In message , John
Rumm writes
On 16/11/2010 12:38, Stephen wrote:
On Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:13:10 -0800 (PST), Jim
wrote:
I'd just buy a fllat pack from a shed/ikea - it may look ****e but at
least you'll not have spent hours as well as =A3s getting there...
Hello,
Thanks for all the replies. I was surprised to be told not to DIY but
Billy has a lot of recommendations, so I'll certainly look into that.
I'm afraid don't live anywhere near an Ikea so it will be a day trip
to get there and back so I will spend hours and £s on it, whatever I
do 
Ikea are not the only supplier of flatpack shelves. Twas a time Hombase
did a nice solid example.
Indeed, but you need to be careful what you get, there is a fair bit of
rubbish about.
The Ikea web site says that you can get Billy bookcases and Billy CD
cases but the latter just look like narrow bookcases, I would think
you could use either for whatever you want?
Indeed. Although for lots of CDs, I personally like drawers better.
Much easier to hold large numbers in a small space, and easier to read
the labels!
You can of course use the bookcases for CD's the advantage of the Benno
CD tower is that it is cheaper and comes with more shelves closer
together. It is much shallower though than the bookcases, would take
paperbacks ok, but not larger books.
The web site suggests that the shelf heights are adjustable but how do
they do that? The posts here say that they use metal dowel screws so
is it that the sides of the cupboards are drilled with holes and you
screw the dowel into the one at your desired height and then tighten a
Usually c combination of some fixed shelves and some moveable. (not
actually seen a Billy myself - so can't comment on those specifically)
The middle shelf is fixed (with metal dowels and cam fixings like the
top and bottom. The rest of the shelves are adjustable.
I have used ikea cupboards in the past that used these dowel screws
but only to hold the top on. the shelves were supported by metal
"tabs" pushed into holes in the side.
Chances are the bookcases are similar.
The other shelves use metal pins pushed into the holes. Little recesses
cut into the bottom of the shelves so they rest in them. Unobtrusive and
keeps them in place.
One advantage of DIY is that I could fit doors to keep the sun off the
books and hide the mess! Billy says it can have doors but in
aluminium. That sounds like it would look like a locker room to me!
You don't have to use the doors they specify...
There are other doors, including solid wood finish and wood framed
glass.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/ca...iving_room/116
86/
IKEA do an online ordering service as well, not sure if it covers all
the UK, they were phasing it in. Not everything is available though, and
the delivery charge is pretty expensive (£35 IIRC), but then it saves a
trip, petrol and all those extra useful bits and bobs you purchase on
your way through the store :-)
--
Chris French