Fixing furniture to interior lath and plaster wall

by **alisonjb** » Tue May 19, 2009 11:14 am

Hi

Just bought new wardrobes for our toddler's room and need to fix them to the wall for safety - only problem is they sit against an interior lath and plaster wall.

House is 150 years old and walls are quite delicate - I'm worried that whatever anchors we use would just be easily ripped out by the weight of the wardrobe if it fell (wardrobe consists of two 1000mm w x 2360mm h carcases, plus sliding doors).

Is there an appropriate and safe anchor to use and how do I fit them/locate the best place to site them?

Thanks

Alison

by **bd3cc** » Tue May 19, 2009 8:15 pm

Locate the upright timbers, probably at 16" centres from the corners. and screw though into them. Use a large washer internally in the wardrobe.

by **alisonjb** » Wed May 20, 2009 1:48 pm

Thanks that's really helpful! But how do I locate the uprights? I understand that you can't really use a stud finder as lath is generally more dense? Is that right? Is the only way to poke holes in the wall with a bradawl?

by **plumbbob** » Wed May 20, 2009 4:58 pm

I think stud finders are a little hit and miss actually. I used one once to carefully find a stud which turned out to be a gas pipe. Ho ho. Got it straight through the middle did I!

If you measure in from a corner, the studs should be evenly spaced. So drill some small pilot test holes.

by **bd3cc** » Wed May 20, 2009 8:45 pm

There should be one on the corners to fix the lathes to, then in from there at 16" centres, and yes, you poke about with a bradawl. If you find the plaster as opposed to the lathe, you should find them reasonably easily.
As it will be behind the wardrobe, you can poke about at random.
Another method might be to fix L brackets to the top of the wardrobe and then into the lathes/stud, but you must be sure to be in the lathe, not the plaster
HTH
bd3cc

by **rosebery** » Thu May 21, 2009 10:02 pm

"I used one once to carefully find a stud which turned out to be a gas pipe."

There but for the grace of god.........

Cheers

by **ranjosh** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:16 am

[quote="alisonjb"]Hi

Just bought new wardrobes for our toddler's room and need to fix them to the wall for safety - only problem is they sit against an interior lath and plaster wall.

House is 150 years old and walls are quite delicate - I'm worried that whatever anchors we use would just be easily ripped out by the weight of the wardrobe if it fell (wardrobe consists of two 1000mm w x 2360mm h carcases, plus sliding doors).

Is there an appropriate and safe anchor to use and how do I fit them/locate the best place to site them?

Thanks

Alison[/quote]

thanks for the advice..now i know