built in entetainment center/book shelve
hi, I want to build a built in entertainment center and book case in my basement. The units will be about 36″ wide and about 5′ high and 26″ deep for the enterainment center and 14″ deep for the book case. Problem is I want to elevate the unit about 20″ from the floor to allow for baseboard heat. Can I attache a ledger board to the face of the front and back wall and fill in with 2×4 to create a platform in order to support the 3/4″ plywood units or is there a better and stronger detail. Also thought I would sheet the platform with at least 1/2″ plywood if that helps.
Attaching a pic of what I have done so far, the wall by the lally col is the front framing for the unit (still have to frame in the openings for the units. Have an autocad lt drawing but not sure how to post that.
Thanks
Dan
Replies
Is the face of the en-center going to be on the wall to the left of the column? Looks like there's a stud in the way. Anyway, shouldn't be a problem doing what you describe. You could run a 2x4 ledger around the inside of the cavity, and drop short stub columns to the floor so the ledger is not supported by nails. Probably should use 3/4 ply. Not sure what you mean by filling in with 2x4's...if you think about the design of a bookcase, all the weight is carried by the "walls", there's nothing directly under the bottom shelf, sometimes the back is little more than 1/4 luan, there's usually not a front, so...all the weight is on the perimeter. If you have a built-in unit, the only weight on the bottom is going to be the old monopoly and clue and snakes & ladders games that you've been saving for 15 years.
Do it right, or do it twice.