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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Carpentry Questions >> Floating Wall Cabinet https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1418850672 Message started by mark100904 on Dec 17^th, 2014, 9:11pm

Title: Floating Wall Cabinet
Post by mark100904 on Dec 17^th, 2014, 9:11pm

I am planning on building a floating wall cabinet approx 7' long x 14" high x 16" deep. I rough calculated it will weigh about 100 lbs, mostly using 1 x pine boards, various widths. Question is, can I hang this on the wall using a cleat behind it. Of course half the cleat will be screwed into the studs and the other half securely fastened to the wall cabinet. :-?

Title: Re: Floating Wall Cabinet
Post by woodsmith on Dec 18^th, 2014, 9:20am

That should be ok, as far as for fixing to the wall, as long as you get some good fixings into the studs. I assume the cleat will be fixed to the top of the cabinet in which case the weight of the cabinet will be hanging off the joints between the cabinet top and sides and this is where you may have a problem. You may need to fix another cleat under the bottom shelf to support the weight or really beef up the side joints.

Title: Re: Floating Wall Cabinet
Post by big_all on Dec 18^th, 2014, 3:53pm

i have actually made simillar kitchen style units 5ft-2ft-5ft in a run 14" deep 22" 25" high with pelmits and plinths or 21 1/4" withouht
they are seperate but matching so the sides are full hieght and the pemits and plinths are 2x1 par and part off the structural strength

on the first one the the top bottom and sides where all solid timber with just the back being 6mm ply
and its simply 4 screws top and bottom to secure to the wall as the back off the cabinet is the same size as the front with 2x1" added to the top and base

on the other 5ft unit i learnt a lesson ------- the weight lol
on the second one the construction was solid ends with 2x1" pelmit and plinth as the frame at the back with ply top back and the base
the front was more complicated as it had to look the same as the other side but thats not important here

any way the point is 2x1 and 6mm ply nailed and glued across the back is more than strong enough 2x no8 x2" screws sides into the 2x1" par ends so a cleat secured to the top and ends should be solid as long as its say ripped from 4x1" [in half ] or 2x1" x2

but as i said weight was a problem so 7ft will be worse
and most timber style board say not sutable doors so check iff your planning on the same timber used for the doors

Title: Re: Floating Wall Cabinet
Post by Sandy on Apr 17^th, 2015, 9:29am

I also used the "French cleat" technique for a floating unit in a kitchen and it worked well due to some good secure fixing into a solid brick wall.

Where my fault appeared was in the mistake in working out the weight. I knew the rough weight of the finished unit, but forgot to take into account how much other stuff would be added to it, thus dramatically increasing the total weight.

The fixings remained secure, but the joint between the cleat and unit split and ripped the top face of the unit out and wrecking the whole thing. I'd also suggest running a cleat on the underside of the unit and supporting it from the underside aswell. If you want to go for hidden fixings, how about keyhole slots into the frame of the unit? It'll take a little more planning out the holes for the screws in the wall, but if you do it right, it'll have a good aesthetic look.