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... ...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:

[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.

[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".