Mounting a Shelf Using Only Drywall Anchors

[Steve N]

6270, are you now, or have you ever been married?

[jteneyck]

Cut hole through drywall with a jig saw and a blade just long enough to cut the drywall. Make the cut wide enough to cut across at least two studs. Remove the drywall and set aside. Install blocking between the existing studs. Put the drywall back in place and screw it to the studs. Mud it, paint it, install shelf and never worry about it.

John

[6270_Productions]

Steve N said:

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6270, are you now, or have you ever been married?

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Yes, twenty four years.

We have an "agreement".

[6270_Productions]

Gary G™ said:

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[blockquote]6270_Productions said:

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Install the shelf the way she wants it installed.

Have her sign a statement relative to the fact that you are not responsible for the "customer's" required installation procedure.

Have the statement notarized.

Hang the statement beside the shelf.

Make a note of which (the shelf or the statement) falls down first.

Start researching plans for a doghouse.

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FIXT

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[/blockquote]

Sure. Always thinking of yourself.

She is the one that will want the cabinet.



He is the one that will need the dog house.

Oh, wait - it all about "wants" and "needs". Got it.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

I’m pretty sure you could get away with some sort of sturdy hollow-wall anchor for the loads you describe. The problem I see is that shelf loads have a way of creeping up over time as needs change, and people don’t necessarily remember the load limit. In the future someone might be surprised to see the shelf tear off the wall when they try to store their barbell on it.

I like JT’s solution to cut away the drywall, put blocking between the studs where you need it to support the shelves and then patch the drywall.

However, that might not always be possible. I had a similar request a few years ago for a shelf to hold photo albums of grandchildren in our kitchen eating area. One of the requirements was that I not destroy the existing wallpaper, so removing the drywall to install blocking between the studs was not an option. In this case I used a ledger board below the shelf so I could put shelf supports where I wanted them and still screw the shelf to the wall where the studs are. Sounds like your wife has already rejected a ledger board, but it might be worth revisiting - otherwise she leaves you with limited options.

Here’s what I did: shelf with bookends on the top and brackets on the bottom, all joined with stopped sliding dovetails; ledger rabbeted to fit a dado in the bottom back of the shelf and screwed to the brackets from the backside; ledger screwed to the studs.

Because of the low mounting of my shelf, I didn’t bother to hide the mounting screws. If they were visible, it would be easy to install face-grain plugs to match the ledger. All was finished to match the existing woodwork. It holds a few photo albums, but I’m pretty sure I could stand on it.

My wife said she didn’t imagine simply “hanging a shelf” could be that much work, but she likes it. That’s what counts.

[fizbank]

Not sure if it would work in your situation, but one of the things that I did in a similar case was drill some pocket holes in the top of the shelf to attach it to the studs then add some plugs after its mounted. It seemed to give the shelf quite a bit more strength then using the wall anchors alone.

Charlie

[Jeremy s]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHF0Womke6k

Check out this vid for a really cool tool for installing molly bolts.
I bought one and some mollys and it is awesome!

[Arlin Eastman]

Dennis

Why not a French Cleat? Very strong

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

That's a good idea. If I'd thought of it, I might have done that. D'oh!

[packerguy®]

Toggle bolt.