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Discussion Forum

Wall Mounted Drawers

jlucas123 | Posted in General Discussion on March 1, 2016 05:37am

I am wall mounting a cantilevered drawer and need some advice.

The drawer itself (pictured below) is 16″ deep, about 40 lbs, and comes with mounting hardware (also pictured below). The drywall is 5/8″ thick with steel framing.

I’ve attached a piece of sheet metal blocking between the two metal studs. The left edge of the mounting bracket actually sits off to the left of the left stud (the left side of the drawer is mounted slightly to the left of the left stud). I’ve secured it to the wall with one Snaptoggle bolt into the drywall on the far left, one 2″ self drilling sheet metal screw into the left stud, and two more Snaptoggle bolts into the sheet of metal blocking between the two studs.

Once the bracket is installed, the drawer just sits into the bracket (kind of like a z bar hanger).

Will this be enough to support the drawer, keeping in mind that it’s a drawer (i.e. people will be pulling on it to open and close it)?

Thanks,

John

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  1. calvin | Mar 01, 2016 07:37am | #1

    John

    the gauge of the metal is the key to whether or not the sheet metal screw will pull out.  By running the toggler through the stud and / or the plate you are essentially using the metal as a washer.  Depending on the gauge and stiffness of the stud and plate, you may or may not have flexing of the mount.

    I think you would have been better off with solid wood blocking positioned full both above and below the mounting hardware.  The brackets force is going to be like a fulcrum with little effort increasing the strain on that bracket.  It may hold but flex.

    1. jlucas123 | Mar 01, 2016 01:45pm | #5

      Thanks Calvin for the response. I am not sure what the guage of the metal is, but it does flex a bit (as does the stud). I would say the metal plate is about 1/8" inch thick. Just to be sure we're on the same page, there are 4 screws/bolts (3 Snaptoggles and 1 sheet metal screw into the stud). It seems like the only way the whole thing is coming off the wall is if the metal plate comes unscrewed from the studs, which seems unlikely as it is screwed into the studs in 4 places. However flexing might be an issue as you said.

      On paper the Snaptoggle bolts say they can hold some ridiculous amount of weight in 5/8" drywall (At least 300+ lbs, chart found HERE). I realized there is added force because the drawer is cantilevered, however the drawer does weigh just 40 lbs. I'm assuming the amount of weight drywall can hold is the bottleneck here, so how should I interpret this chart?

      1. calvin | Mar 01, 2016 08:55pm | #10

        Well

        I take it it's up.

        the sheet metal screw in the stud.......20 ga. Stud, probably will hold.  26 ga., maybe.

        the toggles that are behind the metal, great holding power!

        the force for pull out is applied at the end of the drawer box which would have power of a crow bar.

        take a look at Fastcap.com , they have a bracket that can be buried within the wall and cantilever out and within your drawer box maybe.

        is the French cleat all that the drawer is hanging off of?

        thanks.

        1. jlucas123 | Mar 02, 2016 01:02am | #11

          It is and it's completely level, but I still can't help but worry that it's going to rip out of the wall. The two nobs on the back of the drawer fit into the bracket. Below are some additional pictures to give you a better idea of how it works:

          1. calvin | Mar 02, 2016 07:15am | #12

            J

            i guess we'll see.

            the middle photo, how is the bracket on the box held on there?

  2. DanH | Mar 01, 2016 08:23am | #2

    (It's not "pictured below".)

    (It's not "pictured below".)

    1. calvin | Mar 01, 2016 09:10am | #3

      Dan

      i got them displayed

  3. DanH | Mar 01, 2016 09:22am | #4

    So what happens when someone sits on it?

    (Bad idea from the git-go.)

    1. jlucas123 | Mar 01, 2016 01:47pm | #6

      I feel the same way every time I sit on a wall-mounted toilet. Hopefully we won't find out in this case.

      1. DanH | Mar 01, 2016 03:06pm | #7

        A wall-mount toilet (hopefully) is hanging on a substantial steel frame inside the wall.  Not a few sheet metal studs.

        1. jlucas123 | Mar 01, 2016 05:33pm | #8

          Hopefully, as it has to (potentially) be able to sustain the weight of a 200 something lb human. I wouldn't expect you to mount a drawer to hold the same capacity as a toilet.

          Any advice on my current situation is appreciated, though.

          1. DanH | Mar 01, 2016 06:07pm | #9

            My point is that you have a table there, at about the same height as the bed.  At some point someone is going to come along and sit on that table, either intentionally or because they lost their balance getting in/out of bed.

            The only way to prevent this is to make sure the table is always covered with all sorts of sharp junk.

  4. renosteinke | Mar 02, 2016 06:45pm | #13

    The Usual Practice ...

    ... is to span the space between the studs with large 2x blocking (2x8, 2x10), then fasten things to the wood. The large 'face' of the wood both spreads the load over a large area of the studs, as well as greatly stiffens the studs.

    A 'fine detail' is that the face of the blocking is usually grooved to allow the one stud's flange to fold into it, so the blocking will truly fit flush with the face of the studs.

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