French Cleat Walls: Let's Discuss

[Beowulf]

Ok, there is a fantastic thread here about what is on your walls. This lead me to investigate French Cleat Systems. I stumbled upon this site that has tons of ideas for the Garage and a couple are on French Cleat Walls. With this idea floating around in my head, I figured I’d come to source of all Garage Craziness and start a thread dedicated to French Cleat ideas. Let’s discuss why you did the system, or why you did not. What you would have done differently. Things to watch out for. How yours is unique. Materials used…….etc

And of course the most important thing, just an opportunity to show of you Garage.

Here are some ideas.
http://www.familyhandyman.com/garage/storage/customizable-garage-storage/step-by-step

http://www.familyhandyman.com/garage/storage/garage-storage-systems/step-by-step

Disclaimer: If there is already a thread about this, feel free to point me in the correct direction.

An image to get things going. Not mine.

 

[Beowulf]

Found one. I just needed to change my search name to "Slat Wall"

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201298&highlight=french+cleat

 

[mds5951]

So I'll ask a question that I've been pondering... Is it better to use boards or plywood for the system? Or doesn't it really matter?

Not trying to hijack!

 

[Beowulf]

I've been wondering the same thing. Eveything I've read just keeps saying 3/4" plywood. But is that because of cost or strength. Wouldn't 1"x4" oak or something like that be better? I just don't know.

 

[mbatarga]

I personally would recommend the use of a hardwood - such as oak. I think the use of plywood is recommended because of convenience and price - numerous cleats can be cut from a single sheet.

 

[Beowulf]

Ok, let's talk about angle. I most commonly see 45deg, but have seen where people say that is too steep creating too sharp of an angle, thus reducing strength. 30deg was recommended. Thoughts on 45 vs 30?

 

[MikeYC]

I did mine with scrap 2x4's when I hung my wall cabinets. also put a spacer on the bottom and I have a perfect wireway for speakers/antenna's behind the cabinet.

 

[Crusarius]

Plywood is less likely to split.

 

[sublimate]

Found one. I just needed to change my search name to "Slat Wall"

You might also try "Freedom!" Cleat Walls.

 

[aka Larry]

You might also try "Freedom!" Cleat Walls.

And be careful when you paint them because it's bound to RUN.

 

[JMartel]

Ok, let's talk about angle. I most commonly see 45deg, but have seen where people say that is too steep creating too sharp of an angle, thus reducing strength. 30deg was recommended. Thoughts on 45 vs 30?

Realistically, it won't matter much.

The vast majority of the force is directed straight down. Whether you have a 30 degree angle or a 45 degree angle, the effective shear area is the same. Personally, I'd do it at 45. Provides more resistance to the object coming off the wall horizontally.

But, again, it doesn't really matter.


If you use wood instead of plywood, be sure to drill pilot holes so you don't split the wood.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I would guess 1x3, 1x4 pine (no "firing strips", grade 2, and sort for 3 solid edges) would be adequate.

2x4 are over kill, but if you run them through a table saw so that you get 4 square corners (results would be about 1.25 x 3.25) they would be nice.

 

[trainer]

I 've used 1x4 white pine and red pine, ripped at 45 deg down the centre, then knock about 1/8" off the point of each strip so that they nest snugly together. One half goes on the wall, the other on the cabinet or whetever.

Use a good grade of screws to secure them to the wall, as the strength of the fastener is more important than the strength of wood in a french cleat system.

I've hung all the cabinets in my shop as well as a set of kitchen cabinets like this

 

[smedly]

This one is mine. Used plywood because it was free, strong and looked pretty good.


Not sure if I ever saw the lower block done or if I came up with it on my own. It works great.

I also put them above the workbench and attached all sorts of stuff to it.


One large wall area and a strip running the perimeter of the garage.


I use this all the time and constantly shift things according to my needs.

 

[Beowulf]

Yours is the first I have ever seen like this and it like it. I'm thinking about taking this idea a step further. How about drilling out the bottom block and insterting a bolt. Once you have the cleat where you want it just tighten the bolt so it pulls the top portion down and would make it extremely hard for it to be accidentally ripped off.

 

[Always_Thinkin]

I agree that the use of a 3/4 inch plywood for making the cleats would be better than say a pine 1x4 etc. I think it would be very strong and rigid mounted to the wall and would not have a tendancy to warp or split. I also would want to radius the 45 degree point so the plywood would no want to splinter off. I like the idea of usiing a set screw setup to lock the cleat in after it has been repositioned...just my $0.02

 

[84944Redline]

What originally led me to trying out a French cleat system was when trying to figure out how to wall mount cabinets. My dilemma was stud spacing...how was I supposed to mount cabinets next to each other when the mounting holes didn't line up with my wall studs. It was my first time doing this, so I had no idea.

