What's the best way to attach this to a wall?

[Brian Smith3]

Hey all. I'm building a small closet under the stairs. It's a pretty tight fit but we need the closet space. It's just a simple set of panels, but I'm not sure how to attach it to the wall. There are no backs, just panels. Usually I build cabinet boxes with backs. Are there attachment anchors I can buy or should I use a cleat system? Thanks for the help.

[Vince Shriver]

I must missing something here. Off hand I'd say just put a nail strip, about 2"x3/4" under the shelves and between the vertical pieces and screw it to the studs behind the wall.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I must missing something here. Off hand I'd say just put a nail strip, about 2"x3/4" under the shelves and between the vertical pieces and screw it to the studs behind the wall.

Vince has it.... Look inside your kitchen cabinets for a cleat at the top. Do it that way with backs or not.
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[Brian Smith3]

Yeah I thought about that, but I'm worried that the bottoms won't be secure enough if I am only attaching the shelves? Thanks for the reply.

[Will Overton]

You could use pocket hole screws on the vertical pieces, and then plug the holes.

[Dan Gill]

Do some of the verticals not touch the floor? If not, I'd recommend putting a cleat between them for rigidity. You can then use that to attach them at the bottom. Wouldn't be a bad idea even if they do touch the floor.

[Jon van der Linden]

I think you're going about this backwards. You're essentially asking why what you've done is going to work. Why not start out with something that's going to work and do that?

Some fundamental questions about your plan. Why don't the vertical pieces go to the floor? In particular I find the squared off edges floating above the floor awkward. Why not use a back? How much weight are these going to hold? You don't mention material, will it hold up to whatever the strength requirements are for your method of attachment?

There is commercial hardware available for hanging vertical pieces from screws. It's just a plate with a hole slightly larger than the screw head and a slot that the screw slides into locking it in place. You should be able to find something like that from any good hardware store or make your own.

[Mike Wilkins]

You could use some L-shaped brackets to attach the frames to the framing using adequate length screws. There are some decorative brackets at the big box stores that might work well. Since these are inside a closet, they don't have to be real fancy.

[Prashun Patel]

This helped me a lot when I outfitted my closets.

http://www.garymkatz.com/TrimTechniques/installing_closet_shelving.html (http://www.garymkatz.com/TrimTechniques/installing_closet_shelving.html)

I suggest that if you want the bottoms to float so you can clean under it easy, then angle them down to the floor. This way you still transfer the load to the floor, have room to maneuver underneath, and remove an awkward and kickable corner. If you really want it to float, then put a long cleat under the entire bottom. You won't see it, and it'll absorb most of the load.

Cleats at midspan and at the back will support the load of the shelves nicely, but any load of the uprights are only supported by the nails which go into the end grain of the cleat. That connection is really only there to keep the upright tight to the wall. It's that bottom cleat (or floor) that does the heavy lifting (unless you notch yr uprights to fit around the midspan cleats... blah blah blah