Wall shelves, hooks, other wall-mounted things, without drilling? Double-sided tape maybe?

Question

I have a bit of bare wall above my desk and I wish to utilise the space. Maybe put a couple of shelves up, and hooks and mounts for my game controllers, headphones, microphones, cameras and what not. Maybe put my desktop computer up there as well. The catch is, if I can help it at all, I really don't want to drill it, for various reasons that include:

• I don't know what's behind the drywall and my stud finder seems to give very confusing readings. There might be pipes, electric wires and what not. Also, I can't seem to find studs. Either there are no studs or they're in weird bendy shapes.

• Behind the drywall is a concrete wall that I don't want to drill into because it's shared with my neighbour (these houses are terraced houses) and I don't want to accidentally do something wrong and piss my neighbour off and even get sued.

• I'm cripplingly indecisive and I get an anxiety attack even just thinking about where I might permanently drill into my beautiful house and then possibly change my mind about where to place my furniture.

So an idea I had is to stick big slabs of wood onto the wall, something like these, using very strong double-sided tape, something like this. My hope is that the strength of adhesion is proportional to the total area of sticky tape used. Is that even true? If it is, then it means that I can just use an absolute truckload of sticky tape to stick the slab(s) of wood onto the wall so strongly that it would support even my body weight, and then I can screw or nail whatever other things (hooks, mounts, and even shelves) onto the slab(s) of wood instead of directly into the wall. Might this idea be feasible?

Any other ideas for mounting shelves and other things onto a wall without drilling?

Answer 1

One way around drilling for shelves is to glue a panel and to mount your shelves and other accessories to the panel.

For best load bearing, buy a 1/2 or 3/4in piece of plywood, or alternatively some "1-by" lumber like 1x6, and install it from the floor up to your desired height. It can go to the top of the highest shelf or to the ceiling.

You can paint this panel or the lumber strips to match the wall or you can give it an accent, like grey, white or black. It's easiest to pre-paint the panel.

Glue it to the wall using construction glue. If you dare, attach it additionally with some short 1 or 1.25 inch screws (for 1/2 or 3/4in plywood plus 1/2in drywall) into plastic drywall plugs. This will keep it tight to the wall while the glue dries.

To glue, apply 1in blobs of glue in a 12x12in grid. "Construction Adhesive" is 100% fine for interior, like LePage PL. If you don't have a "caulking gun" it's worth the few dollars for convenience, and will save you money with the glue cartridges. Don't confuse general construction adhesive with subfloor adhesive; read the label. Some variants are specialized for different substrates and installation conditions.

If the bottom rests on the floor or the top of your baseboard, then there will be little to no vertical movement due to loads on the board, and the glue and screws will hold the board up.

Should you ever need to remove the panel, some surface drywall patching will be required by the next painter. Repairs from the lumber strips will be less than from the plywood panel.

In stead of a plywood panel you can also buy finished panels from your favourite DIY store or (swedish) furniture store. At the spots of the panel where you are applying the glue it is better to scrape off the panel finishing and let the glue penetrate and bond with the wood or particle board behind the finish.

Answer 2

For lighter loads, I've become fond of 3M's "command" adhesive strips. These are designed to both hold well and release easily (though you do need to leave the pull-tab exposed to get that easy release). They're available in various sizes/load ratings, either packaged with plastic hooks/Velcro strips designed for use with them, or in bulk; if you need to carry more load, several can be used (assuming the surface area contacting the wall is sufficient). I would hesitate to try them on shelves, but if shelf brackets are attached above the shelf to minimize the lever arm and the shelf and contents are light,it might be possible.

I have no affiliation with 3M or this product, and I don't know exactly what you need so I can't advise; I'm just mentioning it as a less permanent/damaging attachment method than many since you're so concerned about that.

But as I said in my comment, mounting holes in plaster are usually easy to patch when no longer in use. Apply a dab of spackling compound wipe clean, let dry; if the dot is overly visible apply a bit of paint matching what's in the wall now. Small holes (picture-hanging nails, for example) often simply get ignored until the next time you paint the room.You don't have to be terrified of anything you know how to restore to its original condition.

(And realistically, after you've been in the house for a while you'll stop thinking of it as a pristine piece of artwork and realize that it's really a machine for living; pretty is great but you have to be able to modify it to suit your needs. That's one of the big advantages of owning over renting: you can modify it without needing special permission from the landlord.)

Answer 3

The simplest solution to "shelves over a desk without drilling the wall" is a freestanding shelf - either supported directly by the desk surface, or from the floor just outside the edges of the desk. To not be too much in the way of the desk, there's a long way from the desk surface to the first shelf, defined by whatever you do on the desk surface (i.e. higher than the top of the computer monitor that might be there...)

Common examples would be shelves over laboratory benches or workbenches. For whatever reason, the only folks who I've heard call it "a bridge" are in electronics; but that's another term for the same approach (though search results don't concur at the moment.) Typically used there to have large test equipment handy above, while workspace remains free below. (Mine is too messy to picture at present, but I built one...mind you, I also drilled holes in the wall for power strips.)

Answer 4

Tracing pipes and cables is easier than finding studs. My stud detector has a metal/voltage detector on the other end, plus cables (at least in modern houses in the UK) should run vertically or horizontally from sockets, switches etc., with a bit of margin for error of course. Then I'd drill back into the wall and use suitable anchors for concrete. You're not going to drill out the other side into your neighbour's house without an extra long drill bit. But it would be courteous to try and minimise the noise nuisance - find a time when they'll be out, for example.

Having said all that, I'd be very tempted to stand a low bookcase on the back of the desk. As I type this I have my monitors on a single shelf I built, but a basic low, wide, bookcase or the sort of open adjustable wooden shelving they sell in Ikea* can be stood on a desk, with monitors on the lowest shelf and the rest above. Just be sure the feet sit fully on the desk. I have some Ikea Ivar here - it's easy to cut the top down to fit if it's too tall (they don't seem to sell as many sizes as they used to, or the website hides them). Hejne is cheaper; it replaces the old Sten that I had in my living room, before relegating it to the garage. Again, that's very easy to modify with a drill and a small hand saw.

Answer 5

Command strips, and their knock-offs all work well, when their weight limits are adhered to. Please be aware that the ease of their removal depends largely on the quality and type of paint on the wall to which they are applied. Our house had very low-quality paint on the walls when we moved in, and when we removed the command hooks the previous owner installed, every single one pulled some piece of paint with it. Others that I have applied and removed on my own walls come off very well. I believe it is related to the level of gloss of the paint, and the quality of it.

Answer 6

Just a quick pointer - if you ever want to put something up with double-sided tape then 'Nanotape' is absolutely brilliant. It is probably not strong enough for what you want, but I've used it for all sorts of things you might expect tape is not good enough for!