Expert: Jamie Yocono - 9/18/2007

Question

When installing a  heavy cabinet with a built in cleat to a 1"x 4" cleat made of

plywood adhered to the stud on the wall, do you need to secure the cabinet
with

additional screws. Do most cabinets with a built in cleat need to be checked
for

stability (how they are adhered to the cabinet)?"

Answer
Hi Chris,

I've always used cleats to attach cabinets to walls. They're strong, and a great way of anchoring the cabinet.

I like to make my cabinets so that the cleat is an integral part of the cabinet, usually by housing it into a dado that's cut in the cabinet box itself. I use two cleats per cabinet box- one at the top, and one at the bottom.  I usually use solid wood, and it's not only glued into the dado, but it's screwed into the top (or bottom) of the cabinet, itself.

I've seen some cabinetmakers simply place a cleat on the upper and lower portion of the cabinet, sort of free floating 1 x 4.  I don't like this way (free-floating) as it has never seemed very strong to me. So making it a part of the actual cabinet box makes much more sense.

When attaching a cabinet to a stud wall, I usually screw it in to every stud that it spans. Since I have upper cleats and lower cleats, the load is distributed evenly. If the cabinet is extra large, or has the potential to hold a really heavy load, I sometimes even double the screws up in the cleats. That means, say my cabinet is 24" wide, and I'm lucky enough to have it hit 2 studs. Since I'm using 1 x 4 for the cleats, I can get 4 screws in the top cleat, and 4 in the bottom cleat. I generally will space them about 2 inches apart, one on top of the other. Of course, I pre drill the screw holes, since I don't want to risk splitting the 1 x 4.  And I used beefy screws, roughly 2-3" long.

OK, I hope this helps. Remember, just placing a cleat behind your cabinet box doesn't really do much. But making it an integral part of the box, and screwing it securely to your wall, will allow the cabinet to hold a much heavier load. Oh- and I never glue to the cabinet or the cleat to the wall. Just screws.

Good luck, write back if you need more information.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com