# Wire shelving systems interchangeability



## Seabrook1983$ (Jun 19, 2019)

In a couple of places, I am taking down some wire shelving that I had earlier installed with the lightweight "linen closet use" hardware including the light diagonal struts, and reinstalling with wall standards and brackets (like BRACKET ). Yes, I had some fall down in the garage because of overloading. The shelving holds up just fine but it's no good if it simply falls to the floor.

Well, the two common brands I've known about are Rubbermaid and Closet Maid. Unsure if there's a quality difference. But my main concerns -- are there any instances where they are incompatible? Is it known if the spacing between slots in the standards is a constant between the two brands, do the brackets always interchange? Before I buy a bunch of product and get it home only to find it does not work, etc.

And I went to Home Depot a few days ago to get some Closet Maid standards which the website said were in stock at the closest location; when I got there, no Closet Maid at all, nor and Rubbermaid. All was "Everbilt" brand. (A) I've had horrible experiences with the quality of Everbilt bolts, nuts, screws, etc., no idea who HD a contract with to supply them but I frequently need to order such things elsewhere (Amazon) online when I only need a couple of bolts ASAP but the heads break off on the ones from HD, so seeing that name on the shelving products is worrisome, (B) perhaps HD reached a deal with either Closet Maid or Rubbermaid to make their "house brand" shelving and thus control the brand, no idea if the product is any good, (C) now I guess there are THREE brands to wonder about interchangeability with.


----------



## SW Dweller (Jan 6, 2021)

Last time I tried interchaning the products it did not work. Had to get all one brand.


----------



## snic (Sep 16, 2018)

I've been dealing with a similar issue - the shelves are RubberMaid (or whatever company they bought out) but most products available are ClosetMaid or whatever random brand Home Depot carries. But Ace Hardware carries RubberMaid and almost everyone has an Ace somewhere near them. If they don't have the specific thing you need they'll happily order it for you. Rather than gamble on compatibility I just bought the parts I needed at Ace.

Amazon (and sometimes Home Depot) is often a good source for determining compatibility of a specific part. Most likely someone had the same question you do and it's answered in their Q&A section.

Anyway, I think it's possible to make the shelves carry a lot more weight by screwing the back clips to studs rather than using their flimsy drywall anchors. I just cut the anchor part of the clip off and put a screw in. The side brackets almost always have to go into drywall because there's no guarantee there will be a stud there. But if you put in enough diagonal brackets, the shelf should be pretty sturdy. Don't forget to put a few C-clips on the back, screwed into studs. These prevent the back of the shelf from pulling upwards when you put weight on the front of the shelf (e.g., when hanging clothes on the hanger bar). Amazon has metal C-clips that will work with any brand of wire shelf.

The house we bought a couple of years ago has several closets with these wire shelves, but they were installed by someone who knew what they were doing and it's clear they've held up very well. Personally I prefer wood shelving and strong metal brackets and a good steel closet pole for hanging clothes. But the modularity of these wire systems is kind of nice, so even after I removed the wire system from some closets in order to paint, I decided to just re-install them (with a few modifications to taste) rather than install wood shelving.


----------



## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

See pic.
This bracket clicks in at top. Screw at bottom goes into a wall stud. Bottom will not move then. At times, with excess load, top part can pop off. I have then used thin gauge wire to go around and around both bracket and shelf to create a stronger. Can paint if that looks amateurish.


----------



## snic (Sep 16, 2018)

diyorpay said:


> See pic.
> This bracket clicks in at top. Screw at bottom goes into a wall stud. Bottom will not move then. At times, with excess load, top part can pop off. I have then used thin gauge wire to go around and around both bracket and shelf to create a stronger. Can paint if that looks amateurish.
> View attachment 670089


Might be better to just use more brackets, so the weight is distributed across more of them. That way the top wire won't break.

