Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

My new house has an attic room with a fairly steeply sloping ceiling down
one side of the room. It's far enough into the room for the floor area
underneath it to not be much use as is. My thinking is that the best bet
would be to put in a rail and use the area as a wardrobe. The problem is
that a) the wall / ceiling will most likely be some sort of plasterboard.

My thinking is that it'll be relatively simple to put a bracket on the end
where I've got a proper wall, but what about the end where I want to be
bolting onto the "ceiling"? Most fasteners are designed to take a force
perpendicular to them, but if I bolt something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...33029&ts=66276

to hold up the other end, the screws will be pulled by the weight of the
clothes on the rail at a 45 degree or so angle.

Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't really want a rail running the length
of the room as it must be 16 foot, and I've not got many clothes, and I
don't really want to end up making a wooden framework to support the rail
either...

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

Make triangular blocks of wood and fasten to the ceiling with cavity
plugs - or, even better, find rafters to screw to. The block will
require a hole at right angles to the sloping face to take the fixing
screw. Then faten your rail brackets to the horizontal or vertical
faces of the blocks.

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

Doki wrote:
My new house has an attic room with a fairly steeply sloping ceiling
down one side of the room. It's far enough into the room for the
floor area underneath it to not be much use as is. My thinking is
that the best bet would be to put in a rail and use the area as a
wardrobe. The problem is that a) the wall / ceiling will most likely
be some sort of plasterboard.

My thinking is that it'll be relatively simple to put a bracket on
the end where I've got a proper wall, but what about the end where I
want to be bolting onto the "ceiling"? Most fasteners are designed to
take a force perpendicular to them, but if I bolt something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...33029&ts=66276

to hold up the other end, the screws will be pulled by the weight of
the clothes on the rail at a 45 degree or so angle.

Anyone got any bright ideas? I don't really want a rail running the
length of the room as it must be 16 foot, and I've not got many
clothes, and I don't really want to end up making a wooden framework
to support the rail either...

Is this type any better? you can drive one of these into the rafters at an
angle and feed the pole through the eye.

You'll be able to get these cheaper at an iron mongers/chandlers, as this
type are commonly found in the garden/backyard for clothes line or hoisting
summat.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...69279&id=79956

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

"dcbwhaley" wrote in message
ups.com...
Make triangular blocks of wood and fasten to the ceiling with cavity
plugs - or, even better, find rafters to screw to. The block will
require a hole at right angles to the sloping face to take the fixing
screw. Then faten your rail brackets to the horizontal or vertical
faces of the blocks.

Aha. Rafters. How would I go about finding them?

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

"Doki" wrote in message
...
My new house has an attic room with a fairly steeply sloping ceiling down
one side of the room. It's far enough into the room for the floor area
underneath it to not be much use as is. My thinking is that the best bet
would be to put in a rail and use the area as a wardrobe. The problem is
that a) the wall / ceiling will most likely be some sort of plasterboard.

Rather than a fxed rail, have you thought of getting a couple of 'shop type'
clothes rails on casters. This can be pushed close up to the wall when not
in use, but pulled towards the centre of the room (where there's more
headroom) when you are using it.

examples
http://search.ebay.co.uk/clothes-rail

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

"OG" wrote in message
...

"Doki" wrote in message
...
My new house has an attic room with a fairly steeply sloping ceiling down
one side of the room. It's far enough into the room for the floor area
underneath it to not be much use as is. My thinking is that the best bet
would be to put in a rail and use the area as a wardrobe. The problem is
that a) the wall / ceiling will most likely be some sort of plasterboard.

Rather than a fxed rail, have you thought of getting a couple of 'shop
type' clothes rails on casters. This can be pushed close up to the wall
when not in use, but pulled towards the centre of the room (where there's
more headroom) when you are using it.

examples
http://search.ebay.co.uk/clothes-rail

The roof slopes way too much for that. I'll measure up tomorrow when I go up
there.

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

"Doki" wrote in message
...

"OG" wrote in message
...

