Fastening Cabinets To Wall

**Ken Krawford** · 08-05-2024, 6:33 AM

I'm making some cabinets for a bedroom closet. There will be 4 cabinets 24"w x 78" tall and 16"deep each constructed with 3/4" plywood. I want them off the floor and am considering using a 1x3" cleat screwed into each 16" OC studs 6" off the floor that the bottom of the cabinets will rest on. I'm also going to run the same cleat 6" down from the top of the cabinets with a 1x3" dado notched into the sides of each cabinet with this cleat also screwed into all the studs. The cabinets will hold clothes and each shouldn't weight more than 80 lbs.
Should this method of wall attachment work? Is there a better and/or easier way?

Thanks.
Cabinet.jpg

**George Yetka** · 08-05-2024, 8:57 AM

Big fan of the french cleat. The only issue with that is you cannot have the cabinet flush with the ceiling. You would have to be a minimum of 3/4" lower(assuming 3/4 cleat.) if you are looking to be tighter but either way have 2 nailers on on the cabinet back. The way you have it drawn is nice becasue you can mount the nailer and rest the cabinet while you screw it in but I would go with 2 nailers on cabinet back and screws to studs from inside.

**Ken Krawford** · 08-05-2024, 10:34 AM

Thanks George. No problem with the ceiling since there's going to be a gap of about 14" between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling. The old cabinets that these are replacing went to the ceiling but the top shelves were never used since they were beyond reach without a ladder.

**Jamie Buxton** · 08-05-2024, 11:17 AM

Your upper cleat intrudes into the closet space. That annoys me, so I usually put the cleat above the cabinet box. On your drawing, it would look like the bottom cleat. However, the upper cleat first fastens to the cabinet box, and screws to the wall at installation time.

**Keith Outten** · 08-05-2024, 11:40 AM

I use French cleats also in my shop and often hang commercial signs that way.

**Holmes Anderson** · 08-05-2024, 12:05 PM

Are you using cleats because of how the studs line up with the cabinets or because you are hanging them without temporary support or a helper? Some people will complain about the visible support, particularly on the outside of the cabinet. You could bury upper and lower mounting rails behind 1/4" backing so there is no visible support. Or if you don't care much about seeing them, at least locate both of them inside the box so they are obscured by the contents of the box. It can be difficult to get parallel french cleats to both seat properly. Easier to use a french cleat upper and screws through a lower mounting rail. A single upper french cleat solves the single-man installation problem.

**Ken Krawford** · 08-06-2024, 11:03 AM

In a perfect world I'd rather the cleat not be visible but the top 1/2 of each of the 4 cabinets will be used for clothes on hangers so effectively the cleat will barely show if at all.