Mount TV to plasterboard

[pfm401]

Hello

I bought one of these, weight 16.1kg without stand: https://www.richersounds.com/tv-projectors/all-tvs/sony-bravia-kd55xg8196bu.html

The recommended bracket in the manual is this, though only seems to be available at this shop: https://comwales.co.uk/sony-suwl450...MI3qixuO3B6gIVhe3tCh3AzwAfEAYYASABEgKZhPD_BwE

In another project I used these to fix slot shelving to plasterboard (tried in vain to find studs using stud finder and drilling 2mm pilot holes at sensible distances apart!), repairing fix by previous house owner who used the "screw in" type which were coming out at the top (had to repair wall hence didn't care about pilot holes above!) ... https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-hollow-wall-anchors-m6-x-52mm-20-pack/68410. So far so good


Questions:
(1) Do you think the above solution would be suitable for my TV? I only want to use a fixed bracket, not one of those which sits way out of the wall and moves about
(2) Obviously there's loads of different brackets on the market other than this one, any recommendations?
(3) My stud finder is picking up studs, I could mount SOME screws in there without sticking on a piece of plywood / MDF which would presumably improve things?

Thanks, Paul.

 

[plastic_peanut]

Have a look at these Paul. They do different versions depending what weight needs supporting

https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/plasterboard-fixings/cat840020?brand=gripit

 

[rsgaz]

any recommendations?

Yes, the type with loads of potential fixing holes, so it should span over a stud, like...

If you can span a stud fairly centrally, then two M8 coach screws into the stud and a hollow wall fixing in each corner and you'll be able to climb up the TV if you wish! Drill a pilot hole for the coach screws and use washers.

Instead of a stud finder, use a neodymium magnet, you will find the screws which hold the plasterboard up. (unless you have a 1960s-ish house with "Paramount" partition?)

 

[Lucid]

"Can't find the studs" - That could be because there aren't any studs to find.

Dot 'n' Dab / Dot and Dab / Drylining / Dry lining is a common method of covering brickwork rather than the more traditional two coat plaster method. It's quicker, probably costs less, and arguably takes less skill. The resulting wall finish sounds hollow in places as you would expect with plasterboard over a timber frame for stud walls, but what you're hearing is the space between blobs of the adhesive.

Where you can't find the stud with a stud finder, pilot holes or a magnet (because there are no nails with D 'n' D) then treat it as a dry-lining finish. You'll still be able to hollow wall anchors, Grip-It fixings and anything else that provides a shallow fixing. Keep in mind though that any longer-screws or -bolts won't be able to penetrate the brickwork or blockwork behind without forcing the surface fixing out.

Bursting the surface in this way then means the additional complication to the job of a repair which is then likely to be weaker than the board it has replaced. There is a better way.

Rigifix and Corefix are two similar products that both use a piling method to fix in to the stronger block surface behind, and then transfer that strength through a rigid fixed core to the surface of the plasterboard so that very little pressure is put on the relatively weak board finish.

This video is well worth the 12 minutes of your life it will take to watch. It will save you that time alone on the first fixing hole. I strongly recommend you make this small but very worthwhile investment.

"Why are my hollow wall anchors chewing up the wall?" - There's a very simple answer to that: You need the setting tool.

Hollow wall anchors work like an umbrella, and it's tempting to think that the simple action of tightening the centre bolt is enough to open and secure the fixing. You might get away with that a few times too. Sod's Law will catch up with you though; and it will be on that on that crucial fixing point where you really need it to work 100% first time. But you've buggered it.

The reason for them chewing up the wall when not using the setting tool is that the fixing spins as the screwing force is applied to open the fixing. The teeth that are designed to bite in to the surface of the board become a drill. They chew out the plasterboard. The setting tool avoids this.

The setting tool applies a pull force rather than the turning force of a drill or screwdriver. Since there's no turning force with the setting tool then the fixing can't spin. Here's the setting tool.



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[pfm401]

Thanks guys - hopefully I've applied the "thanks" properly, I've been on this site before and hadn't realised it's a "thing" - always said it but not realised there's a button (not least because it doesn't show up until you hover over where it then appears!).


plastic_peanut; I have the Rawlplug ones already left over from the other project, are there any great advantages of the Gripfix ones? I think they'd both be pretty strong in themselves so the concern is more the stress they put on the plasterboard?

rsgaz - cheers, will almost certainly go that way with centre point fixed to stud, "almost certainly" because it depends if that will locate the TV where I want it. Otherwise stud screw as close as possible to the centre. One thing - how thick are the studs i.e. what's the right length of coach bolt? I'm guessing approx 18mm plasterboard plus fixing plus about 30mm into the wood?? I've ordered a set of neodymium magnets - have to say they sound like something off Star Trek

Lucid - the previous project was definitely on an internal plasterboard wall, the house is only 15 years old and the wall divides a bedroom from a bathroom. I'll be testing using the neodymium magnets to see if that locates them just to learn from experience. One thing I worry about with bathroom walls is if any screws are "shielded" somehow and if any detection is actually of pipes etc. You can probably tell I'm not a builder and am second guessing this! I've fitted coathooks etc to plasterboard with brick / breezeblock behind (which is how our walls facing external walls are constructed) by using 100mm screws put into the breezeblock. A bit off a faff - drill hole, put screw into plug by 1 - 2mm just to hold it, tap the screw to insert the plug then remove screw, fitting Rawlplug Uno cut off at the tip end (not at the head) to support any leverage movement on the plasterboard., and put the screw through both Uno plug and brick plug So far so good but will definitely check out your method. A builder at our last house recommended using foam filler to support the screw in the gap but it's horrible stuff and would add time to the job for curing, so never tried that one.

 

[JP_]

Have a look at these Paul. They do different versions depending what weight needs supporting

https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/plasterboard-fixings/cat840020?brand=gripit

Somebody in B&Q recommended