can I fix a wardrobe to the wall if the skirting board is about 3" thick and 6" high?

[justonesherryformedicinalpurpo]

Just moved in to a new property and we've just decorated the girls room. We're buying a pax wardrobe from Ikea which will come as three 50cm wide frames (which we will connect together). The middle frame will have draws and the outer frames will have two rails each and some draws. So there's quite a lot of clothing going in there!

Ikea says that you have to fix the wardrobe to the wall (unless that is the same for all wardrobes now as a safety procedure) and I would definitely like to. Particulalry as my eldest (20mo) is a little climber! I'll keep the doors shut at all times and the handles will be fixed well out of reach but I am of course concerned.

I doubt I'll purchase this wardrobe if I am unable to fix it to the wall which will be unfortunate due to the mass of items that I'm planning to store in there.

The only thing stopping me from fixing it to the wall is the skirting thickness as mentioned in my post title. Or is there a way around this?

Sorry, I have no idea about wall fixings!

Thanks very much to anyone who can offer some tips.

Why don't you fix a 3inch thick length of timber to the wall at high level and fix the wardrobe back to that? I would ensure the wardrobe is fixed, especially with drawers as they can be left open and climbed like stairs!!

You don't have to fix it flush to the wall. A metal bracket near the top will hold it to the wall.

Your skirting is three inches thick?? that sounds more like cable boxing.

Anyway if it is three inches i would ensure that the wardrobe sits flush. By securing the top only three inches would cause too much of an angle from the top of the wardrobe to the skirting board.

I would be inclined to try was Lady said

The very elaborate victorian skirting in our old house was about that thick - made up of lots of layers. Very beautiful.

It might have changed, but the straps to fix to the wall used to be flexible, so there is plenty of scope for a small distance from the wall. Also lots of options as pp have suggested.

The fixings that ikea supplies allows you to fix slightly away from the wall. It's an L shape, adjustable. SO the wardrobe will stay fully vertical.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The timber at the top sounds like a very safe option.

I'll see what fixings are supplied with the wardrobe and go from there.

Thanks again!

We have just put Pax wardrobes in our bedroom and Dh attached wooden battens to the wall and then used the fixtures that Ikea provide to attach the wardrobes to them. They are solid now and not budging!

A company called SpacePlug have come up with a genius little product that solves this problem. They mean you can secure things to uneven walls or where there are gaps and do it really securely. Here's a bit more about them:

We used a timber baton behind ours as PP said

I just used long screws and then a piece of plastic pipe cut to the desired length over the screw to use as spacer.

Timber battens is what we use for such things. For smaller gaps, brackets. Always use good quality rawlplugs into the wall, whatever type is suitable for the plaster/walls you have.