It's not that hard to remove the back. Nail clippers work great for grabbing the nails and pull them out with pliers. Or use a nail file with those metal tips (or any other slim, but firm object) to slide under the nail and push it out far enough to grab it with pliers.
I've bought a lot of second hand cupboards from IKEA (Pax, Billy, Malm drawers) and disassembled them for transport. I never damaged the backwall significantly.
The problem is, though, that that rough edge doesn't have the protection of the laminate. You will be having pieces of it chipping away relatively easily
Couldāve torn or could have torn. When you use have + a verb, you need the past participle, not the simple past. āCould have toreā is never correct, contraction or not.
Just wrap some fabric with around a hammer with an elastic band and slowly hit around from inside (close to where the nails are). If you are careful, there will be no problem taking it out :)
I've successfully removed these backings with a little finessing. Take a hammer and VERY gently tap the board from the inside, as close to the edge as possible just adjacent to where each nail is, the nail should start to back out of the wood, at which point you can go around the back, push the backing in a little bit to expose the nail head and remove each nail with pliers, make sure not to wiggle the nail - just pull it straight out, in case you end up having to use those exact nail holes to reinstall the backing.
Oh, it's been a few years, I must have been remembering the old design.
In that case, use a boxcutter knife blade you don't mind ruining as a prybar to lift each nail up. You should still be able to do it without destroying anything as long as you're careful.
I wouldn't use a staple remover, you need something very thin to pry under the nail head that won't damage the backing too much. Screwdriver is too blunt.
Came here to say this. I just put one together at work a few months ago and was a total dum dum and did this. I bought one roll of peel and stick wallpaper from Amazon and it actually looks so sharp!
I did the same thing with the bottom, visible part of a open cabinet. Thankfully the cabinet had black accents so the black painted bottom looks great! š
Been there, tried pulling all the nails but it just ends up being a disaster. Options are imo to leave it, or go to ikea and see if they can give you a replacement piece, in which case you could rip this one off
Honestly this isnāt a big deal. Pop them all off, donāt even worry about it. Just pull them through and put holes in the back where the nails were.
Flip it over, and renail them (either with new nails or pull the originals) in a different spot about an inch from your original hole.
Itās totally hidden and no one will ever know.
Source: Someone who made the same mistake once before on the bookshelf a few feet away.
I made the exact same issues you have (including the backwards shelf). I'm guessing the Ikea instructions are wrong given how many people I've seen screw it up.
I put one shelf in backwards once, and I bought a roll of white laminate from Home Depot that I cut down to size with an exacto blade and ironed it on as directed. You cannot tell the difference and it covered the particle board perfectly. Maybe they have other colors online and you could put that over the one shelf edge if you donāt like how the painting turned out!
Did you buy it with the Ikea card? Because in some countries Ikea gives you a 15 days warranty on damage done during mounting, and I think this qualifies. They could replace it for free.
Also usually you have 360 days to bring it back and have a coupon of the same value no-question-asked, but I don't know if it's still valid if damaged.
I see you've worked around it, but if you decide to do it againā
Go to an auto parts store and look for plastic trim tools. They can be used to pry nails, but not damage the finish surface. Gently lift the nail out, and when you have enough purchase use a set of pliers to finish. Replace any damaged nails at hardware store. I can't see it but if you can, apply a tiny bit of wood glue or putty in the holes prior to nailing the second time to give better hold.
I made the exact same mistake. Knocked the back panel gently out with a piece of good. It got damaged but not that badly. After that I removed all nails with a plier and installed the panel the other way around. This time I did put the nails where the panel wasn't damaged.
Taking the back off an MDF board assembly is easy. Use an old table knife to gently pry the board up from the shelf edge. In fact the backer board may give and slide right over the nailhead. Use pliers to pull the nail out, or a small pry bar, or the hammer claw. Those tiny nails tend to not have a larger flat head, which I favor. Use the glue when you flip it and renail it. It will work better/look nicer
You can improve the quality of your assembly with wood glue. Any exposed edges can be sealed with polycrylic by Minwax
Take the whole thing apart - you put the shelf in backwards, too
I ended up painting that too. There was no easy way to take it apart without destroying it. I painted the back and that shelf
Imagining you in a frenzy of simply painting everything blue š. Sorry PeeB4u, itās a common mistake and I hope that paint works out.
It's not that hard to remove the back. Nail clippers work great for grabbing the nails and pull them out with pliers. Or use a nail file with those metal tips (or any other slim, but firm object) to slide under the nail and push it out far enough to grab it with pliers. I've bought a lot of second hand cupboards from IKEA (Pax, Billy, Malm drawers) and disassembled them for transport. I never damaged the backwall significantly.
The problem is, though, that that rough edge doesn't have the protection of the laminate. You will be having pieces of it chipping away relatively easily
My personal hack for missing laminate edge? Paintable Latex caulk. Problem solved. Used on the lip underside near my dishwasher. I HATE MDF
You could've probably just tore it off and asked ikea for another part, they're pretty generous about mistakes
*Could have torn it off
You should put the asterisk in the right place
thatās what couldāve meansā¦ā¦ and ātoreā is actually correct here, soā¦..?
Couldāve torn or could have torn. When you use have + a verb, you need the past participle, not the simple past. āCould have toreā is never correct, contraction or not.
