Submitted by scarykoala t3_y8ysvg in DIY
Hey pals,
So my wife and I have like, five cat trees, each pretty damn tall (64-72”). The cat trees came with parts to affix them to the wall, but we thought “eh, why would we need to do that?” and threw them out. However, we have a child on the way and are afraid the child will knock the tree over onto himself and get squished.
How can we securely affix the trees to the wall? We have both plaster and drywall, depending on the room.
Thank you!
Ideally the solution wouldn’t be hideous, but we’re mostly concerned with safety/security. Also hopefully we could remove whatever solution once the child is old enough not to kill itself with a cat tree.
There is a metal banding material with holes in it that is often used for hanging pipes or conduit - cut strips off and screw it to the wall and the cat tree... use a couple screws on each end for extra security
You have time if the child isn't born yet. They won't be climbing shit for their first year at least, but after that things will get a little bit crazy. I've been lucky with my toddler, he's generally pretty good about climbing soft and comfortable things like couches, rather than clambering up ladders or cat trees.
You'll need a strap or bracket as high as possible that can fix one of the top platforms to the wall. Depends on the tree and how you have it oriented. You might be able to use something like a metal L bracket if you're close enough to the wall.
Try to find a wall stud to anchor the bracket if possible, it will always be your best bet. You can use a number of anchors, but if the kid goes really nuts and does something particularly stupid, they might just pull an anchor out of the wall or break the wall.
This kind of thing is particularly handy when you need flexibility very strong and comes long enough that you have a lot of options.
Search amazon for baby proofing. They sell tons of products that are basically straps to attach dressers and such to wall. They even have one that are glue based
A good strong wall anchor and a tether should be enough
Get these and use them on chest of drawers, bookshelves, etc. as well: https://www.amazon.com/Furniture-Proofing-Adjustable-Earthquake-Resistant/dp/B07R8HY6HR
I have these and I remember when my daughter was around 2 she had pulled all of the drawers open out of the dresser to make stairs and had climbed onto the top of it. The dresser had tipped forwards and was resting on these straps.
They work.
Buy a $15 stud-finder. Studs in the walls should be 16-inches apart, center to center. You can also use a strong magnet to find one or two of the studs, due to the steel drywall screws. Once those are located, the rest can be found with a tape measure.
First six months you’re fine. Children start walking at about a year but many start pulling up on things before that, so there’s going to come some surprising moment between six months and a year where you have your kid grabbing onto things and performing maneuvers you swear are supernatural.
You can find these on Amazon as earthquake straps. They work great for bookcases and other things that are close to the wall. If the cat tree has no place on the high end that’s close to the wall you could tether it in the middle.
Are you renting? Are you going to move soon? If not, then, I would not worry too much about how you’re going to cosmetically hide these once you take them down. You will likely want to leave them up for several years, and even more if you decide to have another kid. At some point years from now you will need to remove some anchors and patch some small holes, which is relatively cheap and easy to do. God bless YouTube.
I suggest ANY house do this for heavy furniture that might fall in an earthquake, as well.
Also, check out “earthquake straps”. Sometimes it’s the same product, and baby safety items often have a significant price markup.
Teach the baby parkour at an early age so his balance is amazing and you wont need to anchor it
leadfoot_mf t1_it2irqt wrote
Do you care about looks? Can use nylon duct strap and some drywall anchors hit the studs for extra security