WWTBAM Bored

See previous post, "It could have been much worse" for story.

Here is a picture of the cabinet that fell on me (after they re-hung it correctly)

Spoiler

Here is a picture of it shortly after I was taken away by the paramedics. I was positioned near where the person in the picture is, but of course I was all the way up to the counter.
You can see that if I had not noticed the cabinet falling and taken what little evasive action I was able to manage, my head could have been caught between the cabinet and the counter. Squish!

Spoiler

Ouch!

I'm guessing the stapler is a goner.

Misc. comments from a general contractor who does this kind of work:

1. That 1x4 strip on the wall is called a cleat.
2. There are two types of cleats, a French cleat and a flat cleat. Yours appears to be just a flat 1x4. I can't tell for sure but a French cleat would have a backwards angle along the top edge. This angle would match up with a complimentary angle cut into the underside of the upper strip of the cabinet. With a French cleat, the cabinets would have to be lifted by 3/4" before falling off the cleat. So, it's probably a flat cleat.
3. Those cabinets are designed to be installed flat against the wall. There is no cabinet back. To make these fit on the cleat the installer cut out a 3-1/2" section of the back frame of the cabinet.
4. Now we are getting into the good stuff. You mentioned in the first post that there are other such cabinets in the building. And, that those cabinets were checked and screws were added. Those cabinets are still at risk of falling.
5. Notice the approximately 4" high by full width piece near the top of each cabinet on the back? This would be the piece where some added screws would help hold the cabinet to the wall. Those screws would have to line up with the screws in the cleat so that they would go into the studs. So far, so good as this will hold a fair portion of the time.
6. But - notice that this same 4" high piece is pulled out at a slight angle (as a cause of the fall). Because that back 1-1/2" wide section was cut, that upper 4" piece no longer is strong enough. It can hold a straight down load but if there is either a lot of weight in the cabinets or if there is a forward pull (like opening a door) that 4" piece is only attached to the cabinets along the top edge - any strength and leverage it had was along the 4" sides that were attached to the back 1-1/2" frame. That piece is now gone so the top if actually fairly weak.
7. There is only a danger if heavy things are stored in the cabinets. Aside from the top attachment point being compromised the cabinets can no longer safely hold any real weight - since the back frame has been cut on every cabinet there is no strength at all for anything that puts a load on any of the interior shelves. I've seen cabinets like this in offices that get loaded up with reams of paper - that's just like stacking solid wood in there. More than enough to tear them off the wall if conditions are just wrong.

Granted, I am seeing this just from a couple of pics. If the rest of the cabinets have been modified by adding some screws to the upper back plate from the inside, then that will certainly help. But, unless all those 1-1/2" wide back vertical frame pieces are splinted the cabinets can still fail.

I'm done now.

I'm just glad you're okay.

jaybee wrote:I'm done now.

I think that's enough info to get BiT's office a remodeling job.

BackInTex wrote:See previous post, "It could have been much worse" for story.

Here is a picture of the cabinet that fell on me (after they re-hung it correctly)

Spoiler

Here is a picture of it shortly after I was taken away by the paramedics. I was positioned near where the person in the picture is, but of course I was all the way up to the counter.
You can see that if I had not noticed the cabinet falling and taken what little evasive action I was able to manage, my head could have been caught between the cabinet and the counter. Squish!

Spoiler

I would say there is more than enough grounds for a lawsuit against your employer, the company who installed the cabinets, the manufacturers of the legal pads that were weighing down the cabinets, and Barack H. Obama since everything is his fault. Unfortunately, we are unavailable to represent you at the present time since we are diligently working on Alex Rodriguez's legal defense against Major League Baseball. However, we will bill you for the time we spent looking at those pictures you posted...

Have a nice day from The Michigan Bar Association (now with offices in beautiful downtown Dallas!)

Here is a picture of the cabinet that fell on me (after they re-hung it correctly)

OMG. I was picturing A cabinet, not 10.

After our kitchen flooded two years ago, the insurance company paid to replace all the cabinets (the lower cabinets were ruined and the upper cabinets needed to be replaced to match. About a month after the new cabinets were installed, one of them came out of the wall pretty much the same way yours did and the contents (mostly cans but some bottles of spaghetti sauce and similar stuff) were all over the floor. It happened while we were out but it must have scared the daylights out of our cats who spent the whole day hiding under the bed.

Because the cabinets were separate, fortunately, the one that came out of the wall didn't pull the others out as well, but the contractor reinforced all of them just in case (the cabinets they replaced had been in the home for 30 years or more without a probelm).

From the looks of things, you were very lucky. I don't think even your hard head could have taken a more direct squashing.

YIKES!!


Glad you're OK..

jaybee wrote:Misc. comments from a general contractor who does this kind of work:

2. There are two types of cleats, a French cleat and a flat cleat. Yours appears to be just a flat 1x4. I can't tell for sure but a French cleat would have a backwards angle along the top edge. This angle would match up with a complimentary angle cut into the underside of the upper strip of the cabinet. With a French cleat, the cabinets would have to be lifted by 3/4" before falling off the cleat. So, it's probably a flat cleat.

It had bevels on the cleat and the cabinet. Don't know if they were French or not. Once the cabinet was reinstalled, you can see the old paint line on the right wall. It is 1/2 inch farther out than the cabinet is now indicating that the right side of the cabinet was never set properly on the cleat to begin with. When it came off, the cabinet likely 'surfed' the top of the bevel from the right to the left causing it to jump at me rather than simply fall on me.

We are also making sure no reems of paper are stored in the overhead cabinets. There were some in one of the cabinets on the other floors.

TheMichiganBarAssociation wrote:I would say there is more than enough grounds for a lawsuit against your employer, the company who installed the cabinets, the manufacturers of the legal pads that were weighing down the cabinets, and Barack H. Obama since everything is his fault. Unfortunately, we are unavailable to represent you at the present time since we are diligently working on Alex Rodriguez's legal defense against Major League Baseball.

That is disappointing. I was hoping to hire a top notch legal team.

I won't sue my employer. Under TX worker's comp law there is little I could do anyway. The contractor on the other hand is guilty of gross negligence.