How to Install a Closet Rod

When is a hang-up good? When it's a secure rod or pole to hang your clothes on. Here's how to make sure those clothes and what they're hanging from stay put.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Closet Rods
• Closet-organizing Systems
• Stud Finders

1. Decide how much weight you'll need this closet rod to support. Your choices may be anything from a simple tension rod for hanging a few light items in a narrow closet to a heavy wooden pole whose supports are attached to wall studs for holding heavy clothes in a wider space.

2. Inspect the area where you'll attach the rod supports. For a wooden pole, the rod supports are typically round plates that attach flat to the wall, with a place for the ends of the rod to fit in.

3. Choose appropriate hardware to attach the supports to the wall. There are different sorts of anchors to attach to plaster, drywall, wood, or even brick or masonry.

4. Choose a rod that can be adjusted to fit into the closet space. Or have a wooden rod cut, or cut it yourself to fit into the space.

5. Choose a height to hang the rod. This can vary depending on a number of factors: the length of the clothes, whether you're going to hang another rod below the first one, and whether this is a child's closet, among other things (see Tips).

6. Choose a depth for the rod - how far it will hang from the back wall of the closet (see Tips).

7. Measure from the back wall to where you'll anchor the rod. Make a light pencil mark on one side of the rod support. This is only for depth, not height.

8. Measure from the floor up to where you'll anchor the rod, on each wall, at the depth you just marked. Make a light pencil mark at the bottom of the rod support when you've measured.

9. Attach the rod supports to the walls with the appropriate anchors.

10. Place the rod in the supports.

Tips & Warnings

• A single rod may not be the answer to all of your closet-organizing challenges. Consider installing or having installed a closet-organizer system that includes shelves, drawers and baskets, too.
• In a standard 22- to 24-inch-deep closet, the clothes rod is usually hung about 12 inches from the back wall.
• For full-length clothes, hang the rod about 65 to 68 inches from the floor. For double rods, hang the top rod about 75 to 80 inches from the floor and the bottom one about 36 to 40 inches from the floor.

on 11/22/2005 If you have a strong main rod, you can buy and hang a (usually 2-foot-wide) rod from it that provides another level for hanging clothes. This is a great way to create space to hang young baby and toddler clothes.

on 11/22/2005 No stud to anchor your rod to? Check if there is some solid wood in the front and back corners of the closet. You may be able to nail a small board from front to back (even if you have to nail at an angle) and attach your rod to that wooden support.