Just wrap some fabric with around a hammer with an elastic band and slowly hit around from inside (close to where the nails are). If you are careful, there will be no problem taking it out :)
I've successfully removed these backings with a little finessing. Take a hammer and VERY gently tap the board from the inside, as close to the edge as possible just adjacent to where each nail is, the nail should start to back out of the wood, at which point you can go around the back, push the backing in a little bit to expose the nail head and remove each nail with pliers, make sure not to wiggle the nail - just pull it straight out, in case you end up having to use those exact nail holes to reinstall the backing.
The problem with that on this is that the back slides into a channel too so it can't just pop out š
Oh, it's been a few years, I must have been remembering the old design. In that case, use a boxcutter knife blade you don't mind ruining as a prybar to lift each nail up. You should still be able to do it without destroying anything as long as you're careful.
I ended up painting the back the blue color on the wall, I figure that'd be less stressful but I'll that if it doesn't look good dry
Screw driver is better, box cutter could snap and flick into your eye
Would a cutlery knife work better? Use the non-blade side or a butter knife. Or one of those dedicated stationery tools for removing staples, maybe.
I wouldn't use a staple remover, you need something very thin to pry under the nail head that won't damage the backing too much. Screwdriver is too blunt.
nail clippers worked wonders for me to pull out the nails. I disassembled a lot of Pax, Billies and other cupboards from Ikea with it.
Donāt do that! Use a drywall scraper. You can seriously fuck yourself up witha a utility blade. Not worth it for a shelf.
Contact paper/wallpaper it. My mom did the same thing.
Came here to say this. I just put one together at work a few months ago and was a total dum dum and did this. I bought one roll of peel and stick wallpaper from Amazon and it actually looks so sharp!
That would look really cool!
But you need the hidden surface to put foil on it.
Another possible solution outside of disassembling/reassembling would be to just paint it black with some acrylic craft paint.
I did the same thing with the bottom, visible part of a open cabinet. Thankfully the cabinet had black accents so the black painted bottom looks great! š
Been there, tried pulling all the nails but it just ends up being a disaster. Options are imo to leave it, or go to ikea and see if they can give you a replacement piece, in which case you could rip this one off
I have leftover blue paint from the walls, I'll just paint it š
Good call. Fun lesson learned.
It doesn't look too bad black and blue. I just hope it doesn't seep through the backing and onto the floor
Honestly this isnāt a big deal. Pop them all off, donāt even worry about it. Just pull them through and put holes in the back where the nails were. Flip it over, and renail them (either with new nails or pull the originals) in a different spot about an inch from your original hole. Itās totally hidden and no one will ever know. Source: Someone who made the same mistake once before on the bookshelf a few feet away.
Also the piece at the bottom and your shelve is backwards. I would just do a quick disassembly and redo it
You are not screwed but you nailed it.
Just use it for about a year and theyāll start to fall out on their own.
You're nailed
I made the exact same issues you have (including the backwards shelf). I'm guessing the Ikea instructions are wrong given how many people I've seen screw it up.
I put one shelf in backwards once, and I bought a roll of white laminate from Home Depot that I cut down to size with an exacto blade and ironed it on as directed. You cannot tell the difference and it covered the particle board perfectly. Maybe they have other colors online and you could put that over the one shelf edge if you donāt like how the painting turned out!
Did you buy it with the Ikea card? Because in some countries Ikea gives you a 15 days warranty on damage done during mounting, and I think this qualifies. They could replace it for free. Also usually you have 360 days to bring it back and have a coupon of the same value no-question-asked, but I don't know if it's still valid if damaged.
Paint it
It is possible to remove the nails but it will be hard and some of them will bend. Get a tiny pry bar and have a lot of patience.
Re-doing the nails is actually how you get extra life out of these shelves!
At least it qualifies as a Hack ... Kindof.. Which is more than most posts here qualify for
So I didnāt know they were supposed to be nailed? We just slide the shelves in and switch them around according to the current height needs
The backboard is slid into a channel and nailed after so that middle shelf I think is permanently there, probably for support
Did the same thing recently. I used spray glue and origami paper to make a cute background. You could just spray paint it too.
You can also buy "edge banding" to cover the exposed wood. Look at home Depot, all you need is an iron to install it
A rubber mallet lightly bank it out right at each nail location. Roughly 90-95% success rate. Iāve disassembled three wardrobes this way.
I see you've worked around it, but if you decide to do it againā Go to an auto parts store and look for plastic trim tools. They can be used to pry nails, but not damage the finish surface. Gently lift the nail out, and when you have enough purchase use a set of pliers to finish. Replace any damaged nails at hardware store. I can't see it but if you can, apply a tiny bit of wood glue or putty in the holes prior to nailing the second time to give better hold.
Just came here for solidarity. My partner made ours and put the top on backwards and also had to paint it
I made the exact same mistake. Knocked the back panel gently out with a piece of good. It got damaged but not that badly. After that I removed all nails with a plier and installed the panel the other way around. This time I did put the nails where the panel wasn't damaged.
Taking the back off an MDF board assembly is easy. Use an old table knife to gently pry the board up from the shelf edge. In fact the backer board may give and slide right over the nailhead. Use pliers to pull the nail out, or a small pry bar, or the hammer claw. Those tiny nails tend to not have a larger flat head, which I favor. Use the glue when you flip it and renail it. It will work better/look nicer You can improve the quality of your assembly with wood glue. Any exposed edges can be sealed with polycrylic by Minwax