Christmas gifts that become part of your home are special because you get to enjoy them all year long, and for many years to come. Often, our family and close friends know exactly what we want and they get it for us. Sometimes, though, we have to purchase what we need for ourselves. Home improvements usually fall into the latter category. If you have invested in a wall mounted pot rack for yourself this holiday season, congratulations! It will look wonderful-as soon as it is properly installed!
Whether you have purchased a small, wooden model, or a 48 inch wrought iron rack, you need to follow the same steps and heed the same advice. The most important word is MEASURE-MEASURE-MEASURE. Without measuring correctly, you will run the risk of poorly securing the rack into the ceiling or wall, and it will ultimately come crashing down.
A wall mounted pot rack is supported by screws inserted into holes in its frame and then then the screws are secured into the wall in your room. The following steps should be followed for this process:
-select the wall area where you would like to hang a pot rack,
-use a stud finder to locate the wall joists, or wood studs, in your selected wall. Lightly mark these locations with a pencil,
-measure the distance between these studs,
-measure the distance between the mounting holes on the pot rack,
-if the distance between the holes is the same as the distance between the studs, you will be able to easily hang the rack in this area. Continue these directions. (If the distance between the holes does not match the distance between the studs, go to * *)
– measure down from the ceiling over one stud to the place where you want to mount the rack and make a pencil mark. Measure this same distance from the ceiling on the next stud and make another pencil mark. These marks indicate where you will drill holes for the screws to mount the rack.
-using the wood screws that came with your pot rack, use a power drill to start a small hole at each mark. Then, pick up the pot rack and position the mounting hole over the wall hole and use the drill to insert the screw securely in the wall’s wood stud. Do the same for the other hole.
* * when attaching a pot rack directly to the wall’s sheet rock, much more care needs to be taken to make the wall stronger and able to hold the weight of a rack and pots and pans. Here are three possible solutions: 1. Mount a nice looking wooden backing board to the wall so that it attaches directly to the studs in the wall. Then, attach the pot rack to this board (this is preferred over 2 and 3); 2. Attach the pot rack to the sheet rock using sheet rock anchors. Try to do this for only one side and have the other side hit a stud; 3. Mount the pot rack to the sheet rock where both holes are drilled into the sheet rock and toggles or molly bolts are used to mount the rack securely. 5/16 to mm