Should I mount a kitchen hanger rail on MDF cabinetry or a glass surface?

Question

I would like to hang a kitchen railing and am facing a dilemma. I'll be hanging simple kitchen utensils on it, and may be a couple of chopping boards. So the expected load will be max 5kg (10 pounds).

It's my own house so I can do heavier modifications if I want.

My kitchen has a big glass wall (bottom half in photo). I'm not sure what kind of glass it is, but I suspect it's tempered glass. So I guess I cannot drill any hole there. I would probably need to use caulking to attach to it but will it be strong enough to hold up the load?

The other alternative is to drill hole in the cabinet itself; the cabinet is made of MDF board (top half in photo). But I'm afraid that the MDF board is not strong enough to hold it up over a long time, and the screws may end up breaking or damaging my kitchen cabinet. To add more details: I cannot find out what is behind the MDF board because the cabinet covers it very well. I think there is a concrete wall behind it. There might be a gap between that MDF board and the concrete wall but I'm not sure what is inside that gap.

There are those "adhesive screws" sold on Amazon / Shopee - they are basically adhesive patches that are transparent, with a screw on them. I heard they are very strong. Has anyone tried them out and any thought on using them for this purpose?

Any suggestions on how to attach it?

Answer 1

I would suggest you bind the railing first to a backing piece. This could be decorative wood, glass, whatever you want. Then I would simply glue that backing piece to either the glass or the cabinet. If you used silicone or something similar it would easily hold the weight and it would completely clean up on glass (and probably the cabinet albeit removal is harder).

I know this slightly alters the look but this is my go to method of bars that don't have great backing (used this for bathroom towel holders many times when drywall is torn up and no framing to screw to).

Answer 2

First, before anything destructive, have you tried a Stud Detector? Ideally you would be able to find the studs that the cabinet is attached to and possibly if there are any live wires behind the cabinet. Project Farm is a great channel for reviewing things and they did a segment on Stud Detectors: Link: Best Stud Finder?

Link to TackLife Stud Detector:

Second, I'd suggest drilling a small pilot hole through the MDF cabinet. Then examine the drill bit to see what is on the bit after the MDF: Concrete, Drywall, Wood or Air and then use the appropriate screw for the backing material.

Answer 3

You can drill through the glass, you just need an appropriate drill bit (they're not expensive), and to be patient.

Here is an example of glass/tile drill bits:

^{Image courtesy of Lowes.com. I happen to own this particular set, however, no endorsement or recommendation intended or implied.}

You can also hang a towel bar off of an MDF cabinet, too. Use appropriate screws designed for use in MDF (much coarser threads than for a regular wood screw), or a toggle bolt (which will spread the load over a larger area of MDF) and you'll be fine.

Here is an example of a "Melamine screw" (which is some sort of particle board covered in factory-applied Melamine):

^{Image courtesy of homedepot.com. No endorsement or recommendation intended or implied.
Note that this package includes some hideous looking caps to cover the hole in the Melamine.}

And here is an example of a toggle bolt (note that this one happens to be 3" which would be significant overkill in your case - it's just the first one listed):

^{Also from Homedepot.com. Disclaimers apply...}