I moved in. I put my belongings in the closet. Now, I didn’t think that I overloaded the closet, but I AM a historical recreationist, and those clothes, I suppose, weigh a bit more than the modern clothes that were hanging next to them. But still, it doesn’t seem unreasonable of me to hang them up. With blankets on the shelves above.
Yesterday I heard a terrible crashing noise. Yep, the entire assembly has collapsed. After clearing out the assorted personal stuff and assessing the damage, I note that all of the supporting rods are bent and that one of the supporting hooks is broken.
Also, the cat, who was hiding in the closet when it all came crashing down, is traumatized.
I had planned on repairing this today, but now that I’ve had a look in the light of day, I don’t think I can repair it. At least, not in any fashion that wouldn’t be even more likely to collapse again.
So I have to rebuild. And I don’t want to. It’s going to be expensive. And time-consuming. And frustrating. And I’ll probably screw it up as well. And I just don’t want to fuck with it. Maybe I’ll just put my clothes in piles on the closet floor and call it finished. Cardboard boxes are nice.
Damn damn damn damn damn. Damn the manufacturer who built this thing out of materials that couldn’t bear weight. Damn the remodelers who chose this crappy piece of plastic and tin to save a few bucks. Damn me, for not noticing that it wasn’t particularly well made. Damn the same materials, lurking in every closet in the house, which I will now not be able to trust. And damn the cat, who shouldn’t be hiding in my closets anyway.
vunderbob my reading of FisherQueen’s OP leads me to believe that this is a house that’s been remodeled rather than newly built. At any rate, the cheaper closet set would have been the one a new builder would have used also because it’s the cheap stuff that’s “standard.” When I had my house built I “upgraded” several of the “standard” items which included better closet inserts and sets than were to be used in the quoted price for building. Ah, the joys of having a home built or remodeled. :rolleyes:
Let me guess: your closet shelf is a piece of 1x10 particle board that is nailed to a 1x4 strip, which in turn was nailed to the wall. In addition, you have some metal braces supporting the shelf, and there is a long piece of wood dowel to hang clothes on.
My entire bedroom shelf & pole system collapsed as well, but it’s an easy fix. I’m surmising here, but based on my own experience, what has happened is the builder did not take time to find the studs. Instead, he applied a layer of construction adhesive to the back of the 1x4, then held it in place with finish nails (that may or may not have hit the studs) until the glue dried, then attached the shelves and braces.
If this is your situation, go to a hardware store and buy yourself some 3" wood screws. Locate the studs in your wall and reattach the 1x4 using the longer screws every 16". Straighten out the bent braces. Then renail the shelf (with braces attached) to the 1x4. Then screw the braces into the studs at appropriate intervals. This will hold up anything you want to hang or stack.
For whatever it’s worth, I have now at least identified the problem.
My closet shelf and rod are clearly designed to be fastened to the three walls of my closet. That’s how they’re arranged in the other two closets in my house.
But in this closet, one of the side walls provides access to the furnace. So you can’t very well bolt the shelf and rod to that wall, otherwise I’d never be able to service the furnace.
So my handy installers apparently decided to just fasten it to two walls and hope for the best.
Thanks, guys.
At least this means that I don’t have to worry so much about the other closets, where the things were installed correctly.