Utility Room Wall Disaster...Cabinets...holes and dogs! HELP

[JSR2013]

Hi Guys,

Let me just say one thing here, I am lame at DIY but I try hard.

I recently bought a lovely new house with big kitchen and utility room. Its a new build, therefore it looks pretty but it does not have enough storage, especially as we have just found out we have our first little one on the way!

So, I decide to be rather good and source matching cabinets in the utility room, put them up on the wall. I have now had to go away for 3 days for work.

So today we had the kitchen fitters come and do some snagging on their work. They noticed the cabinet which I had put up and commented that the doors were not quite straight (this is true, I didn't have time to sort them before leaving). They duly offered to straighten them for us free of charge.

Of course, as anyone would, my wife agrees.

The kitchen fitter then comes out to tell her "those cabinets are hanging off the wall, its a danger to your puppy dog, come and look".

Now, I know these were not hanging off the wall 24 hours ago, as I tugged at them to show the wife that they were secure, the thing did not move.

In total I used 6 Piranha X3 plasterboard fixings, each rated for 25KG (apparently) so, more than enough strength here...

So now, I have a gaping hole in the wall, no idea of how I can re-fix the cabinets and a very P****D off wife.

Please help ASAP - pregnant, nesting hormonal wife on the war path, I have taken tomorrow off work to repair it and how NO idea what to do!

Thanks in advance.

 

[leewallbank]

Depends what kind of wall it is, stud or block? If it's stud, try and attach the cupboards to the studs (I'm assuming the hole you mean that's left has ripped the plasterboard off?) - or fit new noggins in between the studs to screw into. If it's dot and dabbed over block, fit some battens to the block and screw into these.

 

[JSR2013]

Its plasterboard with a cavity in behind it, so assume thats stud.

The cupboard is 1000mm long, have looked for a hanging rail so it can be affixed to the stud but they all appear too long.

How would I go about fitting new noggins?

 

[leewallbank]

You'd have to remove enough plasterboard to expose the studs and screw in noggins horizontally, in the same area the cupboard was to be fixed.

You could find a rail or just screw a batten to the outside of the plasterboard (top and bottom) but they'd need to be fixed through the timber studs.

Have you got a pic?

 

[JSR2013]

Pic on its way (just uploading it).

The batten would mean the cupboard sits proud of the wall though, as I assume that it would have to be rather thick?

 

[JSR2013]

 

[leewallbank]

When you said gaping hole I thought it was massive! Best bet would be to find timber / studs and screw into those. Short of fixing a batten top and bottom, which would leave a gap around the sides, that's the easiest option I can think of.

 

[JSR2013]

Ok I will give it a shot, I am sure the wife won't appreciate the cupboard not being affixed next to the other cupboard lol. (as per new pic)

Any thoughts on how this might be possible as there are no timber/studs in that area lol.

If I run a batton, how thck will it need to be?

 

[maltaron]

You could poke a tape into that hole first right then left till it hits a stud, note the measurement and transfer to the face of the plasterboard. Poke a nail or thin screwdriver thro' to confirm the stud is there then measure to find other studs, they "should" be 400mm apart, but new build may be 600mm. 2" screws through the back of the cupboard into the studs will be solid.

 

[leewallbank]

There must be studs in that area (if it is a stud wall). Even at 600mm centres there should be 2 for you to fix to. You need to screw a batten top and bottom into these (2 x 1 should be enough) and then screw the cupboard to the battens, there would only be a gap to the right hand side as it goes against the other cupboard so you won't see it. You could even fit a length of 2x1 down the sides and paint them the same as the wall so it won't be as visible.

 

[JSR2013]

Cool, my only other worry would be "is the backing of the cupboard likely to be strong enough to hold the weight if I screw through it?

 

[leewallbank]

You could still use the supplied brackets and screw them to the top batten.

 

[kbdiy]

Are you absolutely sure the wall is a stud and not a dot and dab? Is this an external wall or does it divide 2 rooms? If external then more likely to be dot and dab, so decent wallplugs and long screws (75-100mm) would allow you to get a fixing in the blockwork behind.

Also the back panel of the cabinet is not likely to be sufficient to fix through so use the brackets supplied.

 

[maltaron]

Whether you can screw thro' the back of the cabinet is a good point, I did forget that new build cabinets are likely to be relatively cheap. Mine are 18mm blockboard so no problem.

 

[loply]

The reason your fixings failed is because they've either been tightened too much, causing the metal lugs at the back to eat into and crush the plasterboard to nothingness, or because they're too close together, or more likely a combination of these reasons.

It's real easy to overtighten them using a drill/driver and this is always the result.

If I were you I would affix a wooden batten to the wall using normal hollow wall plugs every 125mm or so, then rest the top 'lip' of the cabinet on this and screw the two together using small L brackets on the end/side panels.