Can I hang cabinets from metal studs?

[Unisaw A-100]

What we do for commercial jobs is have the GC provide 6" wide heavy gage (gauge David) coil stock wherever we need in wall blocking. This is screwed directly to the face of the stud.. You could also use horizontal steel studs bay making screw tabs on the ends.

Personally I like 2 X 6's. If your studs are 16" on center cut the 2X material to 15 7/8"(ish) and notch (dado) the face of one end to clear the break (wrap) in the steel studs. Working from the notched end face screw the 2X in place through the stud and into the face of the 2X. Screw the other end through the stud and into the end of the 2X.

It's as easy as eating pie.

UA100

[Jonah]

[Greg O]

I would add some 2x4 backing to the inside of the metal stud where the cabinets will hang. Then when you hang the cabinets the screws will go through the stud, into the 2x4's. Greg

[Wilson Lamb]

[Leon]

The plywood is on the back side of the front face of the stud. The screws that hold the plywood go through the steel first and then into the plywood.

[Leon]

OK, steel studs are 3 sided. Think of the letter C. The Plywood is attached behind the front face of the steel stud. The screw goes through the front face of the steel stud and then into the plywood. The screw has the thickness of the plywood to get its holding power. If the screw simply went through the steel stud it would strip and pull out of the stud. Then the cavbinet screws are screwed into the plywood.

[phildcrowNOSPAM]

Yep. Done about a zillion linear feet of blocking that way (at least it seems that much. Blocking is _boring_ work). Not only can you drive a screw anywhere you want, but you know the screw won't pull out. And, the load is distributed along the whole wall. Also, scrap 2x or

3/4 ply is abundant in pieces 15 7/8" long.

Regarding an earlier post, I think maybe the french cleat idea is maybe not so good, seeing as how the RV will be going over bumps and whatnot.

Hope it helps.

-Phil Crow

[Wes Stewart]

Gotcha

[Richard Clements]

I think steel is stronger, isn't it? when I worked Demo for a summer, the steel walls where a lot harder to tear down. just one steel stud will flex and bend etc. be get two or more secured and there very secure, could be wrong, just what I remebered

[Brian Elfert]

I can't imagine steel studs are stronger than wood unless you get into 20 gauge or heavier. Do they even make load bearing walls from steel studs like they do with wood studs?

The fact that steel studs flex so bad is probably a sign that the studs are not very strong.

I don't need strong walls for my RV. I just need walls that can hold wiring and insulation along with holding up cabinets.

Brian Elfert

[Unquestionably Confused]

Your solution has already been posted, Brian. Take your choice: Transition to wood studs where the cabinets will be hung or, and this I think is the winner, use the 2"x6" notched to backup the steel studs.

As for the strength, the metal studs which I've seen installed used construction adhesive AND screws to fasten the wallboard. Think torsion box when that job's done. The weak point is sticking those screws through that thin piece of metal and then subjecting it to the weight of the cabinet trying to pull it out. If it was merely the shear force of the cabinet trying to reach the floor you'd probably be okay but load that cabinet up and have a door that swings wide, etc. and you introduce other forces on that fastener which the steel stud may not hold all that well.

Just out of curiosity, how big is this semi-trailer RV going to be? contain? You just going to haul it some place (hunting area) and park it or actually travel around pulling it with a tractor?

As others have said, it's an interesting project. Hopefully you'll post some pictures as it progresses

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 05:18:59 GMT, Unquestionably Confused scribbled:

Brian, the mention of torsion boxes gave me an idea that you might consider. When I was rebuilding the front of my camper I ended up creating a torsion box for the floor. (see:

milled 1"X1" (real dimension, not 3/4") cedar on 1-foot squares grid with 1/8" plywood glued on each side. It is more than sufficient to hold up my weight (250lb) on a 4'X7' floor.

I don't know what the shear strength would be of this kind of construction, but note that the cupboards on my camper (late 70's) are screwed into a wall made with 3/4" lumber and they haven't moved despite having been used mostly on very rough Yukon backroads. I'll let you do the weight calculations to compare it with steel studs. You might have to make the wall thicker for the lecktrical stuff.

Just an idea, but it brings the whole thing back to wooddorking.

Luigi Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

[Leon]

Snip

Absolutely, Builders in Houston use them to build houses.

Like 2x4 studs, they need a covering like dry wall to become rigid.

[Larry Jaques]

On 24 Mar 2005 18:10:22 -0800, the inscrutable [e-mail] spake:

Simple fix: Use upper and lower sets of cleats and affix with screws through the backs (into the bottom cleats) to hold them in place.

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[phildcrowNOSPAM]

ah HAH! So _that's_ why we keep you around!

-Phil Crow

[bridger]

consider using plywood instead of drywall for the sheet goods over the studs. you'll save weight and add both strength and stiffness to the structure. then you can get an attachment you can count on for the cabinetry.

build the cabinets as light as you can. lauan ply is light for it's strength, comes with a surface that is smooth enough for laminate but will likely need some prep before paint.

[Larry Jaques]

On 25 Mar 2005 08:14:06 -0800, the inscrutable [e-mail] spake:

2nd alternative: Use french cleats upside down on the bottom row so they make dovetails, then slide on the cabinets!

Send money, not praise. ;)

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[Ba r r y]

Steel studs are common in commercial construction. I haven't seen a wood stud in a phone building for at least 15-20 years, regardless if the wall carries a load. Lots of these walls have counters, cabinets, etc... mounted to them. A lot of this stuff is installed as an afterthought, so the wall was not specially designed to carry the load.

Barry

[Brian Elfert]

I'm guessing commercial construction uses 20 gauge metal studs for load bearing walls, not the 25 gauge metal studs they sell at all the home improvement centers.

I was thinking about the 25 gauge studs when I was questioning if any used them for load bearing walls.

Brian Elfert

[Ron Bean]

I did some web searching on this a while back, and found a number of people who claimed to be hanging cabinets from steelstuds with no problems (I don't know what guage of steel they were using).

I assume the success rate would vary with the amount of weight and the number of screws (and whether you're using screws designed for steel studs). It seems to me there should be some kind of rule of thumb for weight-per-screw. The screws seem to grip pretty well.

Another possible strategy is to arrange things so that something else takes the weight, and the studs just hold it upright.

The OP said his walls weren't up yet, so I'd certainly add wood blocking wherever it might come in handy. For an RV, you also have to consider dynamic loads. I like the idea of a french cleat, with a peg that has to be removed before you can lift the cabinet off the cleat.