ᐅ How can I safely mount Ikea Besta units on different wall types, such as concrete or drywall?

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning to mount an Ikea Besta shelving unit on my wall and want to make sure the installation is done correctly and, above all, safely. I have different types of walls in my house, for example, concrete walls in the living room and drywall (plasterboard) walls in the children’s room. My specific question is: How do I securely mount the Ikea Besta shelving unit on these different wall types? What should I pay attention to with each surface, which anchors and screws do you recommend, and are there any special tips or common mistakes to avoid?

I want the shelf to be firmly attached without damaging the wall. Especially with drywall, I am unsure how much weight it can support and how best to distribute the load.

I look forward to your expert advice and experiences!

Deniz schrieb:
How do I securely mount the Ikea Besta shelf on different types of walls? What should I consider for each substrate, which anchors and screws do you recommend, and are there any special tips or common mistakes to avoid?

Basically, your question is very well formulated and shows that you are thinking about load capacity and the substrate. For concrete walls, installation is usually straightforward because they are very load-bearing. It is important to use hammer anchors or high-quality plastic or metal expansion anchors that match the drill hole size exactly. A common mistake is using anchors that are too small or unsuitable, or not drilling the hole deep enough, which results in poor fixation.

With drywall (gypsum board) walls, it becomes more complicated because you are effectively hanging a load on a gypsum panel that has very little inherent load capacity. Here, I recommend special cavity anchors, such as toggle, spring, or wing anchors, which spread out behind the panel. The trick with drywall is also to distribute the load as widely as possible or, if possible, to secure it to an existing wooden stud. Do you have a way to find the wooden studs using a detector or a simple tapping method? Otherwise, it is risky.

One more important point: always check the maximum load capacity Ikea specifies for the Besta on the wall. Especially with drywall, this is often just an upper limit, not a recommendation, and varies depending on the anchor type and wall thickness.

Regarding screws: choose screws that match the anchors, but at minimum make sure to use corrosion-resistant types if moisture might be present.

Ultimately: incorporating some redundancy (using several anchors and screws) significantly improves safety.

theo63 schrieb:
With drywall partitions, the situation becomes more complicated because you are basically applying a load to a gypsum board that inherently has little load-bearing capacity.

That is absolutely correct. For drywall, I recommend using only hollow wall metal anchors, as they have a much higher load capacity than simple plastic anchors. With drywall, you should also ensure that the screws are long enough to fully engage both the thickness of the board and the anchor.

As mentioned, for concrete, hammer anchors or chemical anchors are very reliable. Chemical anchors (injection mortar) are more complex to install but provide maximum security for heavy loads.

At Besta, I also had good experience with additional fastening directly to the furniture itself, such as screwing through the back panel, for increased stability.

One more thing I would like to add: with drywall, it often helps to mount a wooden batten behind the board to hang the furniture on. This distributes the load more effectively.

Deniz schrieb:
I want the shelf to be securely fixed without damaging the wall, especially with drywall I’m unsure how much weight it can support and how best to distribute the load.

I completely understand your concern; it’s really not easy to find the right solution here. I myself mounted a Besta shelf on drywall and was unsure for a long time whether the installation would hold. That’s why I chose high-quality metal anchors and additionally screwed a wooden angled brace behind the drywall to distribute the load.

This gave me confidence, even though I was still a bit nervous about the whole setup. Also, I preferred to fix the shelf to the wall at multiple points, which gave me peace of mind.

Maybe this approach will help you too—if possible, build some kind of reinforcement behind the drywall or use the stud framework, if accessible.

Take good care while working, and don’t forget to wear safety goggles when drilling!

Vinlen schrieb:
As mentioned, mechanical anchors or chemical anchors are very reliable for concrete.

I completely agree, but I would like to add something: Chemical anchors are especially recommended if the wall has cracks or if the concrete is crumbly. They distribute the load more effectively within the material.

koduga schrieb:
That’s why I chose high-quality metal anchors and additionally screwed a wooden angled beam behind the drywall for load distribution.

The idea of using an angled wooden beam sounds interesting. Are there any specific experiences regarding its load-bearing capacity? I would be interested to know how many kilograms it can safely support, since the wooden mounting itself also needs to be firmly anchored.