How to anchor furniture to the wall (and why IKEA insists)

What you need

• Hammer drill with a 6 mm masonry bit (brick, concrete) or an 8-10 mm bit without hammer action (plasterboard)
• Cable and pipe detector
• Spirit level
• Screwdriver or driver with a PZ2 bit
• Pencil and tape measure
• Vacuum cleaner
• The anti-tip anchor supplied with the furniture (metal bracket or nylon strap) or a replacement anti-tip kit (IKEA, Leroy Merlin, 3-8 euros)
• Fischer SX 6x30 or DuoPower 6x30 plugs with 4.5x40 screws for brick and concrete
• Fischer Duotec or metal spring toggle plugs for plasterboard, or 4.5x50 coach screws straight into the stud
• 40-60 mm steel brackets for furniture that came without an anchor
• Short 4x16 screws to fix the bracket to the furniture without going through the board

Step by step

1. 1

   Put the furniture in its final position and level it

   Push the unit against the wall where it is going to stay, with the level on top. If the floor is not level (common in older flats and on glazed terraces), pack the feet with plastic wedges or adjust the feet if it has them. A unit leaning forwards tips sooner and the anchor works under strain.

2. 2

   Find the anchor point

   On chests of drawers and bookcases the anchor goes at the top of the back or side panel, as high as possible. On PAX wardrobes, on the top rail. If the skirting board holds the unit 1-2 cm off the wall, the anchor has to bridge that gap: use the nylon strap, which allows for it, or a block of wood between the bracket and the wall.

3. 3

   Check what is behind the wall

   Run the detector over the drilling area. Cables run vertically up from sockets, and in bathroom and kitchen walls there are pipes. A 6 mm plug at 30 mm deep rarely reaches anything, but check anyway.

4. 4

   Screw the anchor to the furniture

   Fix the bracket or the strap to the unit with short screws (4x16) that do not go through the board. On 16 mm chipboard furniture, a longer screw comes out the other side. If the unit has pre-drilled holes, use them.

5. 5

   Mark and drill the wall

   With the unit in place, mark the anchor point on the wall. Move the unit 10 cm away and drill: with hammer action and a 6 mm bit to 35 mm deep in brick or concrete; without hammer action and with the bit size stated on the plug in plasterboard. Vacuum the dust out of the hole so the plug grips.

6. 6

   Insert the plug and screw in

   Push the plug in flush with the wall (in plasterboard, the Duotec or the toggle opens out behind the board as you tighten). Bring the unit back, pass the screw through the bracket or the strap and tighten until firm without bending the bracket. If you are using a nylon strap, tension it before fully tightening.

7. 7

   Test by pulling on the furniture

   Open all the drawers on the chest and pull the unit towards you from the top with one hand. It should not move a millimetre. If the plug moves, the wall is hollow or the plug is wrong: change it before calling the job done.

8. 8

   Repeat on every tall piece

   Chests of drawers, bookcases, wardrobes, tall sideboards, narrow shoe cabinets and TV units with shelves: anything taller than it is deep or with drawers that open. Two anchors on units more than 80 cm wide.

Why IKEA insists so much on anchoring furniture

Between 2000 and 2016 several children died in the United States crushed by MALM chests of drawers that tipped over. IKEA recalled millions of units, changed the design, included anchors with all its furniture and put the warning you now see on every box in the instructions. Since then, the European Union has a standard for storage furniture that requires stability testing with the drawers open, and manufacturers include the anchor to comply with it.

The physics is simple. A chest 60 cm high and 40 cm deep has its centre of gravity close to the front edge as soon as you open two drawers. A child hanging on the top drawer shifts that centre outside the base and the unit tips with 15-20 kg. A 2 m BILLY bookcase loaded with 100 kg of books tips if it leans 5 degrees: a push, a small earthquake (they happen in the Valencia region) or a floor that is not level is enough.

That is why we anchor everything we assemble. It is a 10-minute step and we include it in the price of furniture assembly in Valencia and Alicante.

Which anchor and which plug to use for each piece and each wall

Common mistakes when anchoring furniture

• Using the kit screw without a plug, in brick. IKEA does not know what wall you have; the supplied screw is for timber. Masonry always needs a plug.
• Ordinary nylon plug in plasterboard. It goes in, feels firm and pulls out when someone pulls on the unit. Duotec, spring toggle or into the stud.
• Anchoring at the bottom of the unit. The anchor works as a lever: the higher, the better. Always at the top.
• Leaving a gap between unit and wall because of the skirting and tensioning the bracket across it. The bracket bends and the unit leans forwards. Nylon strap or a packer.
• Not levelling the unit. A unit leaning forwards pulls on the anchor all day long.
• Thinking a heavy unit will not tip. The heavier and fuller, the more damage it does when it falls. Bookcases full of books are the most dangerous.

When to call a professional

Anchoring a chest of drawers is a job anyone with a drill can do. It is worth calling us when you do not have a hammer drill or a detector, when the wall is plasterboard and you do not know where the studs are, when the unit is already assembled and full and needs two people to move it, when there are lots of pieces (a newly furnished home with 8-10 units), or when the unit is wall-hung (bathroom units, tall kitchen cabinets) and the load is high.

At Manitas Costa hourly assembly costs 30-40 euros per hour (1 hour minimum) and includes anchoring everything we assemble. A 2-door PAX wardrobe costs 70-110 euros, a KALLAX or BILLY bookcase 35-60 euros, a bed with storage base 60-90 euros, all anchored and levelled. Fixed price by WhatsApp with the list of furniture and a photo of the wall, 6 months written guarantee.

More information in furniture assembly in Valencia and Alicante and in how much it costs to assemble IKEA furniture. For heavy wall fixings such as televisions, the method is similar and we cover it in how to wall-mount a TV, including on plasterboard.

Plasterboard, thin partitions and rented homes on the coast

Many new-build flats in Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa and Benidorm have plasterboard partitions, and the older ones have 4 cm brick partitions (thin partition walls). In both cases ordinary plugs fail. In plasterboard, find the metal studs with a detector (every 40 or 60 cm) and screw into them; where there is no stud, a metal spring toggle. In 4 cm hollow brick, a DuoPower 6x30 plug, which adapts to the void, and never full hammer action, which breaks the brick.

In a rented flat, anchoring is just as necessary: the 6 mm hole is filled in five minutes when you leave, as we explain in how to fill holes in a wall. A child's safety is worth more than the deposit, and most landlords understand if you explain it.

If the property is a holiday home with children visiting in summer, check the anchors during the pre-season check: winter damp loosens plugs in old walls and chipboard swells. And if the wardrobe doors go out of adjustment with the damp, see how to fix a sliding wardrobe door.