"Doki" wrote in message
...
My new house has an attic room with a fairly steeply sloping ceiling
down one side of the room. It's far enough into the room for the floor
area underneath it to not be much use as is. My thinking is that the
best bet would be to put in a rail and use the area as a wardrobe. The
problem is that a) the wall / ceiling will most likely be some sort of
plasterboard.

Rather than a fxed rail, have you thought of getting a couple of 'shop
type' clothes rails on casters. This can be pushed close up to the wall
when not in use, but pulled towards the centre of the room (where there's
more headroom) when you are using it.

examples
http://search.ebay.co.uk/clothes-rail

The roof slopes way too much for that. I'll measure up tomorrow when I go
up there.

OK, you may not be able to get it right up to the wall; but I'd have thought
that you need a certain amount of headroom to comfortably use a fixed rail,
whereas a moveable rail will give you all the headroom you need when you
need it without taking up too much space when you don't.

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

dcbwhaley wrote:

Make triangular blocks of wood and fasten to the ceiling with cavity
plugs - or, even better, find rafters to screw to. The block will
require a hole at right angles to the sloping face to take the fixing
screw. Then faten your rail brackets to the horizontal or vertical
faces of the blocks.

A filled clothes rail is very heavy, fixing to the timbers is a must,
and having found that inadequate myself I did and always would look to
include intermediate supports too, unless the rail is only 2-3 feet
long.

If you use a wood block for end fixing, I would consider either a piece
of hardwood or plenty of other support.


NT

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
dcbwhaley wrote:

Make triangular blocks of wood and fasten to the ceiling with cavity
plugs - or, even better, find rafters to screw to. The block will
require a hole at right angles to the sloping face to take the fixing
screw. Then faten your rail brackets to the horizontal or vertical
faces of the blocks.

A filled clothes rail is very heavy, fixing to the timbers is a must,
and having found that inadequate myself I did and always would look to
include intermediate supports too, unless the rail is only 2-3 feet
long.

If you use a wood block for end fixing, I would consider either a piece
of hardwood or plenty of other support.

This sounds like it could be a royal pain in the arse. I think I might just
go for a wardrobe and cope with the reduced floor space...

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

Doki wrote:

wrote in message news:1158180404.29251

A filled clothes rail is very heavy, fixing to the timbers is a must,
and having found that inadequate myself I did and always would look to
include intermediate supports too, unless the rail is only 2-3 feet
long.

If you use a wood block for end fixing, I would consider either a piece
of hardwood or plenty of other support.

This sounds like it could be a royal pain in the arse. I think I might
just go for a wardrobe and cope with the reduced floor space...


An attic room typically has very few places to put a free-standing
wardrobe without completely messing up the rest of the room layout.

You were right to be thinking about using the space where it's too low
to walk, so don't give up yet. How about using normal rail hangers
underneath a good strong shelf? It works well enough here. Within the
limitations of the wedge-shaped space under a roof, none of that space
is wasted.

Admittedly, hanging the clothes rail from a shelf is only shuffling the
DIY problem around - you still have to support the shelf somehow. YMMV,
but whatever you do, you'll need to learn how to find rafters, and
actually be prepared to build something (unless you wimp out and buy a
wardrobe).

meow222 is right on the money as regards support every 2-3ft. Here the
shelf runs the whole width of a built in double-door cupboard, so it is
well supported at both ends. The mid-point of the shelf is also
supported at the front by a strut coming down from a rafter, so it
doesn't break up the hanging space underneath.



--
Ian White

Fixing clothes rail into sloping attic wall / ceiling
 

Doki wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

A filled clothes rail is very heavy, fixing to the timbers is a must,
and having found that inadequate myself I did and always would look to
include intermediate supports too, unless the rail is only 2-3 feet
long.

If you use a wood block for end fixing, I would consider either a piece
of hardwood or plenty of other support.

This sounds like it could be a royal pain in the arse. I think I might just
go for a wardrobe and cope with the reduced floor space...

in what way would it be a pita?

NT