Built in Bookcase in Wasted Gap

We lived in a tiny flat, and had a weird gap in our living room behind the door. It was about 130mm (5") so wasn't big enough to put anything in.

We had to completely renovate the whole flat, so took the opportunity to learn some new skills and build in a bookcase. Except for a drill and a sander, this was also hand-tools only, and we did this after work and at weekends.

It involves studwork, particle board (chipboard), plasterboard (drywall) and plastering, and skirting and trim. It was my first time doing studwork, plasterboarding and plastering, and turned out (I think) pretty well. It was still going strong the year before last, and is one book deep (or a bottle of whiskey, or a photo). It gave us some very much needed storage.

We did this project nine years ago, and I didn't take a lot of detailed pictures at the time - I've been writing this up for eight years now. Time flies.

Our supply list was as follows:

• Studwork - came from a big BIY store, so something like 90mm x 40mm
• Laminate chipboard - left over from a bookcase I made for a previous flat - this could be recycled from a flat pack, or bought new
• Hardboard - for the back panel
• Plasterboard
• Plaster
• Filler
• Architrave
• Skirting board (part of the wider renovation)
• Coving (part of the wider renovation)
• Shelf pins (online)
• Screws
• Galvanised corner bead
• Plasterboard scrim tape

Tools:

• Power drill/driver
• Handsaw
• Mitre box
• Pocket hole jig (nice, but not necessary)
• Plasterboard saw
• Drill bits
• Spirit level
• Clamps
• Bucket
• Trowel/float
• Electric sander (not needed if you are any good at plastering

This was the scariest part. I'd never done anything like this, and was really worried about hitting services etc

IMPORTANT: I first turned the power off at the consumer unit (or fuse board, or breaker). I then marked out the outline of the bookcase, and made a few exploratory holes, and using my phone camera and light had a look inside.

When I was happy, I then drilled holes at each corner, and cut out the perimeter of the plasterboard, and opened up the wall. In hindsight I should have just taken the whole wall off from top to bottom (see next set of photos)

I had no idea what I was doing, but this seemed logical

I removed the exposed studwork timbers using a handsaw. This took me a while as I was trying not to damage the plasterboard on the other side - in hindsight I should have just gone for it. Be gentle but firm

I then used the removed timbers to make a new "seat" for the bookcase to sit on, and header to help hold things together. I used the existing timber so it was the same dimension, plus to save money. I did have to add in some new (smaller section) studwork to support the seat.

You'll see that I removed all the plasterboard above and below at this point.

I then added new studwork to deepen the wall. I ran this around the perimeter, giving enough space for plasterboard and plaster on the edge.

I used various clamps to hold things, and other bits of timber to wedge things in place until I could screw them together. I did add additional timbers to support the seat and header

I was able to use one sheet of plasterboard for this whole wall - I think we found some on the rejects trolley with a broken corner for about 50p. I added some onto the side return over the new studwork to bring it flush to the existing, and put a galvanised corner bead on the corner. Pretty straight forward using plasterboard screws. I then added some scrim tape to the joints, including the vertical joint where it extended the old wall.

Well, there's no way I did this right, but it ended up okay...

I bought a bag of easy-mix plaster, and mixed it up as per the instructions, by hand, in small quantities

I then started applying it. It was a right mess, and lumpy, and just awful. I'd watched a load of YouTube videos, so was over confident, and it was an absolute pig, and I was loosing the will.

My wife then suggested letting it sit for a bit, and flicking some water on and smoothing it out - "like icing a cake". Genius, it worked! Well, more or less. I got it to a passable state.

I then let it dry, and sanded the heck out of it, added filler where bits were low, and kept checking it with a spirit level for flatness - and it turned out ok!

By this point our living room was full of boxes for the kitchen refit, and our kitchen fitter did remark he'd never seen so much dust at the beginning of one of his jobs.

My point with this is to persevere with things - it it's terrible, you can probably fix it. Also that your other halves probably have good ideas...

Classic case of figure-it-out-as-you-build

I'd bought myself a small pocket hole jig not long before, so was keen to use it as much as possible. Pocket holes are great, and I'd thoroughly advise checking them out if you haven't already.

The bookcase was pretty simple - theoretically four sides and a back. In fact, it was five sides, as I had an awkward stud detail, shown in the pictures. I made a jig out of some hardboard off-cut and marked and drilled the holes for the shelf pins, and then used this to transfer the holes onto the bookcase sides so they were perfectly aligned. In hindsight (lots of it here) I didn't need to do them the full height, which look a lot of time, but just - say - five around where we thought the shelves would go.

The left-hand side (as you look at it) was easy enough - height and width, and crack on. I used a handsaw, which took a while. I'd advise cutting very shallowly/flat to avoid damaging the laminate over the chipboard.

The right hand side had to be made of two sides, to face the studwork and made a sort of L shape - I drilled the shelf pin holes first, then cut it down the middle. The stud detail was in the existing wall, to allow the plasterboard on other side of the wall to be fixed to. I mocked everything up, then removed and screwed together. I used pocket holes in the top and bottom pieces to connect into the sides. It wasn't easy due to the right hand side having the funny dog leg, but works it as it the finished bookcase looks more centralised when completed.

I then screwed the back pieces on to keep things square, and added the middle shelf to add rigidity. I left suitable gaps between the chipboard and studwork to be able to get the bookcase in, plus make it central and square in the wall, with some wooden packs to bridge the gaps where the screws went in.

We also painted the wall at this stage, and everything tied in nicely, along with filling a few screw holes left on the other side of the wall where the plasterboard was fixed to the existing (removed) studwork.

We added some nice trim around the edge of the bookcase to hid the gap between it and the plasterboard, and then added coving and skirting as part of the larger renovation to tie it all together.

I actually left a draw cord in the wall in case I ever wanted to pull power through to a socket for some lighting.

And that was that! Add books, photos etc, and enjoy!