DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hello all,

Amateur DIY'er here looking for advice.

So I fixed Ikea Besta cabinets in the kitchen on a plasterboard wall about 3 months ago but used red 6x37 rawlplugs meant for brick instead of hollow wall plugs. At the time, I didn't know any better. Yes, big goofup indeed....

The cabinets are 60x60cm and about 15cm deep. They are hung on a horizontal metal bracket fixed to the wall (came with cabinet) and I used 6 plugs instead of the 4 needed in an effort to make it extra secure. It is firm and doesn't budge at all (so far).

I now want to take out the whole thing and put in metal hollow wall anchors to do the job right. I don't want it to come crashing down over time with use.

My question is, can i take out the existing bracket and rawlplugs (size 6), use M5x37 hollow wall anchors in the same holes and install everything back in the same place? The hollow wall anchors are bigger than the plugs in the holes right now so should be fine for me to drill a hole using a bigger drill bit right?

Second question is that should I use 5x52 wall anchors instead of the M5x37? We are not going to be putting very heavy stuff in the cabinets but just want to play it safe.

Thanks in advance.

Hi cheesychopsticks,
Leave things as they are because all the forces on the fixings are vertical and it’s unlikely that 6mm plugs will pull down the wall. You will not gain anything by using wall anchors.
Regards S

Thank you. I have been told by someone at Homebase to not touch anything as the plasterboard will just get weaker and there can be cracks which form if I disturb things.

Your suggestion is for me to leave it alone for different reasons so that's two people telling me to do the same thing and thus, I will leave it alone.

Thanks again!