FAQ

Step 1: Drill If you purchased the drilling plate you will want to center the plate on the back of your shelf and secure it using the included screws. Then, using our 13/16” or 9/16” Wood Owl drill bit, drill into the shelf 3” deep into each bushing. Remove the drill plate and finish drilling the holes to the depth needed. Or, if you are using the free included drill guide, locate the corner of the drill guide that is not rounded. You will use that as a reference point. Then lay out your bracket sideways on your shelf with the rods laying horizontally across it. Center the bracket on your shelf and put pencil marks on each side of the end rod. Then attach the drill guide with the hole centered over your pencil lines and the square end on the bottom left. Mark where the left side of the guide sits on your shelf. Then drill into the shelf 3” through the guide. Remove the guide and finish drilling the hole to the correct depth. Measure 12” from the mark from the square end and place the bottom left corner there. Repeat the measuring and drilling until you have all your holes drilled. Make sure your drill guide is centered each time. Note: a 22” bracket has 18” between rods and the 10” bracket has 6”. You will need to replace the standard 12” measurement with these. Step 2: Route You will need to route out 1/4” from the back of your shelf. To measure this, turn your router upside down and place the router template on top of it. Make sure the blade of the router bit comes past the router template 1/4” to 5/16” and set the depth. Screw the router template securely to the back of your shelf with the countersunk mounting holes facing up. If you used the drilling plate you can reuse the screw holes and everything will line up properly. If not, place your bracket in the holes drilled and center the router template over it, then remove the bracket. Once the template is secured, router out the wood inside the template. Step 3: Mount Locate and mark your studs at the desired height. Then sink a #10 2 1/2” deck screw into your wall until only 1/4” remains. Then slide the top of the bracket under the screw and tighten it down. Place a level on the top of your bracket and adjust until level. Then sink the rest of your screws into the studs to securely mount your bracket to the wall. Slide your shelf over the bracket and push until it sits flush with the wall. Watch our helpful installation videos here.

We offer 9 different stocked floating shelf brackets. Please see the individual listing photos for bracket specs. Widths range from 10" - 82"; accommodating shelf sizes 12"-94" wide. Additionally, our rods come in various depths from 3” to 16”. Please see the tables below for bracket width and rod spacing as well as to help with what height backplate you will need (82” brackets have 7 rods, spaced 12” apart).

The backplate height should be 1/2” smaller than your shelf, the length needs to be at least 2” shorter than the length of your shelf, and the rod length should be at least 1 1/2” shorter than the depth of your shelf. Keep in mind that it is always safest to choose the biggest bracket that fits within these parameters, and your rods should go at least halfway through your shelf. As always, you can contact us with any questions and we are happy to help at (208) 563-8722.

We work hard to ship our brackets from our location in Menan, Idaho within 2-3 business days of order. If you would like quicker turn-around, we do offer expedited shipping for an extra cost.

Sheppard Brackets has been in the bracket/floating shelf game for over three years. When we first started producing brackets, we used a mounting system that forced installers to place the shelf where holes would hit studs. This caused some issues. We noticed that many clients couldn't get their bracket/shelf right where they wanted, and, because of varying construction methods, couldn't hit many studs. So, instead of pre-drilling every bracket for the client, we simply engineered a new bracket that has key holes every .5". This way, we guarantee you can install your bracket and shelf wherever you need. These are the ORIGINAL brackets of this style. My design is so good, others copy it and claim it as their own. I take this as a compliment. 😉

With our StudLock mounting system, you will be able to hit as many studs as possible. When your bracket is installed to studs, the weight limits will vary based on bracket size and how many studs it's attached to. 3” backplate - over 100 lbs per stud 2” backplate - 80lbs per stud 1 ½” backplate - 60lbs per stud 1 ¼” backplate - 55lbs per stud 1” backplate - 45lbs per stud ¾” backplate - 30lbs per stud Please contact us with further questions.

For 3/4” tubing, we recommend drilling with a 13/16” bit. This can offer a tight, secure fit; but can also work well if your walls aren’t perfectly straight. If you want an even tighter fit, and are confident in your walls, feel free to go tighter. We have found that different manufacturers of wood drill bits size their bits slightly different. We have found that the bit we sell on this site fits perfectly with our jigs and templates. It is a Wood Owl Ultra Smooth 13/16” diameter and comes in 7 1/2”, 12" and 18" lengths. We also sell bits 9/16” diameter for the 1/2” rods. To purchase the drill bits you can come here. We also sell jigs for drilling your shelves. We currently send out a free drill guide (single bore) with every bracket purchase. This is a limited time offer. To see why we use the Wood Owl drill bits, please watch this instructional video.

At Sheppard Brackets, we are thrilled to offer our customers no-hassle returns and exchanges. If, for whatever reason, you are unhappy with your purchase, or if you decide to cancel your order, please contact us and we will take care of it. We cannot accept returns or exchanges on custom orders. If you have a return, it must be done within 30 days of purchase. With returns/exchanges, we do ask that you pay for shipping. Ship returns to 9770 Rustlers Trail, Menan, ID 83434.

At Sheppard Brackets, we are thrilled to take on challenging and new custom projects. If your project requires an item not available in our stores, please contact us.

-Generally we recommend #8- 2 1/2" general purpose screws or #10- 2 1/2" deck screws. -If you are installing into brick or cement we recommend 3/16 x 1 3/4"-2" Tapcon screws. -If you have metal studs we recommend Toggle bolts or some kind of expanding screw and drilling holes into the studs for them to fit. -If you don't have a stud to attach to we recommend a Molly bolt or Toggle bolt. Something that expands behind the drywall works best.