So, I have a couple Ikea Billy bookcases, normal. I got them with doors, so with the forward weighting, I'm a bit extra paranoid about tipping.
I put them together; all fine. Then I try to place them against the wall. I find the floor is uneven. Not just slanted, but a little bowed as well. I want them flush together, but it seems if I try to get that they don't fit together right, and are not aligned vertically. I can get them to sit nice together, but then they have a slightly forward lean (I can and will anchor to my wall with a bracket at the top).
So, if I shim enough to be perfectly level, they won't stand together right and I get a little stair step effect across the top. I also get a bad gap with the kickpanel/toepanel underneath. If I have them standing together right, they're not level across the top. Is having them level all that necessary, especially since I will be anchoring to the wall? Is there something I can do to make the gaps from shimming less noticeable? Does joining them together with bolts make sense? I saw some parts from Home Depot that can bolt them together, would that help, or would the stresses from the bookcase shear the bolts? (unlikely, but as I said paranoid about tipping).
Thanks much.
EDIT: I accepted the answer closest to what I did. But this is what I did. I realized a few things. 1) the hinges on the Billy (standard Ikea hinges) don't have to be super level to work, they have a bit of a snap action to them. 2) I'm bolting to the wall, so with this and above, I don't need to be super paranoid about level, i can just join together at sorta level.
I actually got some binding posts and some breakable/adjustable length bolts. I drilled through the shelf holes in the bookcase, trying to use the ones where the hinges were anyway. This got them together. Then I did some mild shimming, and bolted to the wall. NOTE I got 3, I probably should have gotten more. I sheared one bolt by tightening too hard. If you break before Ikea does, you're not heavy duty use. Seems to work well, and very solid.