Built-In Bookcases for Austin Bungalows and Older Walls

On a 1930s bungalow wall, the plaster can bow a full half inch between floor and ceiling, and no stock bookcase survives that. Fitting built-in bookcases in Austin, TX is mostly a scribing job, and the notes at austin custom cabinets roger ueths garden start from that fact: measure the wall in three places before anyone draws a custom cabinet. Homes in Hyde Park, Clarksville and Travis Heights were framed long before anyone expected a drywall corner to be square.

Measuring a wall that is not flat

A level and a long straightedge tell the story in ten minutes. Run the straightedge vertically at the left, center and right of the opening and mark where daylight shows. The worst reading sets the scribe allowance, and the face frame gets an extra three quarters of an inch of stock on each side so it can be planed down to the wall. Pier and beam floors in older Austin houses often sag toward the middle, so the base is measured at both ends.

Building the box in sections

A long wall of shelving is built as separate carcass units, each small enough to carry through a narrow hall. A plywood box in birch or maple holds a shelf pin without sagging, while mdf sides look smooth under paint but need a closer shelf span. Three quarter inch hardwood plywood loaded with books stays flat to about thirty inches between supports. Past that, the middle needs a fixed upright or a thicker front lip.

Trim that hides the gap

The joint between case and wall is hidden with scribe molding, a thin strip planed to follow the plaster. Where the room has a picture rail or tall baseboard, the new shelving picks up the same profile so it reads as original. Inset doors on the lower cabinets suit a bungalow, but they demand tighter tolerances than full overlay, and a wall out of plumb will make an inset door bind when summer humidity swells the wood.

Fastening and finishing

Screws go into studs, found by tapping and a magnet, because lath and plaster will not hold a loaded unit. Painted shelving needs a sealed edge on every cut face before the topcoat, and an oak or maple face frame wants a catalyzed finish that resists the hairline cracks that open at joints. Soft close hinges on the lower doors and a drawer slide rated well above the load keep the unit working through long hot Austin summers.