unit hanging on stud wall

[kityuser]

i need some advice, and could`nt descide if this was off topic or not (?)

I need to hang a 600, 500, 600 kitchen unit section onto a stud wall.

There are existing kitchen units already hanging there but I am using more of the space and thus a different configuration (I think the existing stuff is 400, 300, 500).

the question is, what if the carcass hangers don`t line up with a stud?

there must be some really easy answer, but being unexperienced and early in the morning I can`t think of one..

cheers

steve

 

[StevieB]

The only immediate idea I can come up with is to screw a batten to the wall top and bottom, then fix the cupboards to that. the batten can them be fixed to the studs and the units positioned anywhere along it. The only downside is that your units now stand the thickness of the batten off the wall further than they should.

If you use 2"x1" batten it should be strong enough, and most walls are not straight anyway - I know my kitchen wall deviates by more than an inch along its length. I hid the gap with a piece of end panel, would it be possible for you to do the same?

A bit uglier bot a possible second way is to fit a batten to the wall and sit the units on it. THen screw through the plasterboard in the usual way to fit the units. Since most of the force of the cupboard is down this should be fine. The problem you have then is simply how do you hide the batten. I have seen angle aluminium used and the bottom portion tiled over to hide it, but it seemed a bit flimsy to me. Not sure how expensive (or heavy) angle steel would be?

hope that helps,

Steve.

 

[frank]

what about french cleats glue and screw one side to the wall ,fit the other to the back of the cabinets and tell the swmbo not to put all the tinned stuff in them , i had this happen to me on one job the lady tried to put a months shopping in the nice new cuboard .,cuboard came down with part of the wall :wink:

 

[Midnight]

My thoughts were to use a french cleat too, with a support batton carrying the bottom of the cupboard; I've a consumables rack in the shop, huge thing that weighs a ton empty... hangin off a 5/8" cleat... I tested it for security by doing pull ups on it... plenty strong....

 

[Anonymous]

I think that either Woodfit or Issac Lord stock long lengths of the hangers

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Isaac Lord certainly do stock this stuff-- kind of like a flattened z hence the name I guess in the US. I can't recall what it's called here in the UK now. Another source would almost certainly be Hafele. I seem to remember seeing it in their catalogue, and also probably Hettich.

Another option to consider where the cabinet fails to line up with a stud is to use what I know as E-Z Anchors (Easy Anchors, get it. You can tell I lived too long in the US, ha, ha.) They can be bought at B&Q and are large plastic or aluminium tapered screws with a very coarse deep thread on the outside.

Bore a hole in the plasterboard about 10 mm dia., and screw the thing in. Then bore a hole in the back of the cabinet and use a no. 8 or 10 screw to attach the cabinet back to the hole in the centre of the anchor. Very handy fittings for stud/plasterboard walls.

Not the strongest wall mounting in the world, but by the time that specific cabinet is hopefully attached to cabinets either side, and perhaps a ledger rail running along the bottom of all the wall mounted cabinets if that's where the problem exists, then more than strong enough.

Lastly, one rather drastic option is to rmove the plasterboard altogether and fit 18 mm plywood between the studs, patch in new plasterboard, repair the decorations and screw the cabinet directly into the plywood. Slainte.

 

[kityuser]

I am now thinking along the lines of:
1) offer up a carcass
2) mark on the wall where the hanger is located
3) remove the carcass and remove a 6 inch wide length of plaster board (along the wall) centred on the mark
4) machine out the studs enough to mount a 2 inch batten (or larger) flush with the plasterboard face.
5) make good the plasterboard
6) hang the carcass onto my "solid rail"


what do people think? is this a workable solution?


cheers for the attention

steve

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of work to be honest.

One thing unrelated to the hanging arrangement - I've found that a cheap scissors jack is ideal for positioning carcasses for marking and drilling. In fact I bought two cheap scissor jacks to assist me when I'm putting units on walls.

A scissor jack helps you to position the carcase very accurately.

The other very worthwhile addition to my toolbox in the last few months has been a cheapo rotating laser level - £30 in Focus DIY. Much, much better/easier than trying to measure or use a standard spirit level for, and especially when mounting points are on different walls.

Andrew

 

[cambournepete]

I think the "proper" way would be to add noggins between the studs - removing and then replacing the plasterboard. This is apparently what builders do when putting up the wall in the first place. The problem with any cleat system is that you need to srew the cleat into morethan one stud to ensure it's properly fixed, unless you trust glue/plasterboard. Don't forget that the cupboards could get very heavy...

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Steve, If you're going to go the drastic route I mentioned earlier it's often easier to go at it full hog in preference to pecking at it piecemeal as you describe.

Rather than take out the minimum plasterboard and twiddle about with cutting notches in joists it might be much easier to rip out a full 2 foot or so height of plasterboard so you have easy access to all the studs and so on.

This way you can easily cheek screw to the studs and scab in a decent sized section of 18 mm ply to the studs as a fixing point for your new cabinets. You could also screw or nail in a backing stop of 2 X 1 to the studs to locate the ply a set distance in from the front edge if you need to.

In many ways removing a big chunk makes patching easier too. Replacement plasterboard can be attached directly to the new plywood backing with sheetrock screws available at B&Q, and it doesn't really matter if you're redecorating a two foot square area or a ten foot square section. Repair work amounts to much the same in either case in terms of time and work involved. Slainte.