Fixing cabinets to plasterboard walls

F1fan

Hi everyone,

Have moved into a new house and am attempting as much DIY myself as I can. I am sure I will have lots of questions here. Since my husband died all diy is my job, and it has been a learning curve! Only two years since I learnt to use a drill and now I flying around assembling furniture, hanging shelves etc, and with one or two exceptions (the bathroom lights that won’t turn off!) everything is going okay so far, until now....
New house is timber frame, so hollow plasterboard walls everywhere. People said, use hollow wall anchors. So, bought some, and a setting tool, but couldn’t get them quite right, until today I broke the setting tool. Have googled umpteen videos, and heard so many different things. I want to hand three Ikea kitchen cabinets. Bought suspension rail to mount on as this was recommended. But given that my other wall anchors all feel a bit loose still don’t want to start at these and have them fall off. Went to Woodies and bought different anchors to see if they are better. So, before I learn how to use them properly without setting tool, can anyone tell me would they be good enough for the job?

Many thanks.

DublinDilbert

F1fan wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Have moved into a new house and am attempting as much DIY myself as I can. I am sure I will have lots of questions here. Since my husband died all diy is my job, and it has been a learning curve! Only two years since I learnt to use a drill and now I flying around assembling furniture, hanging shelves etc, and with one or two exceptions (the bathroom lights that won’t turn off!) everything is going okay so far, until now....
New house is timber frame, so hollow plasterboard walls everywhere. People said, use hollow wall anchors. So, bought some, and a setting tool, but couldn’t get them quite right, until today I broke the setting tool. Have googled umpteen videos, and heard so many different things. I want to hand three Ikea kitchen cabinets. Bought suspension rail to mount on as this was recommended. But given that my other wall anchors all feel a bit loose still don’t want to start at these and have them fall off. Went to Woodies and bought different anchors to see if they are better. So, before I learn how to use them properly without setting tool, can anyone tell me would they be good enough for the job?

Many thanks.

The suspension rail mount looks good, so that gives you some options as to where you place any screw's anchors into the wall. Your not restricted to putting the screws in a particular place. The more points you use to fix this rail to the wall the better.

Do you know the build up of the wall? internal partition wall to an adjoining room, or an external wall? what's supporting the plaster board? is there insulation behind it? can you spot any dimples in the paint/plaster (could be screw heads into timber stud, possibly at 40cm spacing)

Offer the rail up to the wall, put a small screw in one end, level it with a spirit level and put a small screw into the other end. These screws are just into the plaster board and temporary, till you figure out where is best to screw the rail. Mark the rail position on the wall and the locations of the holes in the rail with a pencil.

You can now take the rail back down and do a little exploring to figure out where is best to fix the rail. Any holes you make will be covered by the rail, so don't worry! Work along where the rail will go, poke holes and see if you can identify some timer in the wall. You'll need to find some timber (or brick) to hold the weight of the presses. Go gently when poking holes, as there might be pipes/wiring in behind the plaster board. Once you find something solid you can then fix the rail to it.

F1fan

DublinDilbert wrote: »

The suspension rail mount looks good, so that gives you some options as to where you place any screw's anchors into the wall. Your not restricted to putting the screws in a particular place. The more points you use to fix this rail to the wall the better.

Do you know the build up of the wall? internal partition wall to an adjoining room, or an external wall? what's supporting the plaster board? is there insulation behind it? can you spot any dimples in the paint/plaster (could be screw heads into timber stud, possibly at 40cm spacing)

Offer the rail up to the wall, put a small screw in one end, level it with a spirit level and put a small screw into the other end. These screws are just into the plaster board and temporary, till you figure out where is best to screw the rail. Mark the rail position on the wall and the locations of the holes in the rail with a pencil.

You can now take the rail back down and do a little exploring to figure out where is best to fix the rail. Any holes you make will be covered by the rail, so don't worry! Work along where the rail will go, poke holes and see if you can identify some timer in the wall. You'll need to find some timber (or brick) to hold the weight of the presses. Go gently when poking holes, as there might be pipes/wiring in behind the plaster board. Once you find something solid you can then fix the rail to it.

Thanks a million. The walls in the house all sound the same when tapped, and when I drill, including external. There is plasterboard then a load of insulation. When I put up the amazing no-off-switch bathroom light I could see the same, plasterboard which is quite thin, and then insulation. So, just to clarify, when I have suspension rail up am I better off trying to attach to the studs than using the anchors in the plasterboard. Also, know I can’t use the anchors on studs, so please excuse my ignorance, but screw and real plug on the studs? Thanks.

Del2005

You just need wood screws to go into the studs, no need for rawl plugs. You should only hang pictures on the plaster board. Anything heavier can easily fall as plaster board isn't strong, especially if it's something that will be used a lot.

F1fan

Del2005 wrote: »

You just need wood screws to go into the studs, no need for rawl plugs. You should only hang pictures on the plaster board. Anything heavier can easily fall as plaster board isn't strong, especially if it's something that will be used a lot.

Thanks, I thought these hollow wall anchors were supposed to be the bees knees, meant for plasterboard, hold 90kg etc, but yes, I don’t think I trust them. Thank you, will go with studs and wood screws, would feel a bit safer putting the good plates in then!

F1fan

Just a little update! It’s now 4am and it’ll be time to get up soon but I finally hung the cabinets, pic attached. Used a combi method - there were three studs so used wood screws in those. Watched many more videos of hook anchors and finally figured what I was doing wrong, so manually used two of those as well....

