Drywall anchor mistake garage cabinets

[Wuaname]

Umm, i made a mistake in putting up my new new age cabinets. I am using the Toggler Zip tie anchors. Instead of putting then into the wall prior to putting cabinets up, I put cabinets up to wall, and then put in the wall the toggles and bolted in.

I am not sure how big of a problem this will be down the road and how firm the cabinets will be. I was able to get each cabinet attached to 1-2 metal studs in the wall and the rest direct to dry wall.

Should i take them all down and redo or will it help just adding more toggles?


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[Tyberius]

Bolt all the cabinets together to spread the load to the studs.

 

[Andybull]

Drywall is not a weight bearing part of a sructure, as a matter of fact, neither are the lightweight metal studs used in residential housing;

Non-load bearing or non-structural metal studs and framing are not designed or intended to carry any axial loads. Axial loads would include such elements as floor joists, ceiling joists, roof rafters, or roof trusses. They are, however, designed to carry the dead load of many typical wall finishes such as gypsum board, plaster work, or similar finishes, and to provide resistance to normal transverse loads. Lateral loads cannot exceed 10 lb/sq. ft on a steel framed wall system as defined by ASTM C645.

I would suggest cutting a horizontal strip of drywall, the length of the cabintes and adding a 1x4 strip of wood or plywood, preferably behind the stud lip.
If you plan to load the cabinets with a lot of weight, you may want to add another strip just above the bottom edge of the cabinets, I'm assuming these are wall cabinets.
I owned a cabinet company for 39 years, I've seen enough cabinets that crashed on the floor from installers, assuming the drywall and metal studs alone would hold.

 

[readhead]

Andy is exactly right. Wood backing should have been installed in the framing. Cut the drywall and install the backing. Hanging them from the drywall is a BAD,BAD idea.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Bolt all the cabinets together to spread the load to the studs.

+1 !

 

[Kingcreek]

If you tend to load up cabinets like I do, you're gonna regret it if you don't start over with adequate structural support and anchoring. more is definitely better and its easier to do now than later.

 

[Erampu]

Andy, I think you could hang a rifle safe off those bawangas in your avatar.

 

[BobRae]

I'm planning on hanging the same New Age cabinets in my garage. My plan was to screw them into the 2 x 4 studs. Is that a problem?

 

[Andybull]

I'm planning on hanging the same New Age cabinets in my garage. My plan was to screw them into the 2 x 4 studs. Is that a problem?

Not if you have wood studs.

 

[Andybull]

Andy, I think you could hang a rifle safe off those bawangas in your avatar.

They are not that heavy .

 

[sands35]

You can put up wood over the drywall. 1x4 or 1x6 with construction lags into the studs at the top and bottom of the cabinets will work.

No need to rip out drywall to install studs.

 

[ZRX61]

You can put up wood over the drywall. 1x4 or 1x6 with construction lags into the studs at the top and bottom of the cabinets will work.

No need to rip out drywall to install studs.

Surely all that does is put a piece of wood between the metal studs & the cabinets. So the flimsy anchoring issue in now between the cabinet/wood & the metal studs?

 

[Wuaname]

I got lots of work to do whenI get back from the west coast. Not sure if i can do a 2x4 behind the drywall, but looks like any solution the cabinets will have to come down. As i did some googling, i read some suggesting adding glue to the cabinets / walls.

I am going to bolt all the cabinets togetner, that was the plan

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Umm, i made a mistake in putting up my new new age cabinets. I am using the Toggler Zip tie anchors. Instead of putting then into the wall prior to putting cabinets up, I put cabinets up to wall, and then put in the wall the toggles and bolted in.

I am not sure how big of a problem this will be down the road and how firm the cabinets will be. I was able to get each cabinet attached to 1-2 metal studs in the wall and the rest direct to dry wall.

Should i take them all down and redo or will it help just adding more toggles?


