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LOML would like a cabinet for storage on the wall above the steps leading to the basement.
I live in a townhouse and there is a ton of wasted space, so it makes sense to me.
My question is how to hang it. There are no studs on the wall that is facing me or the wall on the left in picture.
My plan was to try to attach the sides of the cabinet to the side walls as the cabinet will be the entire width of the opening.
The right wall is the party wall that is furred out poured cement. Figured tap cons on that side, but the first stud I can find on the left side is 24" from the back wall and that would make the cabinet too deep to be practical to use.
Hope this makes sense.
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are you going to be able to reach that cabinet without a ladder? if not, is it really worth it?
to hang the cabinet use a french cleat. you know there are studs at each corner of that stairwell. make the cleat the full width of the stairwell and attach it at the corners. the other half of the cleat goes on the back of the cabinet, then just lift it up and set it on the cleat. you will need a furring strip at the bottom of the cabinet to account for the thickness of the cleat.
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I did this at my last house. It was hard to reach but the extra storage space was worth it. There are a lot of things like Christmas stuff that only needs to be gotten to once a year.
I used a horizontal 2 x 4 cleat attached to the studs with plywood on top. You will have to reinforce the plywood if you were putting anything that has weight to it on top.
Mike
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crokett™ said:
to hang the cabinet use a french cleat. you know there are studs at each corner of that stairwell. make the cleat the full width of the stairwell and attach it at the corners. the other half of the cleat goes on the back of the cabinet, then just lift it up and set it on the cleat. you will need a furring strip at the bottom of the cabinet to account for the thickness of the cleat.
^^^^This.
I'd put some of these
across the middle of the cleat into the drywall at 4"-6" intervals just for insurance (I always tend to over engineer such things). Very doable.
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If those are steps leading to the basement they must be at least 32" wide, no? How can there be no studs in the wall above the steps, or on the left wall, too, for that matter? Sounds very hard to imagine. I know many walls aren't structural but no studs at all is really bizarre.
I would not feel safe hanging cabinets on those walls unless I could hit wood. I know drywall anchors are rated for such and such weight, but if a cabinet mounted up there ever fell off it would likely kill whoever is unlucky enough to be below it.
John
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jteneyck said:
How can there be no studs in the wall above the steps, or on the left wall, too, for that matter?
I think he just hasn't located them... if there really isn't any studs, he should move.
Mark
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jteneyck said:
If those are steps leading to the basement they must be at least 32" wide, no? How can there be no studs in the wall above the steps, or on the left wall, too, for that matter? Sounds very hard to imagine. I know many walls aren't structural but no studs at all is really bizarre.
I would not feel safe hanging cabinets on those walls unless I could hit wood. I know drywall anchors are rated for such and such weight, but if a cabinet mounted up there ever fell off it would likely kill whoever is unlucky enough to be below it.
John
there probably are. I'd use a french cleat no matter what. It's easier to level that and attach it than it is to hold up an entire cabinet. So I'd mark the height the cleat will be at, then If I didn't have a stud finder I'd assume 16" OC for the studs, get a finishing nail and drive it where I think the studs are. if I don't hit one, move 1" over and try again. Rinse and repeat until I hit a stud. the cleat will cover any holes.
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CLETUS said:
I think he just hasn't located them... if there really isn't any studs, he should move.
there's nowhere to hide
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I'll have to try a finish nail every inch or so across the back wall. So far I just tapped along the walls. The front wall sounds hollow all the way across. The other side of that wall isma "dead" corner in my kitchen and it wouldn't surprise me if there was not a stud across that span.
Never thought of a French cleat
I know there are studs at the corners.
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If you have rare earth magnets then running them over the wall to find the screw heads works like charm. The beauty is you can leave them on the heads out of the way where you are working and then take them off and leave no marks on the wall. Combine a plumb laser level and one only needs to find one head and know the rest of the stud, even through a cabinet (with the doors open of course). My magnets and laser levels are a godsend for hanging stuff on walls or screwing off drywall.
