It appears to be attached with screws that have been painted over. You will need to get enough paint out of the screw slots so you can get a screwdriver in to unscrew. And you will need a razor blade to score around the entire piece to cut the paint away.

The top screw looks to be into a keyhole slot, so technically it doesn't need to come out, the bracket would push up and out. But given the amount of paint on the bracket (preventing it from sliding up), it may be easier to remove the screw.

Continuing. In order to move the vertical cleat, you will need to move or replace the piece of wood that the lower part of the closet rod support is attached to. This assumes you are keeping the rod and shelf. You need that lower piece of wood so that the support rests flat against the wall.

graywings - Actually, I do not plan to move the vertical cleat. I'll install new ones where needed, but will re-use the support brackets. The brackets came off easily. I'm concerned about how that vertical cleat is ATTACHED to just the dry wall behind it. It is NOT attached at a stud maybe just nailed through the dry wall? I think it's just there for the bracket to be level. Does the shelf resting on the horizontal cleat take all the closet rod weight?

I just had similar system installed. I know my contractor installed the vertical pieces on the studs. My rod runs into a wall at either end. He ran the horizontal pieces around each corner and the rod butts into a metal circular piece that also provides some stability. He installed the shelf on top of the horizontal wood piece, which also distributes some of the weight of both the shelf and rod (via the brackets that are attached to the shelf) onto that horizontal piece. (But it's just the thickness of the board that holds some of the weight of the back of the shelf).

I agree with you. My *guess* is that the smaller piece of wood is just nailed into the drywall to allow the bracket to be level.

I had this in one closet and it appeared that the horizontal cleat distributed the weight along it. There were two short additional horizontal cleats on the sides, and the shelf rested on them and the horizontal cleat.

I can't remember how the wooden pole was supported at the ends. It may have been sitting in pieces of wood carved out to accept the pole, and supported in the middle by the bracket.

I think the answer on the Remodeling Forum explained it well. The cleat is just distributing the weight so that the bracket doesn't sink into the drywall. The horizontal piece of wood prevents the shelf from sagging and also provides the main attachment for the bracket. Since the horizontal piece of wood is attached to studs as it goes across the wall, that makes it well secured. The bracket creates a small amount of downward 'pull' on the shelf but the horizontal wood and the cleat are carrying the majority of the weight.......especially the screw in the keyhole slot.

If your hanging rod is going to be holding a lot of weight then attaching to a stud would be ideal. DS had a storage closet that had a huge amount of stuff on the shelf and the rod was packed with clothes. The whole thing came crashing down one night..............

Thanks, all! Since none of the brackets were originally installed in studs and I added one/re-positioned originals, I didn't worry about putting them in studs this time either. Hope I'm not awakened by things that go bump in the night!