In November of 2017, Ikea re-announced its recall of 17.3 million chests of drawers (Malm range) after receiving 186 reports of furniture tipping over, posing a risk of serious injury. Of those incidents, 91 involved young children and 8 of those were fatal.
Young children can pull on, and climb up open drawers, destabilizing the furniture’s centre of mass and causing it to topple forward. While steps can be taken to mitigate risk (e.g. placing the heaviest items in the bottom drawers and refraining from placing heavy items such as televisions on top of furniture), the best way to avoid an accident is to ensure that furniture is securely anchored to the wall. Don’t assume that the restraint kits that accompany furniture are sufficient. There are better options on the market and it’s worth investing the extra time and money to ensure that you’re selecting the best product for your needs. That means choosing a fixing with high tensile and cantilever load bearing capabilities. In other words, you’re looking for how much force the fixing can withhold when someone exerts a pulling force away from the wall (tensile) or a pivoting force on a vertical plane against the anchor point (cantilever). Think of a toddler impatiently pulling at a stiff drawer to access toys inside, or a toddler using open drawers as steps to reach something on the top of the dresser. That’s where GeeFix comes in…
With a maximum tensile strength value of 71 kilograms, and a cantilever strength of 243 kilograms at 75mm from the anchor point, the GeeFix fixings offer the best solution for anchoring furniture to cavity walls, in the absence of studwork (for further details on our load test data click here).
Secure furniture to a cavity wall
Our video tutorial offers quick instruction into how the GeeFix fixings can be used to secure a tall wooden chest of drawers to a cavity wall. If you have any questions about this type of application, send us an email at gary@geefix.com or contact us here . Stay safe!
About GeeFix
GeeFix was invented by a plumbing and heating engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the trade. We are proud that not only was GeeFix designed and developed in the UK, but that it is also manufactured in Shropshire supporting local industry and British business.
It was developed with the aim of creating a fixing which would secure heavy items to plasterboard/drywall walls. The interiors of modern homes are constructed from studwork and plasterboard so that GeeFix is the ideal product for fixing those heavy objects to cavity walls. TVs, radiators, towel rails, shelving, cabinets, cupboards, mirrors, curtain rails ……… just some of the many items that can be securely fixed to plasterboard with our fixings.
These hollow wall fixings can also be used to refix an object to a plasterboard wall where a different type of fixing has failed. For example, where a radiator has come away from a wall, a GeeFix fixing can be installed in the same position as the failed fixing and so often reduce the amount of work necessary to repair plasterboard.
Can be adapted for use with smaller objects, such as bathroom accessories, where fixing holes are close together. In these instances, one fixing can be used to secure the item by using the length of the backplate in the cavity for additional fixing points.