Ikea Eket shelves with a large vinyl collection?


Hi All, 

Has anyone had success storing a large vinyl collection (2000+) in the Ikea Eket shelves? I'm worried about the weight restrictions per shelf. My current shelves hold about 40 lbs. per shelf, but the Eket is rated only 15 lbs per shelf. Any experience with this? 
lspice

Ispice---There are several Ikea shelving units that work well for LP’s, as attested to above. I went to my Ikea to look them all over, and chose the EKET. I too had concerns about it’s weight capacity, but they have (so far!) proven to be groundless.

I have nine of the 4-cube version (each measuring 27.5" tall and wide, and 14" deep, with a back panel, which many of the Ikea shelving units do NOT have), stacked three high in three side-by-side rows. Ikea offers a bag of connecting clips, which secure one 4-cube unit to another, either it’s lateral neighbor, it’s vertical, or both. I have each stack sitting on the optional 4-legged stand, which raises the bottom EKET 3.5" off the floor. It screws onto the bottom of the EKET, keeping the bottom shelf from accumulating the floor dust that always seems to get in. Right?! Each of the four legs has threaded inserts, into which screw adjustable feet, which provide leveling. I adjusted mine so that the stack leans back just slightly, the top edge of the upper EKET’s back butted against the wall. So placed, the stack is rock solid, not budging even slightly when nudged from the front or side. The nine EKET cubes feel like they are part of the room’s structure! I am 100% happy with them, and I don’t please easily.

The 4-cube EKET is $50, the 4-legged stand $15, and the bag of clips $5. My EKET assembly provides 459 linear feet of LP storage for exactly $500 (Oregon has no sales tax!), imo an excellent value. Some of the other Ikea shelving units provide even more linear footage per $, but they don’t have back panels, are too deep for my liking, and aren’t as structurally stiff as the EKET. Others prefer different Ikea racks---it’s all good!

I have the single Kallax unit that measures 6' x 6' and gives you 25 cubes. It is solid after assembly, plus you need to use the wall brackets that they provide for additional support and safety. Mine is black and up against a wall in the room right behind my system front wall. I find it's aesthetics to be neutral, so you mostly see a wall of records.

One thing, is that the shelves are also open in the back and due to my floor molding, the unit sits out 1.25" from the wall. When putting albums back, this prevented the front edges of the albums from being uniformely flush. This bugged me, so I got five 6' lengths of 1/4" allthread, drilled holes, and ran it horizontally through the backside of the cubes as record stops.
Kenny
I recommend this in the color of your choice, sturdy and stackable.

http://www.simplewoodgoods.com/

I got mine done in a custom color - looks great!

Ikea is well...Ikea.
Yep shadorne, the Simple Woods cube is really nice; I love Baltic Birch. But to get the linear footage I got in the EKET for $500, the equivalent Simple Woods would be $3200. I would rather spend the $2700 difference on LP’s themselves.

I received a real nice PM from Erik in Stockholm, inquiring about the strength of the EKET cubes. He said he had bought one, and was concerned about its’ structural strength; he was worried the cube would collapse on him. A justifiable concern! I told Erik I had assembled nine of the 4-cubicle EKETs, and stacked them three high and three wide.

IKEA offers a little packet of brackets to secure one EKET to another (on their back sides), and I have done just that to each stack of three. Each stack is on its’ own optional 4" stand, which has legs fitted with adjustable feet. I made the front two feet on each pedestal a little longer than the two in the back, so as to get the stack to lean back just slightly. Positioned correctly, the top back edge of the top EKET rests against the wall, and the stack becomes very stable. Pushing on the front or side of the stack produces absolutely no movement---it feels like it’s part of the rooms’ structure!

Erik suggested I post this update, so here ’tis.