>> Hi
>>
>> We have just bought a new house which is of course dry lined with
>> plasterboard. In 26 years of house owning I have only delt with
>> conventional block, render plaster walls so need some advise on
>> plasterboard fixings.
>>
>> My DIY book says I need different fixings depending unpon the
>> thickness of the plasterboard and the depth of the cavity behind.
>> How do I know what that is ?.
>>
>> What about things like toilet roll holders which have to be mounted on
>> tiles fixed on top on the plasterboard, will the board flex and
>> dislodge the tiles ?.
>>
>>
>> One of my new neighbours says he does not trust these fixings and has
>> located and fixed directly to the battens under the plasterboard. >>
>> If using this method should I drill through the batten into the
>> blockwork behind or just use a woodscrew into the batten ?.
>>
>
>
>It depends on the weight of the things you are fitting. For toilet roll
>holders on tiles you are better with the ones with sprung "ears" that pop
>out. For light things on the plasterboard (electric heater etc), the ones
>that crumple up and grip the plasterboard are fine as you can remove the
>screws at will. For heavy items it gets difficult. Having had an extension
>built, I was faced with fixing fitted wardrobes to a dry-lined wall which
>was a right PITA (I would demand "proper" walls next time!). The heavy duty
>crumple up ones are prone to being so stiff they tear themselves out of the
>plasterboard when you are doing the crumpling phase (I speak from experience
>:o( ). Dry lining is often done one special cement blobs, not battens -
>where the builder knows a radiator (for example) is going, they will (or
>should if good) place these blobs where the fittings will go (mine did). For
>the wardrobe I ended up drilling through into the blockwork, fitting the
>plug just on the end of the screw, tapping it in blind with the screw and
>then using. The problem is that this exerts strain on the plasterboard as it
>pulls it towards the wall. This is fine if (as I was) you are fitting
>battens on the wall, as the load is spread. For point loads (like the
>mounting points for a towel rail I also fitted) you have to be careful not
>to overtighten. Ideally the screw should be bibding up quite tight in the
>plug behind before it tightens onto the plasterboard.
>
>HTH
Many thanks for the tips, I have just bought one of those electronic batten/metal detectors, it seems to be locating the battens and the steel lintels over the windows OK.
Thanks again
Paul