Sagging wall unit base

[R D S]

I was concerned about the base of a 1m wide wall unit sagging and it has/is. I was optimistic that if these things were being sold, surely they'd be fit for the job but appparently not.

But as I think about it....maybe these are intended to be used with a pelmet but I don't want one so...

It's going to bug me so I'm wondering if I could put a strip of steel under it, a couple of threaded holes in it and bolt through from the inside of the cupboard? What sort of thickness would I likely need to pull it back straight and keep it there?

[John Rumm]

The only way you will get the stiffness at that length is to go for a length of fairly thick walled angle iron or better still U channel.

The normal way to do it would be to route a couple of channels into the base to accept the steel (can be inside or outside as you prefer), and possibly a wider shallower channel to take the base of the steel and allow the whole thing to lay flush.

Like:

[Andrew]

Most people have under cabinet lighting, which is hidden by a 'pelmet' or some sort of trim strip glued to the front edge under the doors. This would have provided some extra strength.

None of my wall units are wider than 500mm

[Clive Arthur]

An alternative would be to trim the board so that a U channel will push on from the front. Like this...

[#############Wall

[Brian Gaff]

Most wall units seem not to be made to carry anything with any weight to it. I put a strut in the middle to the top. Brian

[Joe]

Anyone remember the old iron-frame beds?

Forty-ish years ago I made a wall unit from chipboard, around six feet long. I had an old bed to hand, and cut off one side of the frame to use as a brace underneath. It was angle iron, I suppose about 4mm thick, and it did the job. Of course, the unit, with doors and mirror removed, still took two men to slide it (*not* lift) around.

Chipboard just can't carry weight.

[Andrew]

I would expect a 1 metre wide wall cupboard that have that anyway Brian, with a pair of 500mm doors closing to the centre. Then the top bottom and ?middle shelf would all be connected with that centre strut.

Andrew

[R D S]

No, it's a wide but squat cupboard and the door opens upwards. 1m span, unsupported.

[Andrew]

That sounds like it is mounted with the top edge in line with the normal wall units, in which case you ?don't want an unsightly bit of angle iron underneath it and on view. I would strengthen the top and connect it to the soggy bottom with an internal upright fitted at the mid point.

Whether you can jack up the bottom easily is another matter.