Hi Greg,

snip

I'm thinking about a back, but I'm not sure. Are you suggesting a back
to keep the units square, or just to hide the wall behind? I have
already decided that no sensible thickness of back would be strong
enough to mount the units with. Your suggestion for lateral supports
is pretty much what I had planned.

I was just talking aesthetics here - it's a PITA to repaint the wall
between all those shelves. Another consideration is that your wall will
not be perfectly flat (if it's drywall) and you will probably have
spaces here and there (unless you try to scribe everything which would
be a nightmare on the back). Putting a 1/4 inch back eliminates that
problem. Having done it both ways, I always us a back. You can paint
it a color if you don't want a stained wood back.

I was considering getting a biscuit joiner, but your suggestion has
made me wonder if that's a good idea. Even though this is a built-in I
think it might be nice to be able to disassemble it into the
individual units should we ever decide to move. Nails would allow
that.

Biscuits would be better and not show. When I said nails, I meant nails
& glue, but if you think you might want to take it apart, then the
nails would be ok I guess.

A general rule of thumb in any house move is that nothing in the old
place will fit the new place - and even if it does, SWMBO will hate it
in the new place anyway - so it will probably stay behind in the old
place.

:-

10. Remove ledger (or, if you are worried about weight, use a nice
piece of 1x2 oak as a permanant ledger under the cabinet.)

I like that idea. Thanks.

If the unit is going wall to wall (i.e., between two walls), be sure to
allow space on either side for a filler strip so you can scribe a tight
fit.

Good luck!

Lou