Upper Cabinet Mounting Question

[Mark W Pugh]

How do you guys handle an upper end cabinet that doesn't have a stud on it's outside portion? 2' wide cabinet. Stud on inside portion is about 6" in from inside edge. Just miss the stud on the outside edge.

[Jim Dwight]

basically two options. Either use an anchor in the drywall or open the wall up and put blocks between the two studs. If you are really close to the outside stud, maybe the cabinet hides the hole in the drywall and you don't even have to tape and mud it. You might also be able to just sister a vertical piece of 2x4 or two to the outside stud to give you something to screw into. It doesn't need to be taller than the cabinet, you are using the outside stud you miss for support. You could even turn the 2x4 on edge and use pocket screws to secure it to the existing stud. I'd probably use a couple vertical 2x4s laid flat and screwed to the outside stud to move an attachment point 3 inches over.

[keith micinski]

Doing the wood supporting is a definite option and depending on what type of upper it is, I might do it that way. If this was a 36" upper that was going to be loaded to the hilt, that's the only way I would do it. Jim is right, you should be able to do it in such a way that the cabinet will cover the hole. Three 75 drywall anchors on that side top, bottom and middle though is a much easier and much quicker solution for a 24" cabinet that probably can't be loaded much more then 40 or 50 pounds unless your storing lead in it.

[scott vroom]

A narrow cabinet with well designed top and bottom nailers can be hung on a single stud without racking.

[Peter Quinn]

just miss? I have 4 1/2" screws in my install kit...they never "just miss"! If its the last cabinet in a run and its large I might add blocking, you might be able to cut a hole in the drywall that is behind the cabinet so you can slide in the blocking, perhaps secure it with pocket screws or toe screw it through the drywall, very minor touch up for the screws, screw the drywall cutout to the blocking, done. For me its less of a concern that the cabinet will fall off as that the scribed finished end wont snug up to the wall. As a last resort you could slip a piece of 3/4" plywood into a hole in drywall behind the cabinet, dab of PL adhesive on that, screw it to the drywall, run a toggle bolt through that....cabinet will snug up and its never going to pull out of the drywall with the plywood plate behind it to throw the weight and secure the toggle.

[Martin Wasner]

Yep, long screws at an angle

[Jim Dwight]

When I redid our kitchen in Pittsburgh, about 20 years ago now, I pulled down a cabinet about 36 inches wide that held all our daily dishes. It had to have over 100 lbs of dishes in it. It was held up by one stud connection. There were screws on the other side but they were rusted off because they went into the plastic soil stack. What really holds the cabinet up, however, is friction with the wallboard and the wallboard. I feel a lot better with at least 4 screws holding the cabinet tight to the wall but drywall screws are not really meant as structural members. They are hard steel that probably isn't heat treated very well so they are likely to be brittle. Many of us have observed that during demo. But it works because as long as the cabinet is tight to the wall and the wallboard doesn't get wet and crumble, the cabinet stays up.

[Justin Ludwig]

Like Peter, I carry long screws. But if that fails I use https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVROYzWqesBT8M2VKvfH6bA58leJFS0 X3MwrmgaIZg-a3jSkZfe2LLrUmT as long as the cabinet has a couple screws in another stud.

Hang cabinet, drive screw like normal, remove cabinet, add anchor, re-install. They are rated for 75lb.

For what it's worth, I've hung with my feet dangling (210lbs) on a 18" cabinet before with just 2 screws (top and bottom nailer) in it to prove to a customer it would hold their junk.