How to put shelves for heavy items in plasterboard

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hatTT

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Hi,

I don't know what my walls are made of, at least behind what's visible, so I can only tell that I have plasterboard and after that there should be wooden studs in a reasonable distance (I'm not sure if that's the correct term, but I mean an house made of stick frame).

I'm thinking on fitting shelves on top of my desks, but unfortunately I don't think it's a good idea because I don't know what's behind.
Checking by only knocking the wall, I can't really find any less hollow sound, I was expecting it when knocking a wooden stud.
So, shall I assume that there is a very big plasterboard or even a single one for each wall?
Even by reading this guide, I can't tell: https://www.ratedpeople.com/blog/wh...n check is to,stud partition walls are hollow.

Assuming the worst, I can tell that they won't hold books and heavy items, so I need to buy something from the ground, like a proper library etc. The issue I'll meet is that it won't have space for my desks, unless I take a specific model but those cost more than 1k and you're limited to that wall where it resides.
If I don't buy very old fashioned libraries, the new ones are very light and they require to be fixed in the wall, I don't think I'll meet the same problem but it may happen anyway if I don't fit it perfectly.

Plus, how would I know the distance I can drill and therefore what size and shape of spreader clips I can use? This video is very detailed, but it doesn't help my job at the end:

I found this detector, is it enough for what I need to do? https://www.toolstoreuk.co.uk/bosch-gms120-professional-multi-detector/p1448

In all this, I wonder how they've fitted the kitchen :unsure: :eek: , there are at least 35kg of stuff up there the shelves.
 
The plasterboard will either be fixed to vertical timber studs, which are normally 400mm centres, or dabbed to a masonry wall behind.
If there’s an area which is out of sight, try poking small holes with a little screwdriver across and see if you hit a stud. Or, see if it eventually hits block/brick further back.
You can also buy stud detectors, but I’ve had mixed success with them.
Even if you can’t find any studs, you can get plasterboard fixings that can give a very solid fixing which should be more than enough for book shelves. Google spring toggle fixings, there are also other similar options available.
 
Find studs with magnet. Will pick up screw heads.
Plasterboard fixings are not a good option
 
Wayners said:
Find studs with magnet. Will pick up screw heads.
Plasterboard fixings are not a good option
Click to expand...

It's a stick frame house, it doesn't have metal based studs, or at least it shouldn't.
It can help only if there are screws behind, but I won't know where to drill exactly, imagine you take the edge of the stud, it's gonna break soon...
How the people do it correctly if the plasterboard is in place?? I'm planning to renovate the kitchen and I'm thinking that I need to dismantle/replace the entire plasterboard to do the job properly...
 
Last edited:
just find the studs first, using whatever method works (I suggest mine), then work out your options from there. Used correctly, the heavy duty plasterboard fixings (the type that expand behind the board) are fit for purpose. Or, hopefully you’ll be able to make at least some fixings to the studs, once you’ve found them.

Dismantling the wall would be a last resort and only for exceptional weight requirements. And even then, you’d only take a section out to fix additional timber support (noggins).
 
hatTT said:
Hi,

I don't know what my walls are made of, at least behind what's visible, so I can only tell that I have plasterboard and after that there should be wooden studs in a reasonable distance (I'm not sure if that's the correct term, but I mean an house made of stick frame).

I'm thinking on fitting shelves on top of my desks, but unfortunately I don't think it's a good idea because I don't know what's behind.
Checking by only knocking the wall, I can't really find any less hollow sound, I was expecting it when knocking a wooden stud.
So, shall I assume that there is a very big plasterboard or even a single one for each wall?
Even by reading this guide, I can't tell: https://www.ratedpeople.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-a-load-bearing-wall-and-a-stud-partition-wall#:~:text=One common check is to,stud partition walls are hollow.

Assuming the worst, I can tell that they won't hold books and heavy items, so I need to buy something from the ground, like a proper library etc. The issue I'll meet is that it won't have space for my desks, unless I take a specific model but those cost more than 1k and you're limited to that wall where it resides.
If I don't buy very old fashioned libraries, the new ones are very light and they require to be fixed in the wall, I don't think I'll meet the same problem but it may happen anyway if I don't fit it perfectly.

Plus, how would I know the distance I can drill and therefore what size and shape of spreader clips I can use? This video is very detailed, but it doesn't help my job at the end:

I found this detector, is it enough for what I need to do? https://www.toolstoreuk.co.uk/bosch-gms120-professional-multi-detector/p1448

In all this, I wonder how they've fitted the kitchen :unsure: :eek: , there are at least 35kg of stuff up there the shelves.
Click to expand...

