What Type of Unistrut Channel Do You Use for Wall-Mounted Shelving?

Standard Strut Channel Options

• Standard strut is a long, C-shaped channel that accommodates specially designed spring nuts. The original Unistrut channel is solid on all three sides. For wall-mounted applications, Unistrut offers perforated or slotted channels. Round holes line the rear face of perforated strut, and slotted strut has elongated slots. Although both varieties are suitable for mounting strut to solid surfaces, perforated strut's holes are ideal fastening locations for standard construction fasteners, such as lag bolts or screws. You can drive fasteners through the holes and into wooden wall framing or use solid or hollow-wall anchors to mount the strut to alternative wall surfaces.

Unistrut Angle Irons

• Unistrut manufactures a line of lightweight angle irons suitable for shelving projects. The basic angle iron consists of two 1 5/8-inch metal flanges that meet at a 90-degree angle. Both flanges have round holes or elongated slots along their entire length. The slots or holes serve as an installation location for standard construction fasteners. Whereas strut shelving accessories connect to standard strut with the specialized spring nut system, angle iron accessories connect with conventional nuts and bolts.

Size and Material

• Unistrut offers strut channel in 1 5/8- and 1 1/4-inch sizes. Although the larger variety is slightly stronger, both are suitable common shelving and storage applications. The dimensions refer to the width of all three of the strut's sides. Retailers usually describe strut by its width, followed by its overall length. While metal is the most common strut material, Unistrut also produces fiberglass strut channel. Additionally, metal strut varies according to its corrosion-resistance; some strut is galvanized to prevent rust and deterioration.

Shelving Accessories

• Unistrut offers several shelf bracket and brace fittings. Unistrut shelf brackets resemble conventional angle brackets; they consist of two sides that meet at a 90-degree angle and occasionally have an angled knee-brace between the separate sides. As with conventional wall-mounted angle brackets, Unistrut brackets accept nearly any type of shelving material on their upper support, including metal shelf racks or custom plywood shelving.