Do most cabinets with a built in cleat need to be checked for stability (how they are adhered to the cabinet)?
Answer Hi Chris, I’ve always used cleats to attach cabinets to walls. They’re strong, and a great way of anchoring the cabinet. I like to make my cabinets so that the cleat is an integral part of the cabinet, usually by housing it into a dado that’s cut in the cabinet box itself. I use two cleats per cabinet box- one at the top, and one at the bottom. I usually use solid wood, and it’s not only glued into the dado, but it’s screwed into the top (or bottom) of the cabinet, itself. I’ve seen some cabinetmakers simply place a cleat on the upper and lower portion of the cabinet, sort of free floating 1 x 4. I don’t like this way (free-floating) as it has never seemed very strong to me. So making it a part of the actual cabinet box makes much more sense. When attaching a cabinet to a stud wall, I usually screw it in to every stud that it spans. Since I have upper cleats and lower cleats, the load is distributed evenly. If the cabinet is extra large, or has the potential to hold a really hea
