Pax Disaster Hollow Wardrobe

[Sally27]

Hi,

I recently hired a builder to assemble a PAX wardrobe, and he suggested using No More Nails adhesive to attach pieces of wood to my plasterboard wall. These were intended to act as anchors that I could drill into to stop the wardrobe from tipping forward. After applying the adhesive, we left it to set for 48 hours. However, as soon as I drilled into the wood and opened the wardrobe doors, the pieces of wood came away from the wall, damaging the paint, and the wardrobe tipped forward.

The builder explained that the plasterboard is too weak and apologised, saying there is no stud wall behind it and he doesn’t know of another way to secure it. I’m now looking for advice on how I can properly secure the wardrobe to the wall in this situation. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Link of wall below Wall

 

[mattylad]

Pull the wardrobe out of the way, knock on the plasterboard until you find a lower pitched thud or use a magnet to find a vertical row of nails/screws.
There should be a vertical joist every 16" ish.

 

[morqthana]

I recently hired a builder to assemble a PAX wardrobe, and he suggested using No More Nails adhesive to attach pieces of wood to my plasterboard wall.

No - he suggested using paint to glue the wood to the wall. The adhesive stuck the wood to the paint - the overall strength of the design depended on how well the paint stuck to the wall.

Paint is not glue.

These were intended to act as anchors that I could drill into to stop the wardrobe from tipping forward. After applying the adhesive, we left it to set for 48 hours. However, as soon as I drilled into the wood and opened the wardrobe doors, the pieces of wood came away from the wall, damaging the paint, and the wardrobe tipped forward.

Have you tried seeing what happens when the wardrobes are full of clothes? They might not tip then.

The builder explained that the plasterboard is too weak and apologised, saying there is no stud wall behind it and he doesn’t know of another way to secure it.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he's not a builder. Did his transport leave you a present for your garden?

As matty said look for the studs, but if there aren't any then it could be dot & dab. If you drill a hole, then insert a drinking straw, or a skewer, or a thin screwdriver, or a bit of coathanger wire, or a biro refill, etc, how far does it go in before hitting something solid?

If it's dot & dab you could use Corefix fittings, but quite honestly any decent hollow-wall fixings should do, as it only has to resist pull-out.