How much weight can a studded wall hold??

[dderrickson]

Hello to All,

I need some technical knowledge on much weight a studded wall can hold.
So, here is the project. I have a 11' x 11' wall in my attached garage. The bottom 2' is the cinder block retaining wall, the upper portion is studs, 16" on center. I want to put about 6 shelves on the wall, 16" D x 11' L. I am going to lag angle iron brackets to the wall, then put wire shelving on the angle iron brackets. My concern is the wall being able to support all the weight placed on the shelves. This is about 100 square feet of shelving. Will the wall rip away from the rest of the house or am I paranoid?

Thanks in advance for your expertise

[HayZee518]

depends on what you are placing on the shelves. you need to determine the sheer strength of your lag bolts. diameter and length are a factor. I wouldn't go much bigger than 3/8" X 2 1/2" - your studs are fastened to a bolted plate and just nailed in place. the upper end is nailed to an upper plate, which I'm assuming is doubled up. the combined supporting weight of studs 16 on center is phenominal. most of the weight on the angle brackets will be technically trying to pull out the upper lag and be supporting on the bottom lags.

[pushkins]

Like mentioned use max. 3/8" lag screws 2 1/2" long, if your using wire shelving there is nothing you can put on them that will effect any stud wall, the shelves themselves would fail long before the stud wall.
In all truth there is likely to be far more weight in your upper kitchen cabinets.

[dderrickson]

sounds good. thanks