I’ve used French Cleats for mounting a wall hung tool cabinet. I’m confident that the cleat will hold the cabinet and the tools within, but I’m curious on how much I should really trust a French Cleat to hold. I’ve been considering mounting a wide screen tv inside a cabinet and using a French Cleat to support it. I wouldn’t think that it would hold any worse than a normal wide screen mount would hold.
Thanks in advance
Replies
The weak spot when using French cleats, and most other cabinet hanging approaches, is not a failure of the cleat itself but it is usually a failure of the hardware attaching the cleat or a failure of the material the cleat is attached to.
On the wall side you need to get a solid attachment to the studs, and the more studs the better for heavy loads. Making the wall cleat wider vertically so that two screws, spaced a couple of inches apart, can be run into each stud will make for a sturdier attachment and less of a load on each fastener.
On the cabinet side, attaching the cleat to the top, sides, and dividers of the case, and not just to the typically thin back panel, is critical and once again a wider cleat that allows you to add fasteners and glue surface will be stronger.
If you live in earthquake country don't forget to add a few screws through the cabinet into the wall mounted strip after the cabinet is hung to prevent the piece from jumping off of the cleat in a trembler.
John White
Thanks John. Pretty much what I had figured, but its great to get a second opinion.
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