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IKEA Billy bookcases


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I have several IKEA Billy bookcases in the 15 3/4 x 79 1/2 size. They've been great and easily hold larger, heavier volumes.  Tomorrow, I am going to look at a used one in the 31 1/2 " wide size that has the glass doors on it.  For those of you that have the Billy bookcases, do the shelves on the wider units sag?

 

I have a lovely set of  bookcases in the living room that are roughly the same size and those shelves don't sag, but they are real wood. I was actually wondering if I would be better of just buying two more slim units and adding doors if that's an option. I haven't had glass on my bookcases before, but I am tired of dusting my better volumes.

 

Any thoughts on this or experiences with the wider units? I fill the shelves vertically, but don't stack more books on those horizontally if that makes sense.

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I have several Billy Book cases.  My 31 and 15 ones don't sag at all, the 26 one holds only paperbacks and I will throw it out when we move in the summer because it sags so bad that it really bothers me.  My widest shelves hold my math/science books (think Zumdahl, Campbell and tomes of similar thickness), the narrow shelves hold the books we are currently using for class (mostly paperbacks but also some heavy ones like Miller-Levine).  The 26 inch shelves also looks slightly different, we bought it used so while it resembles a Billy case, it may not be one even though we were told it is.

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I have several Billy Book cases.  My 31 and 15 ones don't sag at all, the 26 one holds only paperbacks and I will throw it out when we move in the summer because it sags so bad that it really bothers me.  My widest shelves hold my math/science books (think Zumdahl, Campbell and tomes of similar thickness), the narrow shelves hold the books we are currently using for class (mostly paperbacks but also some heavy ones like Miller-Levine).  The 26 inch shelves also looks slightly different, we bought it used so while it resembles a Billy case, it may not be one even though we were told it is.

 

My 15s hold Campbell Biology and massive art history texts with ease, but these 31s with the glass doors are like a siren call because I have replaced some old college paperbacks with vintage leather or Folio Society volumes that I would like to protect a bit better. Also, the price is good. :tongue_smilie:

 

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In my experience, yes the wide ones do sag. We had the Billy bookcases for a long time and the ones which held my heaviest books sagged quilt a bit over the years. We have since sold two of our Billys and moved the remaining one into a little closet nook to hold art supplies and games. (The Billy works great for holding that stuff!) We then got several of the Expedit shelves for our books. The Expedits do not sag at all. (Someday, I dream of having glorious built-ins with a library ladder, but for now, it's IKEA, lol.) Hope this helps!

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I agree. The shelves on the wide ones sag after awhile. It's hard to get them just right, which is why I took the shelves off the one time I tried it. You could probably reinforce them though. IIRC, the thing that holds them on has the ability to take a lot more screws. Adding a bunch would probably make them more like cabinet quality.

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We added a small brace to our Billy shelves to keep from sagging. DH added a 2X2 to the underside of each shelf, screwed into the bookshelf sides and to the wall. (We live in California, so anchored bookcases are important.)

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I agree. The shelves on the wide ones sag after awhile. It's hard to get them just right, which is why I took the shelves off the one time I tried it. You could probably reinforce them though. IIRC, the thing that holds them on has the ability to take a lot more screws. Adding a bunch would probably make them more like cabinet quality.

 

I am feeling rather dense today and I am not exactly sure what you mean here.

 

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I am feeling rather dense today and I am not exactly sure what you mean here.

 

 

It's the hinge for the door that you attach inside. I was having one of those brain farts where you can't remember simple words. The hinge. It's sort of long, IIRC and I think you could possibly do something to reinforce it. I mean, the reason the door sags when it's big is that the hinge or the wood on the bookcase aren't really holding it up very well. If it's an issue with the bookcase itself sagging, that's different (it'll also throw the doors off) but what I've seen is that the doors just loosen with use so that they're sagging while the bookshelves themselves are fine.

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We added a small brace to our Billy shelves to keep from sagging. DH added a 2X2 to the underside of each shelf, screwed into the bookshelf sides and to the wall. (We live in California, so anchored bookcases are important.)

 

This is doable. I did go ahead and get the bookcase. They are $200 new and I picked it up for $115 in really great shape. The shelves are still straight, so that's good.

 

How much did you load the shelves that sagged?

 

 

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I'll just say that we love the Billy bookcases! We have 15 of the wide ones (some the tall and some the shorter)in every room of the house, including our bathroom! We have never had issues with sagging. They hold everything including loads of books, art supplies, towels, games, toys, dishes...everything! We've had many of them going on ten years now...They have held up so well for us, especially considering how inexpensive they are.

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I bought the wider Billy bookcases as well as the narrower, more cube-like ones. The narrower ones don't sag. I read online multiple times that the wider ones wouldn't sag....well, mine do. They hold nothing but (heavy) books though and have a lot of weight on them. The shelves that aren't bearing as much weight look fine. I think Ikea sells replacement pieces for the shelves, but they're $15 each, I think.

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