(The design of these brackets is really stupid. I'm not sure why it's not set up so that the weight transfers from the heavy cross bar - the bar going from left to right in your picture - to the diagonal bracket. Instead, the weight is borne by one of the thin wires running from the front of the shelf to the back. Just a completely asinine design. It basically means that the entire shelf is only as strong as the smallest wire component.)


----------



## Seabrook1983$ (Jun 19, 2019)

snic said:


> Anyway, I think it's possible to make the shelves carry a lot more weight by screwing the back clips to studs rather than using their flimsy drywall anchors.


That makes perfect sense! Alas, I've had some trouble with the plastic clips themselves breaking, so in some instances it doesn't matter where attached.

Now, I did some shopping. Lowes has Closet Maid, and some standards but no brackets in their own Blue Hawk brand (made by whom???). Brackets interchange on those, I checked in the store. Drove down to Walmart, found nothing staff said to try on-line (I tried that when I got home, no luck) At Home Depot, Everbilt and found some garage-grey stuff from Rubbermaid. I tried an Everbilt bracket on the Rubbermaid standard, it fit just fine. I then bought one Everbilt bracket and brought it home, it fit just fine on some Closet Maid I was sure of. *So, thus far, everything seems to interchange. *

Like any consumer product these days, prices are eye-watering. HD's Everbilt beats Lowe's Closet Maid consistently on the sizes of standards/brackets/shelving that I checked (but can I trust that brand's quality?) Amazon has a smattering of stuff, mostly Closet Maid, on a few things prices look good but not always. Have not tried an Ace Hardware yet but I suspect higher prices. Overstock.com did not have anything I could find, which surprised me. Where else should I look?


----------



## snic (Sep 16, 2018)

Seabrook1983$ said:


> HD's Everbilt beats Lowe's Closet Maid consistently on the sizes of standards/brackets/shelving that I checked (but can I trust that brand's quality?)


By "sizes", do you mean that the gauge of wire used by Everbilt is larger than used by Closet Maid? If so, I'd go with the Everbilt, especially if the prices are lower or similar. Sure, there are other fail points (welding, and brackets) but generally a fatter wire gauge is going to be stronger than a thinner wire gauge of the same material no matter the brand. And if one company is using better material than another one, there's a good chance it's also using better procedures for things like welding.

I think you've about covered the obvious sources for wire shelving. I think I might have seen some at Wayfair.com.


----------



## Seabrook1983$ (Jun 19, 2019)

snic said:


> By "sizes", do you mean that the gauge of wire used by Everbilt is larger than used by Closet Maid?


What I meant was, I checked 12" & 16" brackets, 12" & 16" six-foot lengths of wire shelving, and 84" & 48" uprights/standards; I did not check every size of every product.


----------



## Seabrook1983$ (Jun 19, 2019)

Update:

Well, one section of shelving was up, 6’ long on 48” standards, two shelves, using Closet Maid uprights; looked good but I realized the 12” brackets were the type for flat shelves, not wire, and thus missing retention hooks for the wire shelves. Rubbermaid brackets, by the way, so those interchange well with Closet Maid uprights. I had them in place anyway, temporarily.

Time to swap out for the “correct” brackets, and I clearly had room for a third shelf. Well, on both items the lowest price was Everbilt at Home Depot, and for once they had adequate stock on something I wanted. So, a short trip later, I set to work. Everbilt brackets fit well enough on Closet Maid uprights as well, no problem. I looked at the wire shelving, the wire diameters look the same but I did not take a micrometer to them. Here’s something interesting: on the other two shelves I had, no label anymore so I cannot state which brand, where the front edge of the shelf has two wires parallel to form a “lip”, those wires are 1-1/2” c-to-c. On the one Everbilt shelf I bought, that distance is only 3/4”. I do not see how that affects strength either way, but I cannot imagine much of a cost savings either for them even over countless running feet of shelving they buy.

You know, even with the “hook” at the back of the bracket, I would not mind a more secure engagement between bracket and shelf. As there are holes in the brackets, I wonder how much a pair of safety-wire pliers and a spool of safety wire would cost? I’d think that would lock them down snugly.


----------

