Assuming that I have appropriate fixings, what is the maximum weight I should try to hang from a plasterboard wall?
I have one of these: that's going to need to be wall-mounted. 400 CDs make quite a weight, and the thing is heavy enough to begin with.
Daniele
About 10kg a mile. Opinions will vary, but hanging 2 overcoats on a coathook with metal toggles repeatedly proved too much. If you can screw through into masonry behind, and bung some filler or plaster in there, things really improve.
NT
"D.M. Procida" wrote in message news:1jvinla.1r9nemvzh491nN% snipped-for-privacy@apple-juice.co.uk...
I would not fix anything direct to Plasterboard .... either fix direct to studs, or fix counter batten to studs then what you want to the batten
I don't really have that option.
My plan was to fix a batten below the shelves, so that the weight of the shelves will be on that. Then the shelves will be fastened to the wall at the top and bottom.
| wall |___ | |
I spent several years working under a couple of tonnes of manuals on Spur shelving hung off a plasterboard wall. I frequently wondered about the the maximum load that wall could bear. I'm still here ...
Well you kind of do... just means more work/mess: cut away plasterboard behind where the shelves go, and insert batten to go between two studs, then cover over the hole. It looks like it will be really heavy: no way I'd trust any form of pb fixing alone with that.
Other than that - I see that it's 1.57m tall: couldn't it be floor-standing (still screwed to the wall but with the floor taking the actual weight)? Perspex stilts?
David
D.M. Procida ( snipped-for-privacy@apple-juice.co.uk) wibbled on Saturday 22 January 2011 22:01:
So not standing on the floor at all (like the web page suggests)?
OK - if you can locate the studs in a studwork wall and screw into them - loads and loads of weight will be fine.
If it's PB on dot'n'dab against brick, I would use frame fixings so as to get deep into the brick without pulling hard up agains the PB (which can dent it).
If it's dot'n'dab onto celcon blocks (spit) I would use Fischer Frame Fixings - forget the part number, buy they have teeth for most of the length. Drill the holes exactly the right size with an HSS drill so the plug is a perfect fit - if you find you have a very cheesy block (as I did at the last house) a smear of Araldite on the fixing will stop it from turning and grinding out the hole. Some celcon type blocks are so bad though.
In either of the last two cases, treat the frame fixing like a rawlplug - it set it in the wall, now through the shelving - then screw through the shelving into it.
I have had success with the last method and the first method - the first being very easy - hanging lots of shelves to hold heavy books and computers.
HTH
Tim
You might be right. Builders seem to treat plasterboard the way I played with Lego, so maybe it's not such a big job.
Unfortunately there is a mains socket just where I want to put it - which means it can't even rest on the skirting board with a couple of short legs at the front (as well as being fastened to the wall of course) - it'll have to go above the socket.
Daniele
I have three radiators that are hung on plasterboard. I suspect there's not much difference in weight between them and your CDs.
The fixings used were these:
As the others have said, see if you can get at least some fittings into a stud, or screw right through to the masonry if its a dry lined wall, then so much the better.
However, one saving grace here is that the load presented by something like this is almost all in shear, with any pull or torsion spread over a nice long length. This is the sort of fixing application that plasterboard copes best with - its not dissimilar from the load present by radiators etc.
Hence if you must fix to the PB, then use six or eight large hollow wall anchors:
Might be an opportunity to try these >
David
The skirting board will project more than the socket - just ignore it.
One of the things the teacher demonstrated on a plastering course I did nearly 10 years ago was that a plasterboard wall could easily support his weight hanging from it (on the plasterboard alone, not the supports). It's all a question of the number and type of fixings used.
However, if possible find one of the timber supports and put some of the fixings into that.
's
Luckily, they're also not required. Perhaps they are mains powered?
-- Halmyre
Depends whether it's surface mounted.
Hopefully you are dealing with a double skin plasterboard wall. Single skin plasterboard is not the strongest on this type of application
A hollow wall anchor is the ONLY answer if you are concerned about a load. Fischer offer tech details on their site. Use a pull up/ compression tool if you can. Calculate your loadings, erring on the conservative side, and use the Fischer tables to establish the number of fixings required. I would use a french cleat or battens top and bottom. The bottom batten will carry the vertical load and the top batten will prevent the shelving rotating outwards. Alternatively you could use cupboard hangers. The type that use a small plate screwed to the wall and adjustable fittings mounted inside the storage unit. These make the use of hollow wall anchors easier as the metal plate is only about 2mm thick. Also the adjustments available on the fitting mounted inside the cupboard make leveling easy.
Those screw in nylon fixings are very poor when it comes to heavy loads. They have little resistance to horizontal pull and are easily overtightened leading to deformation of the thread cut in the plasterboard
Don't ask how I know all this,but believe me I speak from bitter experience.
Paul Mc cann
No problem
Use a couple of fixings such as:
I fixed a set of shelves with similar fixings to take A4 manuals and could even sit on them!
They will fail if there is any bending, such as you would get with a coat hook.
Jim
Same here. If you can spread the load (Spur supports do that very effectively) and ensure it's mostly downwards rather than outwards, plasterboard will typically support a huge weight. At your own risk, of course.
Richard.
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