Is the back of the bookcase thin and flimsy or is it as thick as the side pieces?
1135990
Thin and attached with tiny nails. It really is a great shelf for the price though. Had it a year and love it. Looks $$$.
1135991
back is a thick piece of little better than cardboard. I have used this and moved it to our new house. It is steady but we use it as a display for pictures etc not books. Hope this helps
1135992
It's not made of wood like the side pieces, but it's one of the better cardboard backings Ive seen. It's thicker than what I would call "normal".
1832418
The shelves & sides are wood, the back is a wood composite. It is 10 1/2" between the shelves. Directions say it takes 2 people to put together but I did it by myself. For me it was perfect for what I wanted.
1134466
Eh. It was a little more flimsy then we were hoping. I can say that it holds more then it looks like it will, but less then you want it to. I wouldn't trust big heavy books on it.
791798
It seems pretty beefy, I've used mine with a book shelf and put quite a few things on it. However the biggest thing (obviously) is making sure your framing/support of the "door" and the bookshelf itself is reenforced. Mine started sagging a bit, but I reinforced the rear of it to keep it from warping under the pressure.
760183
I'd agree with everyone else's comments - the shelves themselves are very sturdy but the back panel is more for decorative purposes. I keep a mix of heavy and light books on these shelves and they dont appear to have bowed at all
2172461
I have three of these, and they are sturdy. The back seems to be decoration more than anything. It is lightweight. It doesn't seem to add to the structure. What you see of it behind the books looks nice and so far, it has held up beautifully.
1035640
I would not put books on the shelves but something lighter, like CD's. There is no back board for this bookshelf, even though the pictures shows one. But without the back baord to keep the shelves steady, it not good for heavy items.
465693
It is rigid. Maybe not quite as rigid as a hardback book, but rigid nonetheless. Perhaps you could fold the two covers back far enough to slip the cover over them? I don't have one with me at the moment, so I can't tell how likely it is that the spine would break if you tried that.
2137112
Not very thick ,it's only meant to hold delicate files ,The materials are made very flimsy and light .Not for every day use !
364234
The backside is the same as the rest of the material. It is NOT like the "cardboard" style backing you might see on other shelving units. Hope this helps
1989909
I've had this bookshelf for about a year. All the shelves are loaded with papers & books, but not heavy textbooks. The middle couple of shelves are starting to sag, so I wouldn't recommend it for books like yours. It would definitely need reinforcement.
2121242
The back looks nice. There is a panel for the back of the top shelf doesn't match the rest of the wood color exactly. It's slightly lighter about 2 inches wide but it still looks nice.
1312290
I can't answer this question directly. All I can say is that I have completely filled two bookcases with books, many of them heavier hardbacks, and have had no problems. I did put some shims under the front of the bookcases to prevent any possible leaning forward but that was a precaution - don't know if it was really necessary or not.
2165557
The entire peice, including the shelves are solid wood. There is a piece that slides in the back to accommadate cords, etc that is a cheaper piece of wood. But that's it.
1744503
Hi Kathleen...The back is cardboard. The bookcase looks good but you really have to know how to put it together. My husband and I never got the doors even. The bottom shelf is not aligned just right. We took a discounted price. We did not want the bother to return it. We wrote to Amazon and Ameriwood told them the assembly problems. If it came assembled it would be nice. The purpose we need the bookcase for is working for us.
1875702
Yes it is. The bookshelf is holding up very well. I'm using it in my classroom. The shelves are not sagging like many do from the weight of books.
2015974
Bottom is rather flimsy for books. I store blankets in mine, wouldn't put books in it!!It's a nice bench but the finish scratches very easily