Child Item

Laundry reno - working around stud placement

Hello!

I am about half way through a laundry renovation and would be interested in some tips.

Have just had the dyer installed which leaves room for a 450mm wide Flatpax wall cupboard and a 620mm wide open cabinet.

Some queries I have:

The studs are not in the ideal place so the plan is to connect some timber between the studs (which are 600mm apart) to secure the cupboards to (this was done for the dryer too):

what sort of timber is best for this? it will need to be the same thickness of the timber used for the dryer install.
what screws should I use?
what's the optimal placement of the timber? I assume at the top and right at the bottom of the cupboards.
is there a better approach?

I have used the Flapax range under the bench. Given the left over space is not an available size (620mm), does a Kaboodle colour match to the Flatpax colour? If they do, I could utilise the made to measure option there. If not - welcome any thoughts. I had thought about open shelves that can be easily cut to size, but don't think this will go well with the support beams needed (e.g. they will show and might not be optimally spaced) and I want the bottom shelf to line up with the bottom of the cupboard next to it so tiles can go in one straight line.

Am looking at putting tiles for the splashback - I love My Laundry Reno by @ProjectPete - I note that he put the tiles in before the wall items... should tiles be the next logical step? I see this would ensure the best fit of the tiles, but i note the dryer is already installed, so height is largely set, although there's about a 5cm gap behind it...

Welcome any thoughts!

Thankyou!

Find more posts tagged with

Renovation

Building and Construction

Accepted answers

All comments

StevieB

Hi @tremas,

Thanks for reaching out to the community with your questions.

Let me mention @diy_hausdesigns, @JoeAzza, @redracer01 and @MitchellMc who may have helpful suggestions to kick off this discussion.

We'd love to hear how your project is going and see photos along the way, so please keep us updated with your project.

Stevie

diy_hausdesigns

Hi @tremas

I had a similar issue and solution when I did my laundry. I ended up running 2 X (top and bottom at a slightly span than the height of the wall cabinets) 2400x90x35mm lengths of timber along the wall (utilising the internal wall studs) giving me free placement along the wall.

Best of luck !

tremas

Thanks @diy_hausdesigns - yes looks like we have a similar situation! The timber cabinet you have used in your project - did you make that up yourself?

diy_hausdesigns

If you are referiing to the open shelves, Yes I did make them myself. I used the in-built melamine panels (I'm a big fan of these) which are pretty easy to work with.

It allowed me to maximise the storage overhead and give a purpose built look.

MitchellMc

Hi @tremas,

A similar approach to what @diy_hausdesigns has used sounds like it would be the best option. If you can let us know what size timber has been used behind the dryer, we can suggest an equivalent type for the rest of the wall. Generally, you would be using Pine and standard timber screws. You'd want a screw that has enough length to go through your mounting timber and then also a significant distance into the stud. If you were to use any timber up to 35mm thick, something like Buildex 14-10 x 75mm Climacoat Bugle Head Batten Timber Screws would be suitable.

At the top and the bottom of the cabinets would be a suitable place to have the supporting timber. If you place the lower one right at the bottom, you'll be able to see it, so you'll need to paint it white to blend in.

Kaboodle and Flatpax both use white cabinetry. However, there are many shades of white, and as you're aware of their difference, you'll likely be able to tell them apart. I would imagine anyone else would have difficulty. They also use different construction techniques on the cabinetry and door panels. Kaboodle is vacuum formed with rolled edges, and the Flatpax is heat adhered melamine.

You can tile before or after the installation of the cabinetry. Tiling before might be slightly easier as the cabinets are not in the way. Although you'd want to make sure your final top run of tiles is very level to match the cabinetry bottom edge when installed.

I look forward to following along with your project. Please let me know if you have questions.

Mitchell

diy_hausdesigns

Here's is a tip too @tremas

I chose to create a recess by offsetting the horizontal timber from the very bottom of the cabinets.

This was to run some lighting (temporary solution in photo) and to hopefuly assist if I later decide to tile.

It also creates a nice floating effect too.

tremas

This is a great tip @diy_hausdesigns - thank you!

tremas

Hi @MitchellMc

Thanks for your reply.

The dryer timber is 200mm wide x 16mm thick. The studs in the wall are about 900mm thick.

MitchellMc

Hi @tremas,

That's an interesting size of timber that has been used to mount the dryer. It appears to be something more similar to 90mm wide x 45mm thick Pine from your image, but that might be because of the angle of the photo. Was the 200mm wide x 16mm thick timber the top piece seen in the image? The closest to 200mm x 16mm would be Porta 184 x 19mm Premium Pine DAR.

Mitchell

tremas

Hi @MitchellMc - apologies, no idea where i got the 200mm from! It's 120mm. And yes it's the bit at the top left of the dryer

MitchellMc

Many thanks for checking @tremas.

The 140 x 19mm x 1.8m Premium Grade Dressed Pine would likely be the best candidate, and the extra 20mm width will make it a bit easier to screw into when hanging the cabinetry. Depending on how accurately you measured the thickness, I shouldn't think 3mm will make much difference. I note the measurements on the ruler don't start at the end, so if you placed the tip on the wall, that might explain the slightly unusual 16mm thickness.

I'd suggest using Zenith 14G x 75mm Gold Passivated Bugle Head Type 17 Batten Timber Screws. 75mm is fairly long, but that gives you a solid 46mm of screw thread in the timber stud once it has passed through the 19mm baton and 10mm of plaster.

Mitchell

redracer01

Hello @tremas

One of the traditional ways to find the stud in your wall is to use a magnet. If you have a semi powerful magnet in the house you may run this along the suspected location of the stud. The magnet will latch on to the head of the nails holding the plasterboard on the wall. Every time you find a nail simply mark it with a pencil and you will soon see the nail pattern or line the builder took while attaching your plasterboard wall. This will give you an excellent guide where to find the stud and where to anchor your timber. It would not be amiss however to invest in a really good stud finder. Below is my favorite the Stanley 38mm S160, it has auto calibration and a central guide point to make sure you hit the stud dead center. Please keep us updated with your progress I'm sure everyone wants to see how you go with your cabinet wall mounting journey.

Red

Screenshot_2021-04-27 Stanley 38mm S160 Stud Finder.png

tremas

Have made progress - timber has been drilled into studs for the cabinets to go into and the open cabinat has been built and installed. What screws should I have used to put the cabinet in the wall? The timber brace is 19mm and back of the cabinet is 16mm - i used 38mm- hope that's ok!

redracer01

Hello @tremas

Very nicely done! If you wish to give your cabinet an extra point of support you can do a modified french cleat at the top of your cabinet. Since you have already installed the timber on to the wall, mount a 19 x 40 piece of timber at the back of the cabinet where it will meet the timber brace at the top of the cabinet. This will be like a secondary anchor for your cabinet should you happen to place anything heavy in the cabinet. But the screws you've used should be adequate. Looking forward to the final reveal when you have all your wall cabinets up. If you need help with anything else please post it here on workshop.

Red

MitchellMc

That looks fabulous @tremas. Well done!

Is the tiled splashback next on the list for the laundry reno project?

Please keep us updated and reach out if you need assistance.

Mitchell

Child Item