Hi,
I notice in the installation instructions it says to firmly anchor the wall and floor cupboards to the wall so that they don't tip over.
The old kitchen units that I have removed were not secured to the wall at all. They were screwed to the adjacent cupboard and to the worktop.
Are yours secured to the wall and if so, how? I was wondering whether one or two multimonti/thunderbolt type of screws per cupboard would be a good way of doing it?
TIA
Floor cupboards are basically supported by the floor. Wall cupboards by the wall. Therefore wall cupboards need a much stronger fixing to the wall than floor ones would - which would be simply to prevent them moving, rather than take any real load.
I went a bit overboard with the first wall cupboards I ever fitted. Two substantial Rawlbolts each!
Not quite sure how you have wall units not secured to the wall ... B-)
I make the worktop self supporting (if possible) by having a batten along the wall and the worktop attached to that with modesty blocks. The cupboards are joined together with joiners and each one will have modesty block somewhere near the front into the worktop.
The blocks don't carry any load they are just to stop things moving about.
Quite. There can be a *very* heavy load in wall cupboards - crockery or tinned stuff etc. I've seen properly fixed ones where the cupboards themselves have pulled apart.
I always secure the floor units to the wall - that's their only fixing, as although they stand on the floor, they aren't fixed to it. The IKEA frames have same wall fixings for floor and wall cupboards.
When I bought my first house, the surveyor's report highlighted the floor-standing units were not fixed to the wall and this was a safety hazard, particularly with children and elderly people.
On Sunday 29 September 2013 11:29 Fred wrote in uk.d-i-y:
Can see how they would tip over - especially when screwed to each other.
All said and done, I'd still fit mine with a few screws to a batten at the rear.
My worktop is secured to the wall. I also secured the caninets to the wall at the bottom.
Well wall units obviously need decent fixing. Floor cupboards however only need relatively light fixing. Typically one or two light metal L brackets as supplied with them to fix the backs in place. By the time the worktop is on and fixed and that is sealed to the wall, you are not going to tip over a cabinet.
Quite. A single floor standing unit might be different - but in the average fitted kitchen the mass of properly installed units linked by a worktop means fixings to the wall won't be doing very much.
Better to have several plastic block fixings than 2 bolts, as the chip itse lf has strength limits. Plastic block fixings also help stop load being pas sed from one part of the cabinet to another, thus strengthening what the ca b can support without long term sag.
NT
self has strength limits. Plastic block fixings also help stop load being p assed from one part of the cabinet to another, thus strengthening what the cab can support without long term sag.
Most of the wall cabinets I've seen recently used adjustable-in-all-degrees metal brackets that fixed to the side panels in the recess behind the back panel. They were fixed with metal spurs into holes in the chipboard so pre tty strong there. I fixed my cabinets to a cabinet hanging rail, and also put some frame fixi ngs through the back panel and bracing panel into the wall near the bottom, so the cabinet is not only hung, so less likely to pull apart. Sometime I might stick some concealing disks over the screws but in practice you don't notice them. Simon.
My wall units have battens under the central shelves - not too preety, but takes a lot of the load of that shelf. Good brackets for the rest - BSE (brick shithouse engineering) works a treat, with stressed things still sound after 40 years or so. Not SWMBO-friendly, though.
I normally just fix floor units together. With three or more and an attached worktop, gravity keeps them in place. Plus a bit of silicone between the worktop and the wall.
I normally fit a secure batten to go under wall cupboards to provide straight and horizontal location, then rest them on that so that they then don't need particularly strong fittings to the wall.
Having seen well fixed cupboards break off the wall, I made mine up using spur shelving brackets (they are on two walls with a corner between) and for once it cost no more than buying ready made. But could take any load which would fit inside.
Yes, there's a point where the fixings are stronger than the structure - bit like adhesive hooks on pain/paper.
Thanks for all the replies. I think I like the idea of using a batten behind the base units because it makes it much easier to screw anywhere along the length of the batten rather than have to hunt for studs in the wall.
Is there a minimum thickness required for the batten? Would a 1" thick batten be too weak to do the job; would it need to be 2x2?
TIA
That's a good idea, thanks. I guess any batten will be hidden from view by the pelmet. I have just asked this about battens behind base units but again, is there a minimum thickness for the batten you use on your wall cabinets?
I'm thinking you cannot use too big a batten because otherwise it will become visible but is a 1" thick batten strong enough? I was thinking of something like 2x1" with the 2" length touching the wall and the 1" width projecting to support the cupboards.
TIA
Not to quibble but they cant have been well fixed or they wouldn't have bro ken off the wall, or they were abused.
I also have seen cupboards come loose when some pillock piled full cartons of printed catalogues in them. They do have a design load and if this is ex ceeded off course they'll come down. There must be hundreds of thousands of these cupboards suspended from standard fixings around the country that ha ve given no trouble at all.
Have you ever seen stated on a wall cupboard how much load it can take?
These particular ones where stacked with china. Not unreasonable, I'd say, for kitchen cupboards. The fixing brackets pulled away from the carcase. Or rather, the other way round.
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