9

Building a built-in floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in a room in the basement (~7'10" tall). I've read a lot of differing opinions on whether to build the bookshelf first or put the carpet in first. Anyone have any convincing arguments for one or the other?

I may be building the shelving to be on 3 walls, and not just the one. Does that make a difference?

Dave
  • 443
  • 2
  • 9
  • 18
  • 1
    Building on carpet will compress the carpet and will need to be cut to remove carpet later on. Building first will need to cut carpet to fit well or use some kind of base to hide bottom of bookshelf. – crip659 Feb 16 '21 at 18:57
  • 3
    Bookshelf first unless you plan to hate the bookshelf shortly after finishing and will remove it. – MonkeyZeus Feb 16 '21 at 19:04
  • Any possibility of damp or flooding in the basement? If so, carpet mey not be a good idea, and ceiling to *floor* bookcases also. In any case, bookshelves which start off the ground are another option. Leaving space under for carpet, and stools, etc. – Tim Feb 17 '21 at 12:10
  • I'd never say "no possibility", but I've done all the tests to ensure no dampness...etc. Will certainly build the bottom of the shelf with treated lumber. – Dave Feb 17 '21 at 15:45

2 Answers2

23

Before. I have done both and you can certainly do it either way but it is easier (and cheaper) more sturdy to fasten and shim the bottom to the floor without carpet in the way and because of the carpet you may need to shim more.

The only argument for doing it after is "I may hate these bookshelves in a few years and when I tear them down I don't want to have a flooring issue". To add to the "pro-carpet" argument. I have torn down many a bookshelf next to a fireplace. The carpet has compression marks but this goes away after a few weeks and this carpet is basically brand-new. Which means it probably looks out of place next to worn carpet if the area was used a lot.

DMoore
  • 47,296
  • 15
  • 79
  • 187
  • So it sounds like either way, I'd have flooring issues if I decide to tear them down. I hate to think I'm going to be tearing them down... otherwise I wouldn't build them. But I guess we all change our minds. In your experience, is there a common reason for why people tear down bookshelves? Just change of mind or...? – Dave Feb 16 '21 at 19:31
  • 1
    Main reason for tearing them down... they look really bad or were made from really poor materials that are starting to get worn out. We don't tear down quality wooden bookshelves. We tear down MDF crap and thin plywood (late 60s trend) shelves. If they are made well but are starting to wear we repair and paint them. Sometimes there might be old "flowery" trim that we take down and replace. Haven't ever demo'ed a quality wooden shelf unless we needed the space for something else - so never near a fireplace. – DMoore Feb 16 '21 at 19:34
  • That gets to the heart of home improvement - improve your home or don't make the item part of your home. I am fine with cheap shelves. Go to IKEA and get crappy shelves, just don't embed them in your home. If you want built-ins spend 50-100% more and get value for them. Think if someone buys your home in 5 years a quality built in that costs $1000 to make might return $1500 in perceived value. While the crap MDF built-ins that cost $400 to install might have a negative return. – DMoore Feb 16 '21 at 19:38
  • Thanks for all the info! I was actually thinking about putting in an electric fireplace in the lower center of the main wall (which would then be surrounded by the built-in bookshelves). Am I understanding you correctly that you're suggesting fireplace is a bad idea? – Dave Feb 16 '21 at 19:39
  • 4
    @Dave - Not at all. Fireplace plus built-ins is a huge selling point and feature of a lot of houses I sell. You have to do it right though. Whatever you put in has to be considered a "feature" not a "what's that". This is also about the area and value of the house. You could build some nice shelves plus fireplace - great value on a 300k home. But on a 800k home, that same set of nice shelves is a "what's that". – DMoore Feb 16 '21 at 19:43
  • Thanks much. I'm building it as a "we've always wanted this" kind of thing. I understand your point, and appreciate the insight. If I had a 800k home, I suppose I would just hire someone to build this stuff for me instead :) – Dave Feb 16 '21 at 19:46
  • 1
    There are a lot of guys on here that can help you with the right materials and how to construct the shelves so they look "expensive". You can certainly make nice shelves on each side of fireplace for $700-1000. Maybe cheaper if you use some salvage items. For instance I usually start off with kitchen base cabinets on my built ins. Sometimes I redo the doors to make them look more like shelf cabinets. There are just a lot of ways to do it and look nice. – DMoore Feb 16 '21 at 19:49
  • I am stealing this: Whatever you put in has to be considered a "feature" not a "what's that?" – MonkeyZeus Feb 16 '21 at 20:53
  • @MonkeyZeus - Shelves are the #1 culprit for the "what's that" or "hmmm interesting" comments on a house. These are not just built-ins but also include extra kitchen shelving and ESPECIALLY closet shelving. You see a house go for sale in my area around 1m and a huge master walking with one top row of wired shelving that ran $50 – DMoore Feb 16 '21 at 21:42
  • If you're tearing the bookshelf down because it's badly built and worn out, you can always consider replacing it with a new one of the same dimensions, thus avoiding any issues with mismatched or missing flooring. So the only situation where flooring matters is "we hate this old bookshelf and we want something completely different in that place". – TooTea Feb 17 '21 at 11:33
  • 12
    Agree with this answer, but for a different reason: **Carpet, no matter _how_ expensive or _how_ high quality, will need to be replaced.** If your bookshelves are sitting on top of the carpet, you've made the replacement job a nightmare whether you're doing it yourself or hiring it out. If the carpet butts up against the bookshelves, it's no more difficult than replacing the carpet where it butts ups against the rest of the walls. – FreeMan Feb 17 '21 at 13:02
  • @FreeMan True, but the opposite may also be true - if you cut a carpet to fit round any object, then when that object gets removed, you are then (usually) FORCED to replace the entire carpet. – MikeB Feb 17 '21 at 17:54
  • True, @MikeBrockington, but that's well covered in the answer itself. My comment was an additional factor in favor of "install before carpeting". – FreeMan Feb 17 '21 at 17:58
3

