French Cleat Questions

[Scott Adams]

Hey,

I will be moving into a house that has a 15' x 23' garage that my wife, so graciously, said I could turn into my shop. I am thinking about doing a wall full of french cleats. The garage is finished (drywalled). Would you all recommend putting plywood up over the drywall before putting the cleats up or attaching the cleats directly to the drywall? Also, would there be advantages to using 1x lumber vs plywood? I have access to a lot of rough cut white pine, poplar, and white oak that would be the same price as a 3/4" 4x8 sheet of plywood that I could use for the strips.

[Art Tripp]

I would recommend saving the $$$ and skip covering the walls with plywood. Just be sure to screw the cleats into the stud and not the drywall alone.

In regard to which makes a better cleat, boards or plywood, I can't really help in that aspect - though with the money you save by not covering the drywall, you should have the funds available to go whichever direction ends up being the best.

[Jim Becker]

There are advantages either way. If the cleats are fastened (through the drywall) to the studs, then you will have a very strong system for hanging stuff, without the cost of lining the walls with plywood. By adding plywood first, you can screw stuff anywhere in addition to the cleats. Personally, I'd probably choose the former and just paint the drywall first so everything looks neat and tidy before putting up (nice looking) cleats.

[Don Bullock]

Both plywood and solid wood make good French cleats. If the cost is the same it seems to me that you’d be better off using thee solid wood. In my opinion solid wood would look better.

A French cleat system is mostly useful in situations where you’re hanging tools but want the flexibility to move them when necessary or you change your mind about the placement. The way many of us rearrange our shops French cleats can be very helpful.

As others have pointed out since your walls are already covered with drywall just attaching the French cleats to the studs will work just fine and save a lot of cost. They will hold up just fine and the paint color behind the cleats will show up. In my case, for example, my walls are white to reflect as much light as possible into the workspace.

But, as Jim pointed out some people just attach things directly to the plywood. Some of them bypass the French cleats. If they need to move something they just unscrew it and screw it in somewhere else on their wall. Plywood walls can look nice but they may cut down on the reflected light and even darken the room.

[Jim Becker]

Of course, pieces of reasonably sized plywood can be hung using the same French cleats... :) :D ...for folks who feel a need to be able to screw into plywood for something.

[Chris Parks]

Look at slatwall, it does both the french cleat and covering the wall at the same time. Do a search here for some examples.

[Frederick Skelly]

I have french cleats too. Good advice from all. I used solid wood and it works just fine.
Fred

[Mike Heidrick]

What inspired me:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Pole%20Barn/slatwall-storage-boxes-slatwall-storage-bins-slat-wall-storage-boxes-use-wide-shiplap-to-make-slat-wall-move-decor-shelves-s_zpsfmnn9zrf.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Pole%20Barn/e805_zpsi1zmjdfk.jpg

[Frederick Skelly]

Man, what an attractive wall! Mike, you're enjoyin that big new shop too much! I feel like I accomplished something when I put a coat of Poly on a shop fixture or storage cabinet. :o

[Scott Brader]

I hang large and/or heavy stuff with french cleats all the time. I always mount a spacer of equal thickness to the bottom of the item being hung to keep it vertical. That keeps all of the screws in pure shear which I hope helps keep things from ever pulling out. I tend to over-engineer everything, though.

Scott

[Mike Heidrick]

Thats not my wall. I did that wall style for my actual walls on 40x64x16.

[Jim Becker]

I hang large and/or heavy stuff with french cleats all the time. I always mount a spacer of equal thickness to the bottom of the item being hung to keep it vertical. That keeps all of the screws in pure shear which I hope helps keep things from ever pulling out. I tend to over-engineer everything, though.

Scott

Scott, if you are careful with spacing, you can use a second cleat on the lower portion of the heavy item so that both top and bottom are supported on the cleats.

[Scott Brader]

Scott, if you are careful with spacing, you can use a second cleat on the lower portion of the heavy item so that both top and bottom are supported on the cleats.

Jim,
I have heard of people doing just that, but I have yet to hang anything so heavy that I felt like I needed a second cleat. I thought about it briefly when I hung a live edge slab I finished as a headboard, but I had lags into three studs and even I was satisfied that it was sufficient.

Thanks for the input.

Scott

[Scott Adams]

I thought about using white oak for the strips/cleats and then maybe walnut for the holders. I live near a lumber mill and can get stuff at fairly low prices. Would you use boiled linseed oil or a poly for the wood or just leave it blank? I got so tired of pegboard--half the time I would reach for a tool and pull the hook out of the board. I like the idea of the French cleat so I can move or rearrange things as I wanted. There are some cool looking set-ups that people have. Thanks for all of your input!

[Jim Becker]

Sounds like a nice look to me. Honestly, for this whatever you like that simply wipes on is fine and that includes BLO or a wiping varnish. It's more for getting color that you like than any need for "protection".

