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kitchen cabinets

1350 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  ARI001
I have a question that plagues me every time I make room for more heavy dishes in my cupboards.........how do you know how much weight a cabinet can hold? I have an ( I am told ) unreasonable fear that the cupboard will fall off the wall ( as they are only held up by a few screws ) when I put yet another heavy dish in it. What can I really expect ???.....can you explain it in a way that is understandable...and reasonable?
thanks, in advance, for easing my mind.
csobelle
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If the cabinets are properly built and properly hung, they will hold considerable weight. You have to rely on the cabinet maker for the first. There is a strip of wood on the backside of the cabinet at top and bottom. That is where the screws go to secure it, and they must be into the studs. Tney(cabinet screws) should be 2 1/2" min length and should be #12 or bigger. Drywall screws not recommended, usually #9. Two screws per stud, one top one bottom of the cabinet.
Read the blah blah blah that I found. Yes I have worried about the same problem since we have a "lot" of heavy dishes. I work in aviaton and that is why I worry. My wife doesn't worry just keeps piling up more stuff! However the shear strength of screws in cabinets seem to withstand the load quite well. Myself, I JENTLY place those heavy plates in the cabinet.
Common practice for steel fasteners is to assume shear strength will approximate 60% of minimum tensile strength. Published data in commercial (non-aerospace fields) does not offer much guidance on shear strengths for bolts, screws, or studs. The first reason is that the number of components loaded in shear is considerably less than for tension, compression, bending, or torsion. The primary reason, however, is the difficulty in obtaining accurate test data. Shear testing inherently involves a number of variables. Therefore, tests are less reproducible than testing for such properties as tensile or yield strength. Most shear testing has been by arbitrary procedures that provide empirical results. The greatest need for shear test data is in structures that are riveted, pinned, or bolted, and also where service stresses are actually in shear. Notable examples are found in the aerospace industry. (A recommended shear test method is given in ASTM B565.)
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My wife just walked in while I was answering! Her response--- airplanes fail --- kitchen cabinets never fail! End of discussion at this household!
My wife just walked in while I was answering! Her response--- airplanes fail --- kitchen cabinets never fail! End of discussion at this household!
Gotta watch out for the wife every now and then!

Last time I heard of cabinets falling of someones wall, they had termites and no wood left.
My wife just walked in while I was answering! Her response--- airplanes fail --- kitchen cabinets never fail! End of discussion at this household!
I have seen them fail in older homes where they hung them with nails. I have also seen them hung with drywall screws and fail (that's is the only shearing related failure I have seen). In that example they where being used to house books not dishes.

I have never seen any fail that have been fastened with cabinet screws through the back into the studs or blocking and and the face frames joined properly.

So I guess both kitchen cabinets and airplanes fail. Oh-well I guess what goes up must come down.:laughing:
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