When choosing furniture, regardless of its purpose and location in the apartment, it is worth paying special attention to such a seemingly insignificant aspect as furniture fittings: hooks, hinges, handles, various decorative elements.
First of all, this is rational from the point of view of future operation, because wardrobes, cabinets and cabinets are used every day, which means that hinges and hooks must withstand increased loads. Aesthetic factors acquire a secondary role, but they should also not be underestimated.
Furniture hooks: types and meaning
There are several types of hooks, characterized by strength, appearance and materials that are used for their manufacture.
In the assortment of manufacturers and in the price lists of trading companies, the furniture hook belongs to the class of front hardware.
Among the most popular types are the following:
- One track.
- Two-horned.
- Three-horned.
The name of each of them fully corresponds to their structure and capabilities. Hooks for furniture can either be an independent product designed for mounting anywhere, or be a fragment of a more complex structure.
The specifics of the use of hooks of various types
Based on the structural features of furniture fittings, we can list several recommendations regarding its use:
- One-track hooks are used when they plan to hang heavy or voluminous things (outerwear, large bags and backpacks) on them or if it is known in advance that there will be no need to place a significant number of objects. Such fasteners are the most durable and able to withstand a serious load due to the uniform distribution of the weight of hanging objects.
- The most commonly used types of fixing hardware include a two-arm furniture hook, since it combines functionality and strength in optimal proportions. It can be used both for storing one large, heavy object, and for several small things.
- A three-arm furniture hook is not used as often as the first two species. Its design provides for the presence of one large horn and two smaller ones. If the weight is improperly distributed, breaks or deformation of such hooks are possible, so they are best suited for storing small and light objects.
Functional characteristics and applications of hooks
Furniture hook is designed for the convenience of storing a variety of household items from textiles, often clothes. The presence of hooks in the hallways, bedrooms, utility rooms and bathrooms helps quick and efficient placement of outerwear, umbrellas, cleaning equipment, bathrobes, towels, and also provides quick access to these items.
Special attention should be paid to furniture hooks for the hallway, since most often they are located in visible areas and are subjected to daily use. Specialists designing furniture for hallways of rooms prefer to use only high-quality, branded fittings. This principle is relevant for the selection of door hinges, handles, closers for drawers and guides for sliding doors.
This approach allows the most efficient and long-term operation of the furniture, avoiding premature wear, abrasion of the coating, deformation or damage to the fittings.
Technologies for the production of furniture hooks
For the manufacture of front furniture fittings can be used a variety of materials and technological methods:
- Wooden furniture hooks.
- Metal fittings.
- Plastic items.
- Hooks made of synthetic material.
The variety of their varieties is due to a wide range of requests from end consumers: from the desire to achieve maximum savings when buying finished furniture to the embodiment of unique design developments in the manufacture of home furnishings for individual projects.
Installation of furniture hooks
As stand-alone products, hooks are attached to hangers, walls, internal surfaces of cabinets. These works are carried out by craftsmen in the production and assembly of furniture or in the process of repairing a room. Also, cases of self-installation of hooks on purchased pieces of furniture and on the walls of the premises are quite common. This greatly enhances the performance of cabinets, wardrobes or hangers.
The installation procedure does not require qualifications, however, for a satisfactory result, minimal experience in conducting such events, as well as possession of skills in handling tools, is required. Of decisive importance for the quality of the hook installed is the correct marking of the surface intended for fixation, taking into account the strength of its material and the accuracy of the installation.
Why it is worth inviting a specialist to install hooks
Haste or carelessness can lead to such unpleasant consequences:
- The formation of excess holes.
- Violation of the integrity of the furniture, covering the wall, the seam between the tiles (chips, cracks).
- Instability of a fixed hook, rapid destruction of the base used for its attachment (plastic siding, drywall, MDF).
- Damage to the wiring laid in the wall.
- Disproportionate type of hook with the weight and dimensions of objects hanging on it. As a result, quick wear of hardware.
In order for furniture hooks for clothes and other things to be installed correctly, and also to serve as long as possible and efficiently, it is advisable to use the services of a master. In addition, such furniture items need careful and gentle handling.
Ways of fastening hooks
Masters who are professionally engaged in the assembly of cabinet furniture practice several ways of installing furniture hooks:
- The stud mount is only suitable for installing single-track hooks. The self-tapping part of the stud is screwed into the wall or into the furniture body, then the hook is screwed onto the metric thread with which the stud is equipped.
- Installation using a screw or self-tapping screw can be called the most common method of mounting hooks. Holes are made on the marked surface, a hook or a hanger with several hooks is applied, self-tapping screws (screws) are laid and screwed to the end with a screwdriver or drill.
- The use of a vacuum suction cup. A furniture single-track hook equipped with a suction cup is installed on the tile section washed and degreased by any convenient method (soap, dishwashing detergent, alcohol). This method is convenient for mounting individual hooks in bathrooms and in the kitchen in tiled areas.
Furniture hook: how to choose the right fittings
Often, cabinet and upholstered furniture items are bought separately from each other and in different places, so there is a serious risk of acquiring products with different fittings. The best way out is the selection of furniture with fittings of the same color (metallic, chrome, gold) and in the same style (classic, high-tech, provence).
In addition to the obvious external parameters, you should be interested in the manufacturer, the materials used and the coating technology. The nature of the room in which the furniture hook will be placed is also essential, since the microclimate of the room, the intensity of use, the level of humidity, the number and weight of hanging objects directly affect the life of the unit.