Either will work fine. On the grounds that full-on, high quality floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelves are unlikely to change, I'd probably put them in before the carpet (or cut the carpet out to fit them, if it's already been laid). For some elaborate "Ikea" shelves that will probably come out or change in a few years, I'd put them over the carpet.

Shelving before carpets:

You can do all the messy work of getting your shelving into place without worrying about your carpet. Your carpet won't cause issues with the fitting either (as you'll be fitting with a solid floor beneath the shelves).

If your floors are square/level you may need some wedges under the shelves to get them level before you secure them to the walls. These will all be hidden nicely by the carpet when that gets laid in front of the shelves.

You'll need to think about how to "terminate" the carpet against the bottom of the shelves. You may use one of those metal grippers, but that's extra expense and probably won't look that great. You may choose to put a sort of "skirt" around the bottom of the shelves so that it overhangs the carpet a little bit, and so hides the rough edge. You can also sort of fold the carpet over at the edge to make it straight - although it typically needs some nails through it to hold it down. Obviously, if you take the shelves out you'll need a new carpet (or something to fill the gaps).

Carpet before shelves:

If the floors are slightly uneven or not level/square then the carpet will compress more or less under the shelves to hide this problem. Since the shelves will be secured to the walls, it won't matter structurally, but it'll look nice at the bottom. Since the carpet disappears under the bottom of the shelves, you will have a "clean" edge between carpet and shelves too.

You'll put a bit of extra carpet in place that you don't really need. You may have issues with the carpet not being solid, and if your floors really aren't level you may need some wedges or something under the shelves (which won't look nice). You obviously can't change the carpet without removing the shelves first. If you take the shelves out, there will be compression marks on the carpet - it depends on the type of carpet if these will really go away or not, plus the carpet will probably be a different colour to the rest (which may or may not be alleviated by cleaning).

Ralph Bolton
  • 486
  • 2
  • 6