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While you have your drill out "bonding" all the cabinets together, find the screws where they actually went in to the metal studs. Remove those screws and put your togglers in through the metal studs to replace the screws. Get your drill hole for the toggler centered as best possible in the 1.5 in. wide metal stud face and push your toggler wing in the hole vertically, so that it will open up and not bind against the side wall of the stud...

Remember that wall mounted cabinets have the loads in them pushing downwards for the most part. The reason people do not like screws in metal studs to hold potential heavy loads, is they will pull right back through the thin metal. .....

The winged toggler will not pull through the metal unless you rip the stud right out of the drywall in doing so. Anything can be pulled off of a wall if enough weight is put in it or downward force is put on an open door. I have removed a lot of wall cabinets during renovations and you would be surprised how sometimes just one screw still in a stud, would keep us from getting a 24 in. wide wall cabinet off of the wall completely. Common sense prevails most time when attaching things to walls. Good luck...JMO

 

[Andybull]

Identify where there's a metal stud. Get a drywall screw and a piece of wood. Pre drill the wood with a drill bit slightly larger than the diameter of the screw. Place the drilled hole over the stud, place the screw in the hole and using a screw gun, or drill, tighten the screw. I'm sure you will strip the thin metal the stud is made off, before the screw sinks into the wood.
This means that sooner or later your cabinets and contents will probably strip away from the stud and fall. By bolting the cabinets together, which you should have done anyway, will do nothing to take away the static weight of the cabinets.
Your problem will be more of a withdrawal load more so than shear, but due to the fact you're screwing into a metal stud through driwall, there will ne a slight shear factor as well.

 

[sands35]

Surely all that does is put a piece of wood between the metal studs & the cabinets. So the flimsy anchoring issue in now between the cabinet/wood & the metal studs?

Who said anything about flimsy anchoring? Have you every used construction lag screws? Unless the OP is putting a few thousand pounds (which would be fantastically stupid) in wall mounted cabinets, lagged in cabinets will work just fine. There really is zero need to rip out drywall and install studs, then replace the drywall - only to cover it all with cabinets. Simple is good.

A 3/8 lag has about a 800 lb pull out and a 400lb sheer load in a 3" deep stud. One lag every stud for a 1x6 ledger top and bottom and then ~4 lags per cabinet (some of which should be in a stud) and there is more than enough load capacity.

If it worries somebody, use 2x4s, not 1x6 wood.

There shouldn't be really heavy stuff in an over-head cabinet anyway. I'm not sure I can get a 100lbs in a typical wall cabinet if I tried.

 

[Zrexxer]

As i did some googling, i read some suggesting adding glue to the cabinets / walls.

Oh, this just keeps getting worse. Do not glue the cabinets to the walls. Aside from being completely wrong, it does not solve the problem you have to begin with.

 

[elronin]

Andy is exactly right. Wood backing should have been installed in the framing. Cut the drywall and install the backing. Hanging them from the drywall is a BAD,BAD idea.

Ditto on this I normally do this for LCD displays, I cut the drywall and insert a small piece of 2 x 4 that iv'e trimmed down about a 1/4 inch or so from the 4 inch side in order for it to fit inside the metal studs. You might run into drywall screws in the metal studs that will get in your way, you can back it out from the drywall in order to make the 2x4 fit. Remember cabinets stick out a foot or so, they are gonna cause more downward force on the drywall, and might tare off the wall.

 

[APEowner]

A 3/8 lag has about a 800 lb pull out and a 400lb sheer load in a 3" deep stud. One lag every stud for a 1x6 ledger top and bottom and then ~4 lags per cabinet (some of which should be in a stud) and there is more than enough load capacity.

You may have missed the fact that the OP has metal studs. Otherwise I'd agree with you.

 

[Wuaname]

You may have missed the fact that the OP has metal studs. Otherwise I'd agree with you.

Correct, metal studs and i did atach each cabinet to two studs each.

Lots of advice. I will make sure i look at this when i get back home.

