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Home Improvement > Other Projects > How to Install a Slatwall Shelving System

Learn how to install shelving components over bare wall studs.

Converting raw wall space into usable storage helps organize your belongings and maintain a tidy home. A number of different products can help you accomplish that feat, but one of the most versatile and attractive products is the Slatwall Shelving System. It offers ready-made components as well as accessories that offer a very easy way to capture additional shelf space and organize items. It can be installed on bare wall studs to save the expense of dry walling or other finishing unless building codes require otherwise--for example on walls between living quarters and your garage. The extruded aluminum components have the additional advantage of making shelving material such as particleboard more rigid and strong.

This video segment features the Slat Wall System from Hangman Products.

Choose the wall you will reclaim for storage and then browse the available sizes and shape of extruded aluminum brackets and edging along with the assortment of hanging accessories.

Start with a piece of extruded aluminum track that screws directly onto bare wall studs or finished wall. Mount it in position for the top shelf after measuring. Pre-drilled for 16-inch wall studs, the track comes in different lengths and forms the weight-bearing backbone of the system with grooves that easily receive its accompanying shelving hardware brackets.

Select the material to cover the empty space between the tracks with almost any 1/2-inch thick material. Use a table saw to cut the panels to size from pegboard, corkboard, drywall, or melamine. In this demonstration, we use decorative hardboard panels with a 1/4-inch spacer on the back as vertical wall paneling.

Mount a wall panel under the first track, and then secure a second track beneath. You will capture the panel's top and bottom edges under a lip on the aluminum tracks above and below. Repeat this process for each set of tracks and panels. Installation is fast and only requires one person, although longer shelving would be easier with two people.

Select the desired material for the shelves and cut it to size. The preferred choice for shelf stock is 3/4-inch melamine-clad particleboard, because it is inexpensive and readily available.

Clamp each piece of shelf stock in a vise while you add the shelf hardware to one edge.

Slip an extruded aluminum shelf bracket over the rear edge of the shelving stock and align the ends with your hands. These specially designed brackets allow shelving to be mounted anywhere along the horizontal track on the wall.

Tap the shelf bracket into place with a rubber mallet, positioning it flush with the ends of the shelf stock and then seating it by tapping along the length.

Secure the bracket to the shelving stock, driving screws through the pre-drilled holes. The bracket braces the shelf and makes the particleboard stronger.

Flip the shelf stock over and secure it in the vise so that the opposite long edge is upward.

Cap this front edge with one of the extruded aluminum strips available to dresses the raw edge of the shelf stock. The trim comes in several widths and shapes to conceal the unfinished edge of the particleboard--in narrow, wide, or curved designs. This edging also stiffens the shelf stock, enabling it to support heavy loads without deflecting or warping.

Slip the extruded aluminum over the front edge of the shelf, aligning the ends and pressing it down with your hands.

Use the rubber mallet to position it end-to-end and seat it properly against the edge of the shelf stock, then secure it with screws.

Mount the finished shelf, engaging the shelf bracket in the shelf track on the wall.

Add additional accessories, as required, choosing among a tool caddy, hanging hooks that fit directly into the track, a clip-in strip that holds papers/instructions yet offers a quick release with a gentle pull, and a mounting mat that will hold photographs, notes, and more without clips, pins, or tape.