Why do you use terms like wooden studs and then refer to you home as being stick made?

.....
 
23vc said:
Find the centre by drilling (or poking) holes either side. You only need to make small holes which are easily filled or hidden behind whatever you’re fitting.
Click to expand...
Right :unsure: , thanks :mrgreen:.
I'll do it manually with a screw driver.

The 2nd problem is that even if I find one, the other wooden stud may be too far...
I can't believe that people mount kitchens on the plasterboard, so probably in the kitchen corner there is a entire wooden wall...
 
opps said:
Why do you use terms like wooden studs and then refer to you home as being stick made?

.....
Click to expand...
I saw some video online and the stick frame is called in that way, did I misunderstand?
In this video 2 minute tip-Fixing to plasterboard , where the plasterboard is attached, how is called if not stud?
This is how my house is made I believe... The survey also revealed the same, but they didn't drill anything :).
 
hatTT said:
imagine you take the edge of the stud, it's gonna break soon...
Click to expand...
You can tell; the screw spins and/or changes direction and/or there is a splintering sound if it's driven too close to the edge. Wind it out, change angle and wind it in again. It doesn't need much for the angle to catch solid wood

Some of your studs will have two plasterboards fixed to them side by side because they support a joint between adjacent boards. Your magnet should be able to detect two screws in these cases and that tells you reasonably well where a good centre line is for the stud. Other studs should be a multiple of 300, 400 or 600 away if your plasterboards are metric, or 12, 16 or 24 inches if your plasterboards are imperial

Don't forget, you don't have to use wall mounted shelves. Shelving that has front support posts exists and wall fixings for that kind of shelving are more for stopping it falling forwards than bearing the weight of the shelf contents
 
hatTT said:
Right :unsure: , thanks :mrgreen:.
I'll do it manually with a screw driver.

The 2nd problem is that even if I find one, the other wooden stud may be too far...
I can't believe that people mount kitchens on the plasterboard, so probably in the kitchen corner there is a entire wooden wall...
Click to expand...
Kitchen wall units may be hung using plasterboard fixings but there may be horizontal noggins put in for that purpose if it was planned well. Sometimes a horizontal run of ply/timber is fitted for the wall unit top fixings to go into. No such thing as “entire wooden wall” in this scenario.
 
robinbanks said:
You can tell; the screw spins and/or changes direction and/or there is a splintering sound if it's driven too close to the edge. Wind it out, change angle and wind it in again. It doesn't need much for the angle to catch solid wood

Some of your studs will have two plasterboards fixed to them side by side because they support a joint between adjacent boards. Your magnet should be able to detect two screws in these cases and that tells you reasonably well where a good centre line is for the stud. Other studs should be a multiple of 300, 400 or 600 away if your plasterboards are metric, or 12, 16 or 24 inches if your plasterboards are imperial

Don't forget, you don't have to use wall mounted shelves. Shelving that has front support posts exists and wall fixings for that kind of shelving are more for stopping it falling forwards than bearing the weight of the shelf contents
Click to expand...
Thank you, this can be a reasonable way for the rest of the house, but I'm still in doubt about the kitchen...
Obviously I won't be the one to mount it, but I wonder how others are gonna do the job, it's a lot to stick on the wall... At the moment I didn't see a difference of sound in the living room, just close to the corners, but I'll try with a detector...
 
23vc said:
Kitchen wall units may be hung using plasterboard fixings but there may be horizontal noggins put in for that purpose if it was planned well. Sometimes a horizontal run of ply/timber is fitted for the wall unit top fixings to go into. No such thing as “entire wooden wall” in this scenario.
Click to expand...
It can be true, I'm not in the position to knock the wall because the actual kitchen is there.
There's can be always the problem that the new kitchen won't have the same fitting points and therefore located in different positions where there is no wood behind the wall...
In that case, shall I really put down the wall, put some studs, plasterboard and paint on top of it??
It seems weird to me, imagine IKEA coming to mount the kitchen, they found these issues and I need to ask them to do the "basics" :mrgreen:.
That's the kind of situation I'd like to avoid.
 
hatTT said:
Obviously I won't be the one to mount it
Click to expand...

Well, you are asking on a DIY site, so the advice up to now will have been provided with the assumption that you want to carry this out.

Anyone worth their salt who comes to fit a kitchen for you, will make sure the cupboards don't fall off the wall; don't need to spend 5 minutes on a DIY site acquiring just enough knowledge to be able to tell them how to do a tiny part of their job, and the project would probably proceed more smoothly if you avoided that approach :)
 
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