastic wings that open out behind the sheet and spread the load. Good for medium weight, and the hole is small.
• Spring toggle. A metal bar that flips open behind the plasterboard. This is the strongest thing you can put in a hollow wall, and it's what I'd use for a shelf that is going to carry real weight away from a stud.
• Nylon wall plug. Fine in brick or solid masonry, and fine in plasterboard for a picture. Not for a shelf.

One more thing that catches people out. A deep shelf pulls much harder on the top fixings than a shallow one does, so a 300mm shelf carrying the same books as a 150mm shelf is working the top screws roughly twice as hard, and that pull is what tears the plaster out.

Leave it tidy and the bond takes care of itself

Ask before you drill. An email to the agent saying what you want to put up and offering to patch and paint at the end costs you nothing and it turns a dispute into a yes in writing.

Then keep the job small. Use the fewest holes that will hold it, take a photo of the wall before you start, and when you move out fill the holes with a fast setting filler, sand it back flush and touch it up. Get the paint code off the agent or the property manager before you buy anything, because we mix and tint to order from the range we stock and a code is what makes that easy.

Shop related products

• Macsim Spring Toggle 3mm x 75mm. The strongest hollow wall fixing for a loaded shelf.
• Macsim Butterfly Toggle 19mm. Spreads a medium load behind the plasterboard.
• Nylon Frame Wall Plug White 25mm. For pictures, and for masonry walls.
• Supercraft Torpedo Level. Small enough to sit on the shelf itself while you mark.
• GSA Fast Filler 180g. Fills and sands the same afternoon when you're moving out.

Did you know we also keep Command hook value packs on the shelf in store that aren't listed on the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's there.

Where to get it sorted

Bring the shelf, or a photo of the wall and a rough idea of what's going on it, and we'll tell you which fixing suits. For the end of lease touch up we mix and tint Haymes and Taubmans to order from the range we stock, so have a look at the paint mixing service.

Keep reading

• The Best Way to Mount Floating Shelves Without a Disaster
• How to Seal the Gap Under the Front Door to Keep Out Drafts
• When Should You Use Expanding Foam Sealant?

I'm self taught at all of this and I still mark the stud line in pencil twice before I trust it, which is not a confidence problem, it's just cheaper than a second hole.

Cheers,

Candeece

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