End result is sturdy, although did drill wrong side of door for handle but apart from that all good! Thanks for your help!

Del2005

F1fan wrote: »

Just a little update! It’s now 4am and it’ll be time to get up soon but I finally hung the cabinets, pic attached. Used a combi method - there were three studs so used wood screws in those. Watched many more videos of hook anchors and finally figured what I was doing wrong, so manually used two of those as well....

End result is sturdy, although did drill wrong side of door for handle but apart from that all good! Thanks for your help!

Nice job.

On the plaster board plugs. The plug might be rated for 90kg but plaster board most definitely isn't.

aido79

F1fan wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Have moved into a new house and am attempting as much DIY myself as I can. I am sure I will have lots of questions here. Since my husband died all diy is my job, and it has been a learning curve! Only two years since I learnt to use a drill and now I flying around assembling furniture, hanging shelves etc, and with one or two exceptions (the bathroom lights that won’t turn off!) everything is going okay so far, until now....
New house is timber frame, so hollow plasterboard walls everywhere. People said, use hollow wall anchors. So, bought some, and a setting tool, but couldn’t get them quite right, until today I broke the setting tool. Have googled umpteen videos, and heard so many different things. I want to hand three Ikea kitchen cabinets. Bought suspension rail to mount on as this was recommended. But given that my other wall anchors all feel a bit loose still don’t want to start at these and have them fall off. Went to Woodies and bought different anchors to see if they are better. So, before I learn how to use them properly without setting tool, can anyone tell me would they be good enough for the job?

Many thanks.

Electrical work is not DIY. You joined all of the browns together instead of figuring out which one was the switch wire and connecting it to the light and putting the others in a connector. That's why the light won't turn off.

F1fan

aido79 wrote: »

Electrical work is not DIY. You joined all of the browns together instead of figuring out which one was the switch wire and connecting it to the light and putting the others in a connector. That's why the light won't turn off.[/quotes

I wired a light fixture to the mains then afterwards realised there was no on/off switch. Am going to replace bulbs with remote control operated to solve this.

Graham

F1fan wrote: »

I wired a light fixture to the mains then afterwards realised there was no on/off switch. Am going to replace bulbs with remote control operated to solve this.

:eek:

I'm not sure having a light fitting you can only switch off at the fuse board is a good idea.

mloc123

I would assume the old light fitting had some some of pull cord switch on it while the new one doesn't

aido79

F1fan wrote: »

aido79 wrote: »

Electrical work is not DIY. You joined all of the browns together instead of figuring out which one was the switch wire and connecting it to the light and putting the others in a connector. That's why the light won't turn off.[/quotes

I wired a light fixture to the mains then afterwards realised there was no on/off switch. Am going to replace bulbs with remote control operated to solve this.

Did you connect it to the wire for the shaver light?

F1fan

That’s it exactly, old light had on/off cord but this one doesn’t. Of course, I should have realised this before I put it up. No, definitely not a good idea, but will replace bulbs with remote controlled ones as soon as possible. Wired it into the wires that were used for previous light.

DublinDilbert

Presses look good, fair play, if the rail is screwed into 3 studs, it will never come down. Put a tiny bit of calking or silicone where the door was drilled wrong, collateral damage from working late!

On the light, is there a switch in the room? i would guess someone by-passed the original switch to make the ceiling fitting live all the time. Not idea, but i guess a smart bulb should be ok, remember you'll need to turn off the 10a lighting mcb at the board when changing the bulb.

Vronsky

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Presses look good, fair play, if the rail is screwed into 3 studs, it will never come down. Put a tiny bit of calking or silicone where the door was drilled wrong, collateral damage from working late!

On the light, is there a switch in the room? i would guess someone by-passed the original switch to make the ceiling fitting live all the time. Not idea, but i guess a smart bulb should be ok, remember you'll need to turn off the 10a lighting mcb at the board when changing the bulb.

Don't most house insurance policies require work to be done by RECI's? Otherwise the policy is invalid.

Get a proper switch installed for that light.

DublinDilbert

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Presses look good, fair play, if the rail is screwed into 3 studs, it will never come down. Put a tiny bit of calking or silicone where the door was drilled wrong, collateral damage from working late!

On the light, is there a switch in the room? i would guess someone by-passed the original switch to make the ceiling fitting live all the time. Not idea, but i guess a smart bulb should be ok, remember you'll need to turn off the 10a lighting mcb at the board when changing the bulb.

Long term you need to get a switch working in the room. More than likely it would be very simple, as there was a working one when the property was built.

Cerco

Op have you a pull cord switch on the ceiling for the light? They are quite common in bathrooms.
Perhaps the cord is missing?
Wall switches are not permitted in bathrooms for safety reasons so are mounted outside. Are you sure you are trying the right switch?

F1fan

Sorry, just to explain, the ceiling light works fine, on/off switch outside etc. Outside the door there is a light switch, and extractor fan switch and that is it.

Pic below is of the troublesome light. I put it up (where there was an previously a light with pull cord), then realised there was no on/off switch. Very silly I know. I won’t be attempting to change any more light fixtures myself. Have several I would like to change but will wait for someone experienced to do it.

kadman

Well done on hanging your units.

I don't think its been mentioned yet, but for future reference.

Make sure you check position of light and plug fittings in the wall, before you drill for

any fixings. Cable drops tend to be either be vertically above or below plugs and switches.

So watch out for that.

I think you will have to add a stud finder to your toolkit for future jobs. It will help to

find the timber studs in the wall, and some units also find cables.

Well done.