PSA: Furniture Anchor Kits

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

I think it was posted here, but I know it made its rounds on Facebook - that blog post by the mother who lost her daughter after a dresser fell on her. :-(

We set out to anchor all of our furniture after that and bought steel cable kits by Quakehold for about $6 each (with shipping) on Amazon. Just a quick PSA that they installed really easily and this furniture is going absolutely nowhere. The plastic kits made by kid safety gear companies made me nervous - especially with our big 6 foot book cases. These are seriously rock solid.

So, if you're looking for anchor kits, I highly recommend these!

Cheekers2010 · January 2013

Thanks!

Yeah, that blog post was heartbreaking.

GrayGhost13 · January 2013

Thanks for the reminder...We actually bought those and--d'oh!--haven't installed them yet.

lrn327 · January 2013

Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.

The plastic ones are still good! The big bookcase we have is seriously huge and heavy on thick squishy carpet. We needed the big guns for that one.

lulu8109 · January 2013

lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.

Ditto this! I saw the story on Facebook too. I had to nag DH to anchor DS' dresser with plastic straps and DH had a hard time installing them. He will freak out if I suggest we need to change the straps =X There's still more furniture that I want DH to anchor in other rooms, so I guess I gotta do some more nagging.

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

lulu8109:
lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.

Ditto this! I saw the story on Facebook too. I had to nag DH to anchor DS' dresser with plastic straps and DH had a hard time installing them. He will freak out if I suggest we need to change the straps =X There's still more furniture that I want DH to anchor in other rooms, so I guess I gotta do some more nagging.

Make him read the article. Nagging = no longer needed.

lulu8109 · January 2013

OhSewCrafty:
lulu8109:

lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.

Ditto this! I saw the story on Facebook too. I had to nag DH to anchor DS' dresser with plastic straps and DH had a hard time installing them. He will freak out if I suggest we need to change the straps =X There's still more furniture that I want DH to anchor in other rooms, so I guess I gotta do some more nagging.

Make him read the article. Nagging = no longer needed.

pitterpatter129 · January 2013

Thanks! We are planning on anchoring a lot of furniture when we move, so that will be great!

heyitsme · January 2013

Thank you! We're moving in a few weeks and the walls are different. I need something sturdier than we have and I think these will be perfect!

jillybean800 · January 2013

I got them. TBH, I have one on A's tall dresser and not his short one becuase I kinda thought I didn't need to. After reading the story I decided to do not only his short dresser but two bookcases in our living room.

TripMomma · January 2013

It is crazy how many kids are killed or seriously injured by pulling furniture down, or having it fall, on them. We have had our stuff anchored since the triplets were 1...but it is always good to be reminded. So sad

lrn327 · January 2013

OhSewCrafty:
lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.
The plastic ones are still good! The big bookcase we have is seriously huge and heavy on thick squishy carpet. We needed the big guns for that one.

Gotcha! Yep, that makes sense then. All of C's pieces are relatively small then in comparison. BTW, when I clicked on the link, I saw that the company carries another type of furniture strap that affixes to the top of the furniture with an adhesive. We have an entertainment center that has a strap on it, but we were worried about it being enough. This type will totally work for us though so thank you!

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

lrn327:
OhSewCrafty:
lrn327:
Thanks! After your post, I made DH put straps on the one piece that he was convinced C couldn't tip over. However, we used the plastic ones. :-( He'll freak out if I tell him we need to re-do all of them now.
The plastic ones are still good! The big bookcase we have is seriously huge and heavy on thick squishy carpet. We needed the big guns for that one.

Gotcha! Yep, that makes sense then. All of C's pieces are relatively small then in comparison. BTW, when I clicked on the link, I saw that the company carries another type of furniture strap that affixes to the top of the furniture with an adhesive. We have an entertainment center that has a strap on it, but we were worried about it being enough. This type will totally work for us though so thank you!

I figure a California based company who manufacturers earthquake proofing stuff is pretty reliable. LOL

[Deleted User] · January 2013

So, potentially really dumb question here. Those storage bin holders with 9 cubbies, do they need to be secured too? PIP:

Cheekers2010 · January 2013

sofamonkey:
So, potentially really dumb question here. Those storage bin holders with 9 cubbies, do they need to be secured too? PIP:

I would (says the person who still has to strap some furniture down).

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

sofamonkey:
So, potentially really dumb question here. Those storage bin holders with 9 cubbies, do they need to be secured too? PIP:

We have one very similar to this (its 3 feet high by 3 feet wide) and we have it secured with one of these kits just for piece of mind. It wouldn't really hurt him if he pulled it over, but it would make one hell of a mess since we use it to store books, puzzles, and small toys. Haha

--halo-- · January 2013

Thanks for the recommendation. I couldn't even read the whole blog post, I just couldn't go all the way to where her mind was. Way too painful. The day I read that blog DH and I went out to get anchors, but had to come home because of a cranky toddler. I will show DH the ones you linked.

I'm not sure what to do about the glider we have in his room. It's a cheapo hand-me-down that he could probably tip over on himself if he wanted to. What should I do about that??

EMOmamma · January 2013

So does 1 package do 1 piece of furniture? We need to do Kayla's room still.
Would you anchor a changing table?

OhSewCrafty · January 2013

EMO-mamma:
So does 1 package do 1 piece of furniture? We need to do Kayla's room still. Would you anchor a changing table?

It all depends on the piece of furniture. We put one one Charlie's dresser, but put two on the big 6 foot bookshelf (along with shims under the front legs).

What I figure, pull open all of the drawers of something and put weight on them. If it starts to tip at all, it needs to be anchored. Anything with open shelves that could be climbed should probably be anchored as well.

We didn't do our TV stand, however, because its like 2 1/2 feet tall and 5 1/2 feet wide, but we did anchor our flat screen TV.

EMOmamma · January 2013

OhSewCrafty:
It all depends on the piece of furniture. We put one one Charlie's dresser, but put two on the big 6 foot bookshelf (along with shims under the front legs).
What I figure, pull open all of the drawers of something and put weight on them. If it starts to tip at all, it needs to be anchored. Anything with open shelves that could be climbed should probably be anchored as well.
We didn't do our TV stand, however, because its like 2 1/2 feet tall and 5 1/2 feet wide, but we did anchor our flat screen TV.

Thanks! J has had a bit of baby regression (for lack of a better term) so I could totally see him trying to climb up onto the changing table. He already tries to climb into the high chair and often gets into the jumperoo and bumbo.

He never had access to it before b/c it was on a different floor but now that he can go up and down the stairs he could potentially be in a situation alone in Kayla's room.

IncogNeato · January 2013

We had anchored all the tall stuff but that blog sucker punched me and I immediately made DH anchor pretty much everything else in the house to the walls, using that kind of bracket. Poor guy didn't know what hit him when he got home from work, but I feel much better now!

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