I'm setting up Ikea's Metod series along an entire wall, 240 cm long, so it will be four 60-cabinets.
This is a rental, so I'm trying to avoid making too many major modifications and therefore bought the long rail to hang the cabinets on. The house is from the 1890s and was renovated 5 years ago. I guess the drywall is from that renovation, but I don't really know.
The problem is I can't find any studs! Well, I found one that is likely metal, as I can't get screws into it in the usual way (and attaching something to metal seems iffy).
So now I've put screws every 25 cm with regular plugs. And it's only attached to the drywall.
I have two questions:
- Do I need to reinforce with any molly plugs (or equivalents)?
- How much can a drywall really hold? There will be a total of 4 60-cabinets on the wall with various binders and stuff in them. The plugs are surely holding, but can the drywall handle the weight? In my imagination, the entire upper part of the drywall cracks, and everything falls down with the rail...
(and yes, it's the ceiling that's so crooked, I've measured with a level a thousand times)
If it's crooked, I think it's better to follow the crooked, let the level rest.
In old buildings, there are often planks a bit further into the wall, have you tried with really long screws?
Attaching to sheet metal works excellently! If you don't have self-drilling screws, you can first drill a 2 mm hole. Then just drive in a sheet metal screw or wood screw.
If the house was built in the 1890s, the wall is either a plank wall, usually with lath, plaster, and stucco on both sides, or a masonry wall with stucco on both sides. The drywall is probably a quick-fix to avoid replastering the rooms. It could also be a newly installed stud wall, but since you can't find any studs, it probably isn't.
The solution is to drill deep enough to determine how it is structured. Lath, plaster, and stucco plus gypsum can easily build 7 cm in depth.
I don't have anything longer than 7 cm here so I'll sort it out tomorrow. There's a lot of empty space behind the drywall... I don't understand why they don't put plywood behind it when renovating anyway?
Regarding the metal stud, I can only find one stud on the entire wall, and it's probably metal. I'll see if I attach to that, or find the original wall.
If we disregard finding studs, do you think the drywall will hold if I attach it with some mollys?
The air behind the plaster suggests that the plaster has been used to make plastered walls a bit smoother. No one knows how many screws are holding the plaster up. I would bet on longer screws.
For the reason "I'm lazy and can't be bothered to find something to measure with," I went down to Byggmax and bought 12 cm French screws. It turned out they were too short!
I followed Tosse's suggestion and drilled a two mm hole in the metal stud and attached a screw to it. It just spun, so that felt a bit off (also tried with a thicker one, but it gave the same result). Apart from the metal stud, there are only two wooden studs at the ends by the walls, so I felt this wasn't entirely solid.
After some measuring, it turned out that the air gap behind the wall is between 12-13 cm...
So today, I went to Verktygsboden and bought a bunch of 15- and 16-cm screws, and they did indeed grip the rear wooden wall! Now it feels much better regarding weight distribution and any risk of collapse.
But (why is there always a but?) – The wall, as I wrote, was 240 cm wide. Exactly perfect for four 60-cabinets. If only the wall had been even and smooth – But of course, it’s not. It’s 239.4 cm at its narrowest point, which is 6 mm too narrow! And forcing something in there doesn’t feel too good.
So now my thought is to take one of the cabinet walls to the local planing shop and simply ask them to plane off 6 mm!
Has anyone done this? In the worst case, it can be reinforced with some screws into the wall (there will be a lot of hole restoration in this room when we move)...
But it must work, right? It's close, but the Ikea screws don't go in far enough to be affected.
I have nothing longer than 7 cm here, so I'll have to resolve it tomorrow. There is a lot of empty space behind the drywall... I don't understand why one wouldn't place plywood behind it if they're renovating anyway?
Regarding the metal stud, I only find one stud on the entire wall, and it's likely metal. I'll see if I attach to it, or find the original wall.
If we disregard finding studs, do you think the drywall will hold if I attach it with some toggle bolts?
Planing in a chipboard frame? No! You'll still need a filler piece if you want to open the doors properly!
A cabinet against a 40-cabinet and a 10 cm filler piece on each side? Or can you find a 50-cabinet? If you've already bought cabinets, you'll need to convert one to a 50 so that you have room for filler pieces. But not by planing, instead by cutting the top, bottom, and back pieces.
A tip:
Replace the last 60-cabinet on one side, where it fits best, with a 40-cabinet + an open 20-shelf.
The 20-shelf is easy to modify to be a bit narrower.
And it is great to have for some cookbooks, trays, cutting boards, and more.
Like this:
A tip:
Replace the last 60-cabinet on one side, where it fits best, with a 40-cabinet + an open 20-shelf.
The 20-shelf is easy to modify to be a bit narrower.
And it's great for having some cookbooks, trays, cutting boards, and other things.
Something like this:
[image]
feels a bit unnecessary with cookbooks, trays, cutting boards, and other stuff in an office/bedroom?
For the reason "I'm lazy and can't be bothered to find something to measure with," I went down to Byggmax and bought a 12 cm French screw. It turned out to be too short!
Then I followed Tosse's suggestion and drilled a two-mm hole in the metal stud and attached a screw to it. It just slipped, so that didn't feel great (also tried with a thicker one, but it gave the same result). Apart from the metal stud, there were only two wooden studs at the edges by the walls, so I felt this wasn't completely optimal.
After some measuring, it turned out that the air gap behind the wall is between 12-13 cm...
So today I went to Verktygsboden and bought a set of 15- and 16-cm screws, and they indeed bit into the rear wooden wall! Now it feels significantly better in terms of weight distribution and potential collapse risk.
But (why is there always a but?) – The wall was, as I mentioned, 240 cm wide. Just perfect for four 60-cabinets. If only the wall had been even and smooth – But of course, it's not. It's actually 239.4 cm at its narrowest point, so 6 mm too narrow! And forcing something in there doesn't feel quite right.
So now my plan is to take down one cabinet's wall to the local planing mill and simply ask them to plane away 6 mm!
Has anyone done this? In the worst-case scenario, it can be reinforced with some screws into the wall (there will be a lot of hole renovation in this room when we move)...
But it must work, right? It's close, but the Ikea screws don't go in far enough to be affected.
I don't think there are many fine carpenters who want to run an Ikea cabinet side through a planer.
feels a bit unnecessary with cookbooks, trays, cutting boards, and such. in an office/bedroom
I've missed that. Where was it mentioned?
Why hang wall cabinets at all if it's not a kitchen.
It's easier to place some Billy shelves on the floor then.
But the tax assessment calendar, logbook, and Sgt. Rock also need space
KnockOnWood said: