Author Topic: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?  (Read 21064 times)

nereo

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mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« on: January 01, 2015, 02:52:58 PM »
Starting new year off by tackling some DIY projects, including mounting a set of three wall cabinets (not in a kitchen)

My plan is to put three wall cabinets together, 24", 15" and 24" wide (all 12" deep).  The 15" cabinet will be in the center of the three.
The wall I'm mounting them to has 16" studs.
For the 24" cabinets it's straightforward - each will have be screwed into two studs, top and bottom.

The 15" cabinet has me more worried - there's no way of mounting it into more than one stud.  I will screw the cabinets to each other but I'm still concerned that the 15" cabinet will hold ok with just two screws (one top and one bottom).  I've thought about running two strips of wood horizontally behind the cabinets to give another attachment point, but I'd rather not have the cabinets stick out another 1/2".

am I ok to proceed with the 15" only screwed into the single stud?  I don't want it to rip out of the wall once I load it up with stuff.

geekette

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2015, 03:14:52 PM »
Look into using a French Cleat. Often used for pictures, but can be used for other things that need to be snug to the wall.

nereo

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2015, 04:09:59 PM »
Look into using a French Cleat. Often used for pictures, but can be used for other things that need to be snug to the wall.
awesome idea - should have thought of it sooner.  I'd still have to cut a molding strip to hide the gap along the sides, but that's a small problem to overcome.
cheers

Al1961

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2015, 04:53:39 PM »
The French cleat is a good idea. Especially useful in keeping things level with less fuss.

When I built and installed the cabinets in my last house, I clamped and screwed the cabinets to each other as they were installed, essentially creating a monolithic unit, so it didn't matter if a cabinet only had one stud behind it, as it was also supported by flanking cabinets.

(I didn't bother with the French cleat.)

Al

paddedhat

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2015, 06:54:24 PM »
Don't bother with whatever a "French cleat" is. There are countless hundreds of cabinets hung every day, attached to a single stud, and they will still be there decades from now.  As the previous poster notes, if the job is done correctly, you are not hanging a cabinet, but a group of three, that are thoroughly screwed to each other. I use a great cabinet guy, that does nothing but installations and counter top fabrication. He screws the face frames together, minimum of two screws per box, and attached the cabinets to the walls with 3" screws and trim washers, using two screws per stud. I have never, ever had a problem with an "upper" coming loose, in 25 years of building and remodeling. Using this method, I would confidently do a pull up, while hanging off the upper face frame of any wall cabinet. Good luck.

Longwaytogo

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2015, 09:48:47 PM »
Don't bother with whatever a "French cleat" is. There are countless hundreds of cabinets hung every day, attached to a single stud, and they will still be there decades from now.  As the previous poster notes, if the job is done correctly, you are not hanging a cabinet, but a group of three, that are thoroughly screwed to each other. I use a great cabinet guy, that does nothing but installations and counter top fabrication. He screws the face frames together, minimum of two screws per box, and attached the cabinets to the walls with 3" screws and trim washers, using two screws per stud. I have never, ever had a problem with an "upper" coming loose, in 25 years of building and remodeling. Using this method, I would confidently do a pull up, while hanging off the upper face frame of any wall cabinet. Good luck.

I'll second that. Installed thousands of cabinets; as long as they are attached properly to each other 1 stud will be fine. If you put enough weight in that cabinet to make that screw fail the bottom of the cabinet would most likely break first.  Have fun with your project!

Abe

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2015, 06:12:53 AM »
Another, very strong, option is to put a long 1x3 below the cabinets, screw this into multiple studs, and rest the cabinets on this piece while screwing the backs into studs. You can then put molding over the 1x3 to make it decorative. Just make sure there aren't gaps between the bottom of the cabinet and the 1x3, which can occur if the cabinet bottom is not flush with its sides. This is likely overkill as others noted.

Greg

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2015, 10:14:26 AM »
As long as the cabinets are screwed together "well and good", the one stud attachment of the 15" cabinet will be fine.  In any case, don't use drywall screws for this or for hanging the cabinets.

nereo

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2015, 12:25:44 PM »
thanks all for the input and putting my fears to bed.  The cabinets are hung with 3" #8 screws & washers (screwed together) and they look good. The 24" cabinets have 4 screws each (two in each stud, top and bottom) and the 15" cabinet has just the two screws into a single stud, top and bottom.

... I just hold those screws in my hand and think "wow, these 10 pieces of metal are going to hold that up there for decades?"  Seems it will though.
thanks

Greg

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2015, 01:28:26 PM »
Each screw is probably good for about 400 lbs. in shear, so yeah, you'll be fine.

Once I got to do some post-earthquake damage on a fancy-pants house.  9' of heavy oak upper cabinet with glass doors full of heavy glass artsy-fartsy stuff partially came off the wall.  Turns out they were hung using big finish nails, only a few of which hit any studs.  Miracle it didn't come down sooner.

dunhamjr

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2015, 12:03:57 PM »
there are a number of options.

cut the drywall and put in a horizontal 2x4 between the studs to secure to.
cut out the drywall and install plywood.
french cleat.

but attaching the 15" cabinet properly to the cabinets on either side, and also secured into the stud should be more than strong enough.

risky4me

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Re: mounting wall cabinets - 15" will use only 1 stud...?
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2015, 03:38:15 PM »
thanks all for the input and putting my fears to bed.  The cabinets are hung with 3" #8 screws & washers (screwed together) and they look good. The 24" cabinets have 4 screws each (two in each stud, top and bottom) and the 15" cabinet has just the two screws into a single stud, top and bottom.

... I just hold those screws in my hand and think "wow, these 10 pieces of metal are going to hold that up there for decades?"  Seems it will though.
thanks
I have installed many kitchen cabinets and you will be just fine since this is an 'assembly'. Another trick to hide the cabinet joining screws is to remove the hinges(if using that type of hinge), use wooden clamps to clamp the face frames, and then use a 8x2 screw in a pre-drilled hole behind the where the hinge will cover. Pre-drilling really is your insurance that screw wont wander and ruin the face frame, and will reduce chance of splitting face frame- both major bummers.

 

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