building a wardrobe

[Fred]

Hi,

I have an alcove that I would like to convert into a wardrobe.

I think I will construct a frame from floor to ceiling and on this I will hang doors and plasterboard.

I would like to have a clothes rail run across the wardrobe. I could run it all the way across or I was wondering about running it 2/3rds of the way across and having shelves in the remaining third.

The problem is what to attach the pole and/ or shelves to? The walls are plasterboard with a bedroom and airing cupboard on the other sides, so no brick to screw into. Judging from previous experience, the walls will be 9.5mm plasterboard supported only at the edges by

1.5"x1.5" timber with "egg box" cardboard glued inside to give rigidity, so no studs either ;(

I don't really want to take the walls apart to add studs because I don't want to disturb and redecorate the adjacent room at the moment.

I did wonder about attaching some 18mm plywood to the walls using hollow wall anchors. I figured this would allow me to fit rails or shelves at any height later on. Then I found out that good plywood is now £42 per sheet! (shuttering is cheaper but not as pretty) and the alcove is 76cm deep so I would need a sheet per side, and possibly a third in the middle, if I wanted to divide the space.

The merchant no longer sells blockboard, which I think is a great shame.

That only leaves me with mdf or chipboard. I have no experience of mdf but what about chipboard? If I painted some 18mm chipboard hopefully it would not look too ugly and might do the job for a quarter of the price? Hopefully much of it would be hidden by the clothes.

Is there a better way?

TIA

[Bob Minchin]

MDF especially MRMDF will take paint far better than chipboard. Drill a hole for your rail in each cheek then fix to the wall. It will never fall out. Treat cut edges of mdf with plasterboard jointing compound and rub down when dry to seal and give a great surface for painting.

hth

Bob

[John Miller]

Hi,

I have an alcove that I would like to convert into a wardrobe.

I think I will construct a frame from floor to ceiling and on this I will hang doors and plasterboard.

I would like to have a clothes rail run across the wardrobe. I could run it all the way across or I was wondering about running it 2/3rds of the way across and having shelves in the remaining third.

The problem is what to attach the pole and/ or shelves to? The walls are plasterboard with a bedroom and airing cupboard on the other sides, so no brick to screw into. Judging from previous experience, the walls will be 9.5mm plasterboard supported only at the edges by

1.5"x1.5" timber with "egg box" cardboard glued inside to give rigidity, so no studs either ;(

I don't really want to take the walls apart to add studs because I don't want to disturb and redecorate the adjacent room at the moment.

I did wonder about attaching some 18mm plywood to the walls using hollow wall anchors. I figured this would allow me to fit rails or shelves at any height later on. Then I found out that good plywood is now £42 per sheet! (shuttering is cheaper but not as pretty) and the alcove is 76cm deep so I would need a sheet per side, and possibly a third in the middle, if I wanted to divide the space.

The merchant no longer sells blockboard, which I think is a great shame.

That only leaves me with mdf or chipboard. I have no experience of mdf but what about chipboard? If I painted some 18mm chipboard hopefully it would not look too ugly and might do the job for a quarter of the price? Hopefully much of it would be hidden by the clothes.

Is there a better way?

TIA

---------------------------------------- Have you considered using furniture board (ie melamine or wood-effect faced stuff) like Contiboard? Cheaper versions are available from Wickes, etc.

John M

[Fred]

Yes, I thought of that but I think the likes of Wickes and B&Q only stock up to 60cm wide and I'd need 76cm. I'll have to ask at the timber merchants what other sizes are available and their costs.

Thanks.

[Nige Danton]

I'd say definitely not chipboard - doubtful you could ever get a decent surface.

[John Miller]

Yes, I thought of that but I think the likes of Wickes and B&Q only stock up to 60cm wide and I'd need 76cm. I'll have to ask at the timber merchants what other sizes are available and their costs.

Thanks.

------------------------------------

According to the Conti website, the white plastic stuff is available in

762mm width. The B&Q website has it available at 16.98GBP per sheet (2440x762)

John M

[The Medway Handyman]

You don't need to attach a complete sheet, just battens say 4" wide. Fixed with hollow wall anchors and bonded on with grab adhesive to spread the load.

[Newshound]

If you face your alcove with 9 mm or 12 mm plywood and have it stabilised against bowing or buckling by screwing into the studs behind the plasterboard, it will then take quite a substantial shear load. You could put some "no more nails" or similar to glue it to the plasterboard, and save on screws. You might have to glue and screw a "boss" of 18 mm plywood at the rail position to spread the load of the rail.

I have one made from shuttering ply and it does look a bit rough with just a couple of coats of paint, although I am planning to sand and re-paint when I get round to decorating.

[Fred]

Sorry, my mistake. Wickes only have it up to 600mm, I thought the same was true of B&Q. That's a very good price; I saw the 762mm board, which would be an ideal fit, at my timber merchant but they wanted £25 per sheet.

I thought their £42 per sheet for ply was dear until I saw Wickes were selling quarter of a sheet for £30! To be fair to them, these prices were for good plywood and shuttering would have been cheaper but less pretty.

[Fred]

Thanks I had thought of that and if it were just for one rail, I might do it, but I haven't decided if I might want to fit some shelves in there and if so, I think a series of battens might look a bit ugly.

[Fred]

I was surprised when I saw some in the shops, that the surface was not as coarse as I had imagined, but yes, it will never be as smooth as mdf or good plywood. I thought perhaps hidden behind clothes it might not matter. I did briefly wonder if I could paint it and then paper over it. I imagine the painting first is critical because I wouldn't want the wallpaper paste to destroy the chipboard!

[Fred]

Thanks. I'm glad to hear someone has done it before and I'm not completely mad!

Perhaps 18mm plywood is over the top and I could economise with 12mm.

I think good 12mm is £28 per sheet and shuttering 18mm is £20, so I might have a look how ugly the shuttering is first. I used some to clad a garage and it was prettier than I expected.

Did you divide the alcove into two with a central sheet? I might fix this to the frame across the front and the wall at the back?