The way to Install Rubbermaid Single-Track Shelves



Rubbermaid single-track shelves offer adjustable storage alternatives for places like a linen closet. Vertical metal tracks fitted with numerous holes hold the shelf hardware set up, allowing you to set every shelf in the height you would like, on the fly. You must mount the paths into wall studs to keep them protected on the walls for maximum safety, otherwise they may tumble down or tear away part of the wall beneath weight. You may use wall anchors if studs aren’t accessible.

Stud Seeking

Single-track shelving has tracks made to mount on adjacent studs — one track on one stud, the subsequent 16 inches away on another stud — for every single shelving setup. Locate a stud using a stud finder, marking the right place with a pencil. Ensure that your measurement is correct by assessing 16 inches over in either direction, in which there must be another stud. In some instances, studs aren’t 16 inches on center, in which case one of those tracks may have to be mounted with wall anchors rather, if you stick with single-track shelving. Other means to locate approximate stud location is to check at the baseboards for nail heads or to find nearby electric outlets or switches. These electric boxes are usually attached to studs.

Straight on Track

Installing the tracks perfectly vertical and parallel to one another is the key to ensuring that your shelving is protected and protected. Hold one vertical track up against the pencil mark signaling the stud. Hold a level up against the track and adjust both before the track is perfectly vertical. Draw pencil dots through the round screw holes in the track as opposed to through the elongated holes intended for the shelf hardware. After you’ve finished one track, set it aside and drill pilot holes more narrow than the screw shank on each of the pencil marks.

Attaching the Tracks

Attaching the very first track is merely a matter of lining it up using the screw holes, inserting the screws and tightening them with a screwdriver. When the initial track is upward, hold the moment so its middle is 16 inches from the very first. Put a level over the tops of both components and adjust the next track’s height so that the level sits perfectly flat, then make pencil dots through the screw holes to the next track. Drill pilot holes over the pencil marks, then attach the track to the wall stud using pliers. If the second stud isn’t in this place, insert a tough wall anchor into each hole prior to attaching the track with screws.

Shelf Time

Each shelf in the single-track system sits upon two mounts — one bracket per track — each in precisely the same height. Hold the bracket so two hooks or pegs face the track; a small, curved lip at the opposite end faces up. Press the bracket into the desired hole and then gently tap it into place with a hammer. The second bracket goes into the second track in the same manner — be sure it is inserted in the same height as the first, or even the shelf will sit twisted. The shelf rests on the mounts without being affixed to them.