Hanging Wall Cabinets
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Does anyone have much experience in hanging wall cabinets? I want to hang Paul’s bathroom cabinet project and there is only one stud available, which would be right in the center of the cabinet. That means two screws in this stud, one top and one bottom. I have never hung a cabinet with so few screws. Does it seem adequate? I have #8 2-1/2 inch grk cabinet screws, but have not been able to find any info on their website about the weight per screw.
I also wonder whether folk have any opinions about the best drywall anchors for cabinets, assuming I need them here or elsewhere. Thanks!
Using two screws on a vertical line (one stud) doesn’t sound a good way to hang a cabinet. That said, of the many kinds of drywall anchors out there none work as advertised in my experience. May be Canadian drywall is too soft 🙂 Except this DuoTec toggle anchors which have served me well in the past.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=75491&cat=1,43293,50630
Assuming a bathroom cabinet will not get too heavily loaded, two screws into the drywall at the top (using toggle anchors like above) should be enough. For heavier cabinets that span multiple studs I use some form of rail and hanger system with the former screwed into studs (like the ikea suspension rails or home-made cleats).
2 November 2018 at 6:18 pm #552984Hi Sanford,
The 2 cab screws would be more than sufficient for this size cabinet. The GRK screws are pretty much a structural screw so I would not worry about the cabinent shearing away from the wall from a broken screw.
A kitchen cabinet is at least 2 times as deep, 30% taller, 3 or more times as heavy and most likely holds 20 times the weight of goods than the medicine cabinet. Typically they are held with 3 screws along the top and maybe one in the bottom center to bring it tight to the wall.
My only concern with the one stud option is if your wall is not co-planar to the back of your cabinet. You could possibly show a gap between the back and the wall. Easy enough to check…slap the cabinet against the wall and check for gaps or rocking side to side.
If you decide to go with the anchors, look for ones that have wings that expand when screwing the screw. Their pulling forces are quite high…at least 70lb depending on your drywall thickness.
Toggler makes very good fastening systems are are easily available. The toggler SP shown in the image is rated for 135 lbs in 5/8” drywall
If you go with toggle bolts, 1/4 inch toggles are more than adequate. However, it is most definitely a 2 person job with lining up the toggles to the holes and holding the unit.- This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Kurt Schultz.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.2 November 2018 at 6:56 pm #552988Screw it to a stud out in the garage and yank on it. At work when people stand there staring at a shelf wondering how well it will hold, I go and yank on that sucker to make sure haha.
2 November 2018 at 7:21 pm #552989Visualizing that made me laugh!
Along the same note, I have a massive, 5 foot framed mirror (around 75 lbs) hanging on a dining room wall on drywall only with 2 nails along heavy duty picture frame hooks. Still there after 15 years.- This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Kurt Schultz.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Kurt Schultz.
Thanks for the responses Selva and Kurt. Maybe I will start with Kurt’s advice and hope two screws on one stud holds okay. I have never hung a cabinet that did not span several studs (or rest on a cleat that spanned several studs) but as Kurt said, this cabinet is quite light. I will also buy both the Toggler anchors recommended by Kurt and the Duotec recommended by Selva. And as Selva points out, anchors in dry wall often do not do the job well but I can try these to see how it goes on other projects, or on this one if it falls out of the wall! And finally I will give it a few good yanks as Keith suggests. If it is going to fail, I would prefer it to fail fast and while my wife is not around so I have a chance to repair the holes in the wall before she sees them.
I too have flimsy stud walls in my bathroom and my bathroom cabinet, with heavy mirrored door, has stayed secure for thirty years.
I bought mine ready-made from a top-end company. They’ve solved the problems of coping with stud walls, walls which may not be flat, and non-experienced home DIY installers, with a couple of ideas that have worked well:
Mine has only a single wall anchor-point, in the centre of the wall portion of the French Cleat. This allows the cleat to pivot for perfect vertical alignment of the cabinet. The cabinet won’t swing of its own accord, it’s held too tightly against the wall for that, but you can adjust it by hand. You’re obviously capable of making adjustments for your alignment, but I just wanted to mention that a secure single fixing has worked with mine. It was designed that way.
They made the top-half of the French Cleat the full width of the cabinet. The bottom-half (wall) is just 6″ wide. So I can shuffle my cabinet a little left or right until it’s balanced, centred, and hanging squarely.
The top-half of the Cleat is also slightly recessed – below the rear surface of the cabinet, so it doesn’t meet flush with the wall before the cabinet does.
By recessing this, the two halves of the cleat mate, but never quite meet fully i.e. bottom-out, so the cabinet is always pressing against the wall fully. The more weight you add inside the cabinet, the tighter the cabinet hugs the wall.
If you’ve already secured the top half of your cleat to your cabinet and don’t want to reposition/recess or thin your cleat slightly, then shave a little from the lower (sharp) edge of the cleat to prevent the two halves from bottoming-out.
I hope this makes sense.
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