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use a recessed French cleat on my hung cabinets. The back of the cabinet is recessed into the sides and top by the thickness of my French cleat. Thus the sides and top of the cabinets are flush against the walls when hung. This prevents any dust buildup should it escape my DC and 2 air cleaners. :eek::o While I only use a French cleat near the top of the cabinet, I use a cabinet wide spacer the same thickness as the cleat near the bottom. I hang the cabinet on the cleat and run a couple screws through the back of the cabinet and through the spacer into the studs.

[Jim Becker]

Jim,
I have heard of people doing just that, but I have yet to hang anything so heavy that I felt like I needed a second cleat. I thought about it briefly when I hung a live edge slab I finished as a headboard, but I had lags into three studs and even I was satisfied that it was sufficient.

Thanks for the input.

Scott

I agree that in most cases, two cleats aren't really necessary to support things to be hung. Where I might employ top and bottom might be for, say, hanging a cabinet that will house things like portable electric hand tools, such as routers and the like. It's nice having that option and that's a good reason to keep the spacing of cleat rows "standardized" in the shop so you can easily move any "double cleat" items elsewhere down the road.

[Scott Brader]

It's nice having that option and that's a good reason to keep the spacing of cleat rows "standardized" in the shop so you can easily move any "double cleat" items elsewhere down the road.

That's a great idea!

[Jim Becker]

Sometimes it does pay to be anal about things, Scott... ;)

[Chris Parks]

All my Jet clamps are hanging from one cleat and there must be hundreds of pounds in that lot.

[Mike Cutler]

I agree that in most cases, two cleats aren't really necessary to support things to be hung. Where I might employ top and bottom might be for, say, hanging a cabinet that will house things like portable electric hand tools, such as routers and the like. It's nice having that option and that's a good reason to keep the spacing of cleat rows "standardized" in the shop so you can easily move any "double cleat" items elsewhere down the road.

My kitchen cabinets are hung with double french cleats.
You would be stunned at how heavy a cabinet full of dishes is.

I personally would not use solid wood, unless it was from some very specific species of wood, for french cleats. Birch ply, or scrap cabinet ply, make very strong cleats.

[Jim Becker]

I agree that plywood probably makes the strongest cleats, but good, "cheap" oak or similar looks nice for folks who will have an exposed cleat system covering their walls.

And yea...kitchen cabinets can be darn heavy when loaded!

[glenn bradley]

I have cleats at three heights the length of some wall sections. This has met my needs. If I need more granular adjustability like a full cleat wall, I just hang a board or fixture that allows that. This kept me from having to run a half a dozen or more cleats. Since it is desieable to have the cleats plumb and true to allow you to slide any fixture to any spot, the less the better in my shop/garage that was framed by a crew after a 12 beer lunch ;-) I shimmed the stud for plumb and laid drywall or OSB over the studs. The cleats are screwed with 3-1/2" #10 screws at each stud. Never had one so much as wiggle in all these years of adds, moves and changes. Things have morphed several times over the years.

388721 . 388722

388718 . 388719 . 388720

[Ted Reischl]

French cleats are fine. BUT. You are moving into a small shop, wall space is at a premium, french cleats waste LOTS of wall space.

I am also in a small space. One of the things I did was build a cabinet (from Shop Notes) that has sliding doors. The cabinet is a frame and the panels are mostly peg board. I HATE peg board as a rule. But I built all custom type holders for my tools. It is amazing how much stuff is packed into that double layer cabinet.

[Jim Becker]

French cleats are fine. BUT. You are moving into a small shop, wall space is at a premium, french cleats waste LOTS of wall space.
Please help us understand why you feel that French Cleats waste a lot of space...they only serve as a mounting point for other things, so to my mind, any wasted space is merely because one isn't using the space efficiently, regardless of how things are mounted on the wall.

[Scott Adams]

I get what everyone is saying about the space issue. I will probably either do one long wall or one short wall. I think the thing that appeals is that I can better create holders to suit my needs and move things around/rearrange till my hearts content. Honestly, I will probably cleat some things that take up valuable floor space and put them up high and out of the way when not in use. I will probably put the scroll saw, bench vise, and bench grinder on cleats. I would think the system could be made more efficient depending on how everything is organized. Of course it is always different when actually applied. My last garage was only studded (no drywall). Now that is a waste of space! I hated it.

[Jim Becker]

The cleat system really makes sense where there's a need or desire to be able to arrange and re-arrange for sure. It's also a snap to extend to other walls if you decide that having only one doesn't give you the fexlibility you need. And yea...with a little creativity, you can easily hang smaller specialty tools like you describe so lesser used things are not taking up valuable space. In many respects, there are a few things I would do different in my shop today if I were building from scratch and using a cleat system where possible would be one of them...I've rearranged things on the walls multiple times as my shop has evolved!