Which material and what dimension for stabilizing L-profile

[ccf]

I have a wardrobe wall facing the hallway (a built-in wardrobe, so perhaps more like a mini walk-in closet). The wall extends from a glulam beam (where it is attached with angle brackets) and is about 120 cm. It is also attached to the floor and ceiling (probably also with angle brackets). At the other end, it's not attached; instead, there is a folding door hanging.

The side towards the folding door is now bowing a bit (the wall is built with 19 mm MDF), so I suggested to the builder that he should reinforce this with an L-profile (where one side is screwed and glued into the MDF while the other will end up behind the closed folding door, but not attached to anything).

He has now ordered an angle iron in steel that is 3x30x5 mm. To my ears, that sounds enormously over-dimensioned (I had envisioned something like 30x30x2 in aluminum) - am I wrong? What do you think is a reasonable dimension, and which material should be used?

 

[ccf]

Here I have tried to describe the problem with a picture:


This is how I thought the L-profile should be mounted to brace the wardrobe wall so that it doesn't warp:


Is an angle iron of 30x30x5mm really necessary or would something like aluminum 35x35x1.5 be enough (http://www.bauhaus.se/alu-vinkelprofil-35-5x35-5x1-5.html)?

 

[corre]

The alu-list is quite soft and you can start bending it by hand.
It is probably more suitable as surface protection than as reinforcement at a 2m length.

A piece of 28*70 planhyvlad that is glued to MDF will reinforce quite well, but flex a little which is probably more sensible than the alu-list that will bend if subjected to horizontal stress.

 

[ccf]

Thank you for the input.
Is then perhaps the builder's suggestion of 30x30x5mm angle steel good (to completely eliminate the deflection)?

 

[corre]

Yes, it can withstand significantly more. Is there a risk of people falling into or leaning against the wall?

 

[ccf]

People might lean against the wall, even if it won't happen often 😊. The idea is for the wall to feel reasonably solid, but it just felt like an incredibly large and heavy piece of steel that the builder suggested, and I was worried it wasn't well thought out (rather the first available scrap piece he found at the steel dealer).