I ran across the French cleat system and that solved my problem. And not only that, but it gave me a very sturdy and reliable system to hold up a lot of weight. And since I'm a one man operation, it also put a lot of ease into mounting large cabinets since I just had to momentarily lift the cabinets into place on the wall instead of try to figure out how to hold them suspended while I drilled in a screw. :-/

These are some of the materials I chose to use. I couldn't find exact details on what is best to use, so I searched around and to make good choices. I'm really not sure about the Miratec board, but the cabinets aren't large nor loaded down with a lot of weight. Plus I wanted to try this composite type material to see how it works.

3/4" Birch plywood sheet for my large floor and wall cabinets
1" X 4" Miratec composite boards for my shallow wall mount cabinets from HF
SPAX Powerlags T-Star Washer Head
- 1/4 X 4" for the big cabinets
- 1/4 X 3" for wall cabinets
miscellaneous bolts, washers, locking nuts, and rubber caps

I'll post up some pictures when I can get to my other computer.

I'm extremely impressed with using this. One of the big features I'm not using is the ability to quickly and easily relocate something. If I had a lot of hanging tools and such, then I definitely would have built a wall system and various hanging cleats. Maybe some day if I ever get a bigger garage!

 

[Old Moparz]

I've been wanting to use the cleat system for years & finally did when I hung some large, mid 70's, vintage Fisher speakers to free up some floor space. I weighed the speaker but forget now what that was, maybe 40 pounds or so. I mounted plywood to the rear of the speaker since it's particle board, then ripped a 2x4 at 45 degrees & bolted each half to the speaker & the wall. It worked great so when I hung shelving/cabinets that I made over my work bench I did the same thing, but with leftover 1x6's I had.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

I'm a big fan of the cleat wall. I first used it when volunteering at our local school. They had a big mess of loose hand tools.

The local lumber supplier had sections of fir flooring that was 1.5x3. I ripped an angle down all the pieces (I think it was .45, have to check). Attached to white MDF, that way I could take the whole thing to the school and install. It worked out so well, I did it on my home shop.

It holds an incredible amount of weight and is easy to adapt to different tools.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I 've used 1x4 white pine and red pine, ripped at 45 deg down the centre, then knock about 1/8" off the point of each strip so that they nest snugly together. One half goes on the wall, the other on the cabinet or whatever.

Use a good grade of screws to secure them to the wall, as the strength of the fastener is more important than the strength of wood in a french cleat system.

This is NOT a place where you want to use drywall screws !

 

[theoldwizard1]

This one is mine. Used plywood because it was free, strong and looked pretty good.

FREE is good !

... I use this all the time and constantly shift things according to my needs.

I never thought of that, but with your small custom hooks, mounts, etc. it is a GREAT idea !

 

[mbatarga]

I have used hardwood (oak mostly) and plywood for french cleats. I'll cut several at a time - and using a 45 degree angle allows me to just grab one off the stack without consideration as to if it mounts to the wall or the object. If you use other than 45 degrees, you have to take that into account - as you have to use the cleat boards cut in pairs.

 

[Beowulf]

What about painting or sealing? Does everyone just leave it raw? I wonder if the paint would make the cleat stick to the slate over time with pressure. Then when you remove it, you'd peel the paint.

 

[84944Redline]

I left it bare. Thought about painting it, but didn't because I knew it would stick. I had to take down a cabinet to run some wiring and even with it bare it still took some paint off the wall.

 

[28HopUp]

My son's HS marching band will be getting a new 7x16' cargo trailer. I think designing a French Cleat mounting system for shelves/mounts would be a great idea in terms of flexibility for moving them around as needed. Should I be concerned about them sliding/falling while the trailer is being pulled?

 

[bad5x8]

For a band trailer....think "E" Track.

 

[Kevin54]

If you do a search on Bing for "French Cleat" in images, you will find a boat load of ideas. A lot of the images come back to GJ under different threads over the years.

 

[iibgdi]

So you guys are saying this is a great system to use to mount cabinets?

This winter I will be working on building cabinets for my garage and if this will work, it would be great.

Especially for someone as indecisive as I am about how and where to put things and mount them. This could be great for me.

 

[Kevin54]

So you guys are saying this is a great system to use to mount cabinets?

This winter I will be working on building cabinets for my garage and if this will work, it would be great.

Especially for someone as indecisive as I am about how and where to put things and mount them. This could be great for me.

French Cleats are probably the most universal and the strongest simple system there is?

 

[smedly]

My son's HS marching band will be getting a new 7x16' cargo trailer. I think designing a French Cleat mounting system for shelves/mounts would be a great idea in terms of flexibility for moving them around as needed. Should I be concerned about them sliding/falling while the trailer is being pulled?

I'd vote no on the trailer, not for sliding, but the bouncing. You could do something to lock them in place.

So you guys are saying this is a great system to use to mount cabinets?

This winter I will be working on building cabinets for my garage and if this will work, it would be great.

Especially for someone as indecisive as I am about how and where to put things and mount them. This could be great for me.

I have a few cabinets hung this way. Works great, and easy to hang.

 

[lilscorpion]

I've used French cleats all over the shop. Mine are made out of high grade play (Baltic Birch) cut on a 45 degree angle. I have them on backsplash of my bench so I can move around various shelves, holders, etc.

Doesn't take much of a cleat to attach an accessory to the wall.

Or impact "holster"

Or heavier R8 tooling holders

Which got me thinking and I made a cabinet for the R8 holders so they could be put away.

My favorite was being able to attach bins of heavy fasteners. Again a simple little cleat on the back of the bin.

Makes them easy to suspend in a location above the work surface which is easy to get at with your freehand but doesn't take up any of your work surface. Every bin will have one when I get to it. The ones I use often got them right away.

Ive found threads on the net where they've been used to mount heavy shelving, counters, and other situations where they really do hang on under some reasonable loads. I've yet to have one split on either side and have some that have been in an untreated state since they were made and others that have been coated/sealed with polyurethane. I've made some that go with the grain but try to cut them against the grain because it seems to me that having the 45 go against will make them stronger.

Question about angle - I'm not sure I'd cut them at any shallower of an angle than 45 mostly because of how well a pair latch together and hang on...not that a lesser angle wouldn't work I guess. It's so easy I guess I can think of a reason why a lesser angle is worth doing. My saw stops at 45 (I actually go to the factory set stop so I may be a few degrees beyond 45).

About material - as stated by others, most seem to use plywood because a small sheet makes a grip of strips. I liked it because I was able to fully utilize some drops I had from a cabinet project. Wile I was researching I found examples made out of a variety of materials but my guess is, if you intend to make new holders over time, you'll pick a material that's very consistent in thickness. For the cleat to work correctly both sides need to be the same thickness. Given how ply is made, I'd bet it's fairly consistent. Not sure I can say that about all lumber I've used. To be fair though, my wood experiences are limited so I'm not the best to ask.

 

[iibgdi]

when mounting cabinets on cleats do you still screw it to the wall or is it good enough to hang there?

I guess I could see just running a screw in from the back of the cabinet through the mounting cleat and into the one on the wall just for added safety but I'm guessing one would be enough.

 

[smedly]

when mounting cabinets on cleats do you still screw it to the wall or is it good enough to hang there?

I guess I could see just running a screw in from the back of the cabinet through the mounting cleat and into the one on the wall just for added safety but I'm guessing one would be enough.

I did fasten the cabinet through the cleats just to be sure.

I did also have some trouble with wavy walls. The cleat follows the contour fine, but the thing I am hanging at times has issues.

 

[GGB]

I used 1x4 pine cut exactly in the middle at a 45 degree angle for box shelf cabinets for my Bride for one of my wife's collections. One piece of the cleat formed the top piece of the back of the cabinet, and I cut the wall cleat slightly smaller to allow some wiggle room when hanging the cabinets next to each other. It worked great, and made it easier to hang the cabinets by myself. Once I had the cabinets hung and positioned, I screwed the cabinet side cleat to the studs where possible for additional strength.

After a couple of trial runs, I decided that champhering the edge off the cleats really didn't make a difference. Out of 16 cabinets, I only had to tweak 2 edges, and that was due to wall and ceiling variances.

I'm going to use French Cleats in my barn when I reorganize it, with the same style as others have shown for tools. Great flexibility to make changes as required for the future!

GGB

 

[iibgdi]

For hanging cabinets, did you guys put a cleat on the top and on the bottom or middle?

It appears to me that if I only put one on the top, the cabinet would tilt out at the top.

 

[JMartel]

For hanging cabinets, did you guys put a cleat on the top and on the bottom or middle?

It appears to me that if I only put one on the top, the cabinet would tilt out at the top.

Typically you would at the very least put the same thickness piece of wood at the bottom to bump the lower part of the cabinet out to match.

 

[lilscorpion]

For hanging cabinets, did you guys put a cleat on the top and on the bottom or middle?

It appears to me that if I only put one on the top, the cabinet would tilt out at the top.

I put slats closer together on the wall to eliminate the need for any spacer at the bottom. Made sense since I planned on moving things around frequently. For a more permanent placement I might just add spacer.

 

[28HopUp]

Thanks for the feedback on the trailer - much appreciated!

 

[FarmerPete]

I love the idea of the french cleat. I'll probably use it once I start rebuilding my garage. I'm definitely going to have to come up with a different name for it, because my hatred for the French is very well known amongst my family and friends. I'm not sure if I'd go with Freedom Cleats, since then people would know that I'm using a French product. Maybe I'll call them Pirate Cleats. Just cause I like Pirates. Or maybe I'll call them Ninja Cleats. Hmm, Pirate or Ninja....Pirate vs Ninja...I can't decide!!!

 

[ccrunch]

I have this type of metal siding on the interior walls of my garage...the vertical peaks are about 9 inches apart.

Any ideas on how to use french cleats with this? I don't imagine I can just screw the strips to the peaks...I assume the parts of the strip over the valleys would deflect if I hung anything heavy.

Maybe use thicker wood for the strips? I have a ton of 3/4" plywood that I'd love to use, though.