Four meters Elfa system - will the wall hold?

[framis]

Hello!

I've put up an Elfa system on a 4-meter wall (see picture) and I'm a bit worried that the whole construction might collapse. It's a chronic worry I have...

Anyway, the wall consists of 13 mm plasterboard, 12 mm plywood, and then insulation. There are 3 support rails at the top with 9 screws in each, so a total of 27 screws. I was completely convinced that you needed to use plugs/expanders for this, but I was advised to use wood screws instead. So they ended up being 5x55mm. The screws held well and we managed to avoid all the metal studs.

But I'm still worried. Just the Elfa items weigh their kilos, and we haven't even started filling the shelves yet.

So, can someone ease my mind? Can I sleep well at night without worrying about waking up to a big crash?

Thanks!

 

[Mikael_L]

I can take a picture of all the timber I've stacked on some brackets in the garage, so maybe you'll calm down ...

 

[Nyfniken]

Everything doesn't necessarily fall down with a bang. You do hear it creak beforehand, don't you

 

[framis]

I can take a picture of all the lumber I've loaded onto a few brackets in the garage, so maybe you'll calm down...

I believe you. But are they in a drywall? Just to clarify, it's the anchoring that I'm worried about, like the drywall gradually loosening from all the weight on the screws or something. I've always lived in apartments with concrete walls, so I really have no idea about the properties of drywall. I'm clueless in this context, quite simply.

 

[framis]

Everything hardly falls down bang boom. You can hear it creak before

Absolutely. And that's when I run there with my superhero powers and hold it all up.

 

[Mikael_L]

I have gypsum + 11mm OSB, you had 12mm plywood behind which is even a bit stronger than OSB. (The gypsum board doesn't contribute anything with this fastening, it's wood screws in the plywood that hold up your ELFA set.)

5mm screws pull well, I assume you haven't overtightened these so that your plywood has started to tear apart. A single such screw can otherwise hold quite a bit.

 

[framis]

Thank you, good answer. Sounds like I can relax. A potential blunder is that I pre-drilled with a small drill (about 2mm) behind the first bearing rail (before I realized it wasn't necessary). There was actually a screw that didn't quite want to fasten. But a damaged fixture out of 27 probably won't make a difference...

Thanks again!

 

[Janus82]

You should be able to sleep well at night if the whole package is secured with 27 screws. Check here to see that each individual screw is supposed to hold 270kg if they are mounted in a 12 plywood. With 27 screws, you should then be able to fill the shelves with 7.3 tons before the shelf collapses...

 

[MathiasS]

8 posts and no one is wondering how the metal studs are attached? It's hardly the brackets that come loose from the plywood if it collapses......

 

[framis]

7.3 tons....should be enough.

It's new construction, so I don't know exactly how the fastening for the studs looks. The information I got from the builder was:

13 mm drywall
12 mm plywood
45 mm steel studs with insulation between
10 mm air gap
Concrete

I guess the studs are mounted in the concrete, with 10mm spacers. But I really have no idea.

 

[MathiasS]

Then I would focus on understanding how the plåtreglar are attached because that is the weak point in your construction.

 

[ZipLock]

7.3 tons....should be enough.

It's new construction, so I don't know exactly how the fastening for the studs looks like. The information I got from the builder was:

13 mm gypsum
12 mm plywood
45 mm metal studs with insulation in between
10 mm air gap
Concrete

I guess the studs are mounted in the concrete, with 10mm spacers. But I really have no idea.

If the wall is built with an air gap to dampen noise from the neighbor, I don't think the metal studs are attached to the concrete wall.

 

[framis]

If the wall is built with an air gap to reduce noise from the neighbor, I don't think the metal studs are attached to the concrete wall.

It's facing the stairwell. But yes, it's probably for acoustic reasons.

Waiting for a response from the builder regarding the studs.

 

[framis]

Just found out that the studs are in the wall, with spacers to create a 10 mm air gap. Feels like I can breathe out and start filling up with my 7.3 tons of stuff.

Thanks for all the input!