How to level a tilted free-standing closet

Question

I have a very tall free-standing wooden closet, similar to the one depicted here, but with glass doors. The floor it sits on slopes down to the right so I laid a long piece of wood down under that side before setting it up. After several months it somehow shifted itself off the wood and is now sitting entirely on the sloped floor, causing some undesirable twisting and throwing the doors out of whack. The problem is that the closet is very heavy (even empty) and that the lower side is right up against a wall.

What is the best way to

1. tilt it back up so I can slide a new piece of wood under there to level it out?
2. Ensure that the closet will not settle itself off of the wood again?

I'm picturing somehow anchoring a cord on the top right side (closest to the wall) and pulling out and down using the lower left edge as a fulcrum, but somehow it seems like that might not be advisable.

Answer 1

Unless you want to drill holes in it and anchor it to the wall, using wood shims (very thin pieces of wood) would be the best thing. That is about all you are going to be able to do. You can buy shims at any hardware store, and they are thin enough that you will be able to go up about 1/8 inch at a time until you get it level. they do the same thing with pool tables in your home too, so I think that this would be the easiest solution.

Answer 2

Agreed, adding a wood shim or few would be the easiest solution, but if you have already done something like this and it shifted then maybe look for a more permanent solution.

My first thought would be, while the bottom is flat on the floor, take a level (long one to go across the length of the top) and raise the right side until the bubble reads level. Measure the distance between the level and the top of the closet. Empty the cabinet, lay it flat, and using finishing nails, tack a piece of wood (the width of the previous measure) to the bottom right side of the closet.

You could take it a step further even and measure each corner, since you said it was twisting, and attempt to level it at each corner.

Also, as was previously mentioned, you could add an anchor to the back wall of the closet. On one side predrill a hole in the back edge of the closet and use a flat piece of metal with a few holes in it (find near the nuts and bolts section in a hardware store). Also predrill a hole in the wall in a location where the metal will extend out from the back of the closet so you can screw into the metal and fasten it against the wall. This will prevent further movement.