My tenants have said this happened to them and are threatening to withold rent until I fix them. I have lived in the flat and know the cupboards are sturdy. Is it possible that they really did 'just' fall off the wall? How do I find out?
2007-02-14 13:57:49 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I have seen this before (My boyfriend is a carpenter and we also do side work remodelling . ) Generally the original screws in the cupboars that affix them to the wall are too small in diameter or too short. Make sure the original screws are fastened to the studs in the wall which are generally 16 inches apart. You can buy a hand held stud finder (very cheap, a few dollars) at Home Depot.
Or you can" knock "on a wall moving across. Walls sound hollow until you hit the stud, which sounds more solid. Yoy can resuse the existing holes, provide they are in fact in the stud, but just get a larger diameter and longer one. If you really want to reinforce it put an extra one in 6 inches or so below the others.
They probably had alot of weight in them, too moch for the original screws to hold. Talk to employees at Home Depot, they can give you a visual Idea of fixing this problem.
Also, by law, Landlords have responsibility to fix or at lease address repairs within 3-5 days of notice. Your tennants could hold rent, but you need to go to small claims to recover it and that would turn into a mess. You don't want your tennants to turn you in as a neglegent landlord. Looks bad. Best thing to do is fix it ASAP to avoid any bad blood between all of you.
2007-02-14 14:23:34 · answer #1 · answered by RJsGirl 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
IF they were sturdy, they can't fall off the wall. Now, if someone were climbing onto the countertop and using the top of the cupboard to pull themselves up, that exerts a different force on the fasteners. Not just weight bearing down, but lateral movement. If there's a space from the top of the cabinet to the ceiling that is/can be used for storage. My guess is they pulled them down getting something off the top.
Good luck proving it tho. My advice, bite the bullet and fix them. It will be cheaper and less hassle free. Not sure of the laws in your state, but IF a tenant wants to withhold rent for "non-repairs" it has to be put into an escrow account, meaning, if they don't have the money escrowed, it's considered non-payment, you can start eviction proceedings.
2007-02-14 17:56:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
anything is possible a screw could rust and break a board could crack but it is not very probable How long have the cupboards been up there have they been full of dishes before dishes are very heavy any carpenter knows this and would secure cupboards to the wall very securely however if the cupboards are not of a good quality sometimes the screws can pull through the back and let them fall if one fell you should check the rest to make sure they are firmly attached.
2007-02-14 14:13:06 · answer #3 · answered by Pat B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really, not unless they were over stacked, wighted down badly by something. Sounds like some one tried climbing up on them. Check the back of them and see how they were secured, screws? Dolly bolts? Were they fasten into the frame of the house? If so, someone climb up on them, trying to reach something. See if the screws have been ripped through the cabinet, or if they just came out of the wall. You can tell what happened. If it's their fault, sue them for repairs quickly. Also get a camera and take pictures.
2007-02-14 14:13:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is kind of a sticky issue. The cabinet could have "just fallen off" for a number of reasons. There could have been too much stuff in the cabinet (overloaded). The screws attaching the cabinet to the wall could have been put in wrong (not into the studs, instead just into the drywall). The screws used could have been too small. The screws could have been put into the cabinet in a weak spot, basically pulling through the backer of the cabinet.
Check a couple things:
Can you find the screw holes in the wall?
1. Do they go into bare sheetrock? (scews put in wrong) or
2. Do they go into studs in the wall? (cabinet overloaded)
3. Are the screws still in the wall? (Screws put into weak spot in cabinet.)
These are just my brain-storming ideas. A clear answer is kinda hard.
2007-02-14 14:16:57 · answer #5 · answered by elpetay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can work loose if the doors are consistently slammed. Slamming cabinet doors tends to push the cabinet against the stud, creating vibration that, in time, will file the screw hole. This will not happen quickly, since it takes many thousands of slams to ruin the screw hole. But, in time, the screw will weaken the hole enough to come down without warning. Repair is possible, but complicated as you must glue a dowel into the hole and re-screw the cabinet into the wall.
Note that repeated slamming also causes the doors to sag. This creates stress at the hinges by pulling them out, again generally taking time to do this. This stress, along with the stress on the anchor screws, is related to the mass times the square of the velocity of the door at the time it hits the cabinet. Briefly pausing the door just before it fully closes, perhaps by holding a finger at the door just before it closes, will disrupt this energy and prevent your cabinet from falling due to this type of abuse.
2015-02-21 08:34:36 · answer #6 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it is possible.....if they were installed with screws and missed the wall studs,which in turn the screws would pull thru the drywall and the cabinet would fall off the wall when loaded with dishes etc.............cabinets that are fastened to the wall with screws properly into the wall studs would hold up to 800 lbs...rule of thumb..........800 lbs is alot of weight that you or anyone virtually would not even come close to having that in a kitchen cabinet.
2007-02-14 14:15:42 · answer #7 · answered by jhat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is possible. Check to see if the fasteners pulled free of the wall, maybe they weren't secured to something substantial. Another possibility would be that the fastener heads pulled through the cabinet material.
2007-02-14 14:53:57 · answer #8 · answered by luther 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe the id 10 T installers just screwed them into the drywall and not the studs
Maybe it wasn't studded correctly, Hard to install a 16" cab with 24" OC studs
2007-02-14 14:08:11 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes they can fall. They are just hung up there with nails and if they are banged alot or pulled on or just old they fall off. They are probly telling the truth. Someone could have been hurt really bad.
2007-02-14 14:09:12 · answer #10 · answered by Extra Blue Note 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