Securing IKEA Cabinets to Crumbly Wall

[mdmuddin]

I'm in the middle of fitting out one of my walls (almost end to end, top to bottom) with IKE Plasta cupboards and have come into a bit of an issue in the first column of cupboards.

My house is a Victorian terraced house and the render/plaster on the walls is very crumbly (and maybe even the brick - I don't know). I have IKEA Platsa cupboards going up about 2.5m high from the ground and I need to attach then securely as I have kids. They're floor standing but I'm worried about toppling from kids climbing.

Each unit has 2 fixings on the top corners. The problem I've had is that sometimes the exact part of the wall that aligns to the securing point is crumbly and the screw and plug just spin out. I've tried various tricks like putting a red plug inside a brown plug, using matchsticks, etc., but the hole sometimes still crumbles away pretty much leaving a crater so I'm left with only securing that cupboard on one side which I'm not comfortable with. On top of that, I've had to take the cupboards off a couple of times and probably will have to again to do some wiring behind for lighting and the screws and plugs naturally loose tightness and strength from this.

Here's the workaround I've thought of:

Get some sheets of half inch ply and secure a 3 foot section across the top of the wall behind where the cupboards are secured to the wall. Use two rows of solid screws or even wall anchors at about 50-70cm intervals to ensure the sheets are well secured to the wall. Then, I would use threaded inserts and M6 bolts to attach cabinets to the plywood. That way I can take them off and put them back as many times as I want and my gut feeling is that the net holding strength will be greater than if I just attached cupboards straight to wall. If I hit a bad spot with when securing the plywood, I can just move along or double up.

What do you think of that and do you have any alternative suggestions?

Thanks in advance for everyone's thoughts.

P.S. These are floor standing so it's only to mitigate topple hazard but I'm planning some wall hanging ones on opposite wall so any comments on using the same strategy there will be equally appreciated.

 

[CBW]

Wood seems to be logic here, maybe you only need some battens?

 

[foxhole]

Single baton across the top secured to wall then screw units to it.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Seems a bit OTT.
2.5 m is too high for anybody to see the fixings, so "ugly" isn't an issue.
The cupboards must have a solid top to fix to?
Either fix L brackets to the wall above and screw into the tops, or a timber batten to the wall then L brackets.
If there is a long run of cabinets, just find a chunk of L shaped Ali and screw that to the wall. Then screw through to the cupboard tops

Leave string behind the cabinets, to pull wires through. It's bonkers to take cupboards off the wall.

 

[JohnD]

Steel Cabinet Hanging Rail is ideal. The ordinary adjustable cabinet hangers hook onto it. It has lots of holes for screws and is very strong.

It also aligns them all level and horizontal.

 

[JohnD]

And as for screws into weak bricks:

Drill a hole deep enough and wide enough for your screw and plug to penetrate well into the brick. Disregard the thickness of plaster which has no strength.

Remove dust and loose material with a vac or water jet

Inject builders adhesive of the "no more nails " type into the hole, starting with the nozzle at the back so there is no air pocket

Press your plasplug into the adhesive so it is fully encased. You can use a screw wound a little way in, as a handle

Leave overnight to set. When you drive your screws home the adhesive will transmit the expansion pressure to the brick without cracking, spinning or coming loose.

 

[mdmuddin]

Thanks for the replies and tips.
By the way, the thing about these Platsa cabinets is that they're really hollow so you can only really fasten them using the specific anchor points and hardware.
Now that you mention the batten, I realise I was probably going overkill. It may be something to do with a whole row of kitchen cabinets falling off my sister's wall a few weeks ago, just missing her.

Am I correct in understanding a plywood batten will be stronger than a softwood batten (albeit not a two foot stretch) and that threaded inserts stronger than just woodscrews?
I have the stuff lying around anyway.

 

[foxhole]

Shouldn’t need anything more than standard screws and softwood batten.