Mounting hardware isnt that good but the shelf looks great. Should be 39 bucks tops.
I really wanted to give this three stars but everyone who has seen it since I installed it has said how cool it looks. It should really be no more than 39 bucks. Youll see what I mean when you get it out of the box but I kinda wrote it off to anything furniture related being stupid expensive right now (07/21) and bit the bullet cause we needed a shelf.
The assembly instructions could use some work. They make whats actually a pretty straightforward build a little more complicated than it needs to be - especially the section describing how to install the mounting brackets.
Before you put the unit together, find your studs (assuming youre not attaching to masonry like the instructions mention) and put the back piece up against the wall, level it where you want - a small level is included btw which was nice - and mark some places to drill holes that line up to the studs. This thing is long enough that you should be able to overlap two studs and still be able to center it how you want to. I drilled four holes just to be safe, and keep in mind they dont need to be perfectly centered or symmetrical as long as theyre over a stud - nobodys going to see them unless they get up close and try to.
The mounting brackets... Id throw them away and go get some heavy duty hex head lag screws and some washers if youre going to put a console or anything you care about besides games and movies on this thing, and mount it to studs like I mentioned above. I wouldnt trust the plastic anchors that come with it and I think the design of this thing is ready-made to pull toggles out of drywall with any weight on it. For that matter I wouldnt trust the top edge of the particle board of the back piece to not just pull apart if it doesnt like the amount of weight youd put on it using the included brackets.
The quality.... Its particle board and a lot of the pieces were slightly warped out of the box (you can see the bend of the piece in the second picture if you look at the edge of the damaged front piece where it connects to the bottom) and it took some bending to get everything to line up with the pegs and connectors. While I was putting it together one of the little round pieces with the philips head on it basically broke apart as I was tightening it down and shattered and almost went straight through the back of the material. You can see the divot it left in the second picture above, and of course its on the front of the unit which sucks. Its not terrible and most people wont notice, but I know its there and just goes to show a lack of quality of the hardware and the material the unit is made from.
It does look cool floating there though once you get it up on the wall......
Mounting hardware isnt that good but the shelf looks great. Should be 39 bucks tops.
I really wanted to give this three stars but everyone who has seen it since I installed it has said how cool it looks. It should really be no more than 39 bucks. Youll see what I mean when you get it out of the box but I kinda wrote it off to anything furniture related being stupid expensive right now (07/21) and bit the bullet cause we needed a shelf. The assembly instructions could use some work. They make whats actually a pretty straightforward build a little more complicated than it needs to be - especially the section describing how to install the mounting brackets. Before you put the unit together, find your studs (assuming youre not attaching to masonry like the instructions mention) and put the back piece up against the wall, level it where you want - a small level is included btw which was nice - and mark some places to drill holes that line up to the studs. This thing is long enough that you should be able to overlap two studs and still be able to center it how you want to. I drilled four holes just to be safe, and keep in mind they dont need to be perfectly centered or symmetrical as long as theyre over a stud - nobodys going to see them unless they get up close and try to. The mounting brackets... Id throw them away and go get some heavy duty hex head lag screws and some washers if youre going to put a console or anything you care about besides games and movies on this thing, and mount it to studs like I mentioned above. I wouldnt trust the plastic anchors that come with it and I think the design of this thing is ready-made to pull toggles out of drywall with any weight on it. For that matter I wouldnt trust the top edge of the particle board of the back piece to not just pull apart if it doesnt like the amount of weight youd put on it using the included brackets. The quality.... Its particle board and a lot of the pieces were slightly warped out of the box (you can see the bend of the piece in the second picture if you look at the edge of the damaged front piece where it connects to the bottom) and it took some bending to get everything to line up with the pegs and connectors. While I was putting it together one of the little round pieces with the philips head on it basically broke apart as I was tightening it down and shattered and almost went straight through the back of the material. You can see the divot it left in the second picture above, and of course its on the front of the unit which sucks. Its not terrible and most people wont notice, but I know its there and just goes to show a lack of quality of the hardware and the material the unit is made from. It does look cool floating there though once you get it up on the wall......