And some are corrct, i dont plan on storing 100 lbs in the top cabinets, but you never know.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Additional tip:

French cleats

In your situation, mounting cleats to the wall and back of the cabinets will make a huge difference in re-installing the cabinets, while also spreading the load out across multiple studs as a single unit. Being able to then remove them later becomes simple.

 

[p_mori7]

Additional tip:

French cleats

In your situation, mounting cleats to the wall and back of the cabinets will make a huge difference in re-installing the cabinets, while also spreading the load out across multiple studs as a single unit. Being able to then remove them later becomes simple.

THIS !

By far the easiest way and strongest way IMHO...secure the cleat to the wall...fasten the opposite cleat into the frame of the cabinet...and lower it into place...voila !

 

[C2 Turbo]

THIS !

By far the easiest way and strongest way IMHO...secure the cleat to the wall...fasten the opposite cleat into the frame of the cabinet...and lower it into place...voila !

Brilliant idea

Now quick question: Can these cleats be applied to any cabinets and are cabinet backs strong enough to have the cleats screwed in?

 

[Jimbo17]

In my opinion the weakest part of any cabinet is the material they use on the back side of the cabinets.

If you are building a new garage or just re framing an existing one the proper way to hang cabinets is to install a ledger board such as a 2 x 4 or even a 2 x 6 on the wall first.

If you are good you can try and find the studs in the wall but since they are only 1 1/2" wide the chances of you not getting them centered in the middle of the stud are greater and that's why I like using a ledger board where you cannot really miss.

Years ago I was asked to install 38 kitchens in a building that was build without using any wood or metal studs in the walls.

This type of building was very popular in the 70's because it saved the owners of each condo money on their homeowners policy.

I hung all the cabinets using toggle bolts and I should point out that the drywall was made up of 3/4" drywall glued to 1" drywall so it worked and the cabinets never came down.

Jim Hill Nostalgic Racing Decals

 

[C2 Turbo]

In my opinion the weakest part of any cabinet is the material they use on the back side of the cabinets.

If you are building a new garage or just re framing an existing one the proper way to hang cabinets is to install a ledger board such as a 2 x 4 or even a 2 x 6 on the wall first.

Hey Jim,

Please help me understand these ledger boards as I am not a very techinical person.

Viewing from the inside of the room, you have the studs and the dry wall is nailed to the studs.

Now where would these ledge boards go? I have tried googling it but I can't seem to get a good idea about it.

We are currently building a new house (framing) and this has been a concern of mine so would like to comprehend it better to take care of it (don't want to look/sound like an idiot to my builder)

Thanks

 

[FJ 432]

Hey Jim,

Please help me understand these ledger boards as I am not a very techinical person.

Viewing from the inside of the room, you have the studs and the dry wall is nailed to the studs.

Now where would these ledge boards go? I have tried googling it but I can't seem to get a good idea about it.

We are currently building a new house (framing) and this has been a concern of mine so would like to comprehend it better to take care of it (don't want to look/sound like an idiot to my builder)

Thanks

He is referring using a board underneath the cabinets and screwed/bolted to the wall joists. You place your cabinets on top of the board to help support the weight (ledge)until securing the cabinets together or to the wall.

 

[C2 Turbo]

He is referring using a board underneath the cabinets and screwed/bolted to the wall joists. You place your cabinets on top of the board to help support the weight (ledge)until securing the cabinets together or to the wall.

So simple and makes perfect sense.

Thanks

 

[p_mori7]

Brilliant idea

Now quick question: Can these cleats be applied to any cabinets and are cabinet backs strong enough to have the cleats screwed in?

Screw the opposite cleat into the frame of the cabinet....not just the backing...you ahould have some 1/2" thick material along both sides and the top of the cabinet...some cabinets even have a wood strip installed along the edges specifically for fastening.

To make the cleats, simply buy some 1x6 stock, and rip it lengthwise through your table saw with the blade set at 45*