How do people deal with installing floating shelves captured on 3 sides when the front of the opening is the narrowest point? Any tips and tricks appreciated.

I'm about to install 5 shelves (12" deep) in an alcove (60" wide). On one side the shelves will come 1/4" from an outside corner where the wall turns so I know there will be a fair amount of compound buildup. I'd guess the front of the opening will be about 1/8" narrower than the widest point (with the back corners also smaller for inside corner compound buildup). The shelves are 2" thick torsion boxes and have a pocket on the sides and back to accept cleats, so they can't be scribed from a template and angled/dropped into place like a countertop could be.

Thanks.

Drew,

There's no magic bullet here. Change the design to accommodate the situation.

On this project I told the client that the wallpaper hanger coming in after me may have to float the wall if I can't scribe, so I'm covered on that end. Just hoping to add a new arrow to my quiver. Geometry may stand in the way of that this time, it seems!

In the past on stain grade work I've either floated gaps myself or assembled in place with some combination of clamps, cauls, and brads so I can drop tops and bottoms into place after installing cleats/building a torsion box interior in place.

If it's paint-grade I'll just cut tight to the front measurement and caulk where I have to so I don't beat up the walls.

Try using a Fastcap Third Hand jack to spread the walls apart a bit at the face. Don't go crazy with it of course.

Excellent idea John, thank you so much.

Cut your shelves 2” shorter than the opening and mount them on solid wood sticks stained/painted to match the shelves. These sticks should be 2” wide as well and your shelves should be grooved to slide over the wood.
Looks like a mortise and tenon and takes the walls out of the equation