Best French Cleat Systems

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A French cleat is nothing more than two boards or brackets cut to matching angles, and the point is that gravity does the work: the hook on the back of a holder drops over the rail fixed to the wall, and the heavier the load, the harder it pulls itself in. That mechanism is why this approach beats pegboard for anything with weight, since a pegboard hook wanders loose in its hole while a cleat cannot come off without being lifted deliberately. Two quite different things are sold under the name. Wooden panel systems arrive as a pine board with a rail plus a set of holders for drills, drivers and screwdrivers, which is a finished product you hang and start using. Steel or stainless Z-bar clips are just the brackets, sold in lengths around 16 to 18 inches, and they assume you will build the holders yourself, which is exactly the appeal for anyone configuring a wall around their own tools. The number to check on hardware is wall protrusion, quoted at roughly 7/16 of an inch, because that gap determines how far every holder stands off the plaster and whether a wide cabinet clears skirting or trim below. Prefer a non-slip face on metal cleats, and fix into studs rather than drywall anchors, since the fixing carries the load in shear.