I think there are special plaster screw MD, ask at a hardware store........ I laughed outloud at you DH, Mine is EXACTLY the same, he thinks he is soooo handy, but he is sooooo not!
Banging on the wall with something and listening to the sound is an easy way to find a stud. The sound is not hollow when you hit the stud IYKWIM.
Taffylou, thanks for the chocks hint. I do recall last time round (we have a 10 yo DD) we chocked under our shelves using rubber door wedges - which worked rather well. However the shelves we have now don't have a rim that touches the floor along the front - meaning the bracketing is really roolly troolly important.
Falguni - oh yes, listening for the sound, well that would've been clever too. However he has a handy person that he works with and is borrowing a stud finder from him. The gadget-ness of the project will no doubt appeal and it will get done a bit quicker.... I hope!!!!
Sometimes stud finders get it wrong (well, our one does anyway) so I recommend "knocking" on the wall as well to check.
Those plaster anchors are called "wallmates" - you could use those in the holes you have already drilled, rather than drilling more holes. They have different strengths (5kg, 10kg, 20kg).
How ide is the bookshelf? If lining up studs with the edge of the bookshelf is too difficult/just not happening, then you could get a piece of timber and the bridge the studs. Basically, you find ths studs(the vertical pieces of timber in your wall) screw a length of timber into two of them and then secure your bookshelf to them. One advantage is that if your bookshelf is, say, 1200mm wide and your studs are on a 450mm spacing, then you can pick two studs 900 apart, screw a piece of timber between them then lock your bookshelf in to that and you shouldn't be able to see it (since the bookshelf should cover the piece of bridging timber)
One thing to consider as to why bookshelves can fall over, is the damn skirting board. That's why they can't go flush to the wall. I'd recommend getting a stud finder. They don't cost too much and it will come in handy to put up pictures etc, because knocking for thickness can be difficult. You may find wiring or something else that sounds thick.
Maybe go to Bunnings and ask one of the dudes there. Find out what sort or brackets you need and bolts etc. Another thing is, google it. You never know if the step by step diy is on a website somewhere.
Put the heaviest books on the bottom and the lightest things on the top. Perhaps put doors on the shelves, or use some of that pvc coated wire with hooks on the end to attach to eye hooks on the sides of the shelves, strung along the middle of the shelf to prevent books being pulled out easily. The wire is easily unhooked and rehooked when required.
And make sure your DH doesn't go overboard on baby-proofing. You may later dread having to unclip things to go about daily business. But I do think bolting shelves to the wall is a very good thing to do. My DD climbs onto shelves all the time here. Thankfully the shelves are mostly empty. She likes to sit on the bottom shelves like its a big chair. Its so cute!
We have a strip of cardboard under the front of some of our taller shelves. Just the thick cardboard from a cardboard box. Just get a box from the supermarket and chop it up. We dont have any skirting boards at all, but the carpet bumps up a bit where the skirting board would be, so we cant put the shelves completely flush with the walls. The cardboard helps make not such a noticeable gap behind the shelf.
Our shelves are stuck to the wall using a thick peice a fabric nailed to the back of the shelf and the wall. Its worked so far, but she isnt much of a shelf climber.
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However he has a handy person that he works with and is borrowing a stud finder from him. The gadget-ness of the project will no doubt appeal and it will get done a bit quicker.... I hope!!!!
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