I'm wanting to mount the long Hemnes shelf on an interior wall.I'm picking up 3-4 studs in the area that it would be, but they are really oddly spaced.
Would it be preferable to buy separate mounting hardware? The specs for the shelf list 99lb capacity, but I'm not sure if that's referring to the structural ability of the shelf or their recommended max weight on a wall? If I'm distributing the weight across 3 studs, I would imagine that they would support a lot more than that. That being said, I am concerned about the construction of the wall – is there any way to check the quality of studs?
If the limit is referring to the shelf itself, are there any suggestions for reinforcing upon assembly?
Best Answer
After reading through the product info and the assembly instructions, I'd say the 99lbs refers to the max load of the unit itself. For one thing, they don't know what you're attaching to so they couldn't spec out a max load for the units effective bearing weight. And two, the shear load of a lag into a stud through the little metal brackets supplied would be quite a bit more than 99lbs per connection so it has to refer to the box itself. As far as your responsibility goes for the installation, I would want to see you catch at least two studs just to be safe and then use a drywall anchor like these in the remaining two locations as per the instructions. That way your unit will be pulled tight to the wall evenly across the length but the studs will still be bearing the bulk of the load. As far as being able to tell the condition of your framing, if you can tighten down a screw to the point where it pulls everything snug without stripping out, that's the best you can do without stripping the drywall and having a look. If you feel confident you're hitting the studs but they keep stripping out, either your screws are too short, you're piloting too much, or your framing is seriously compromised and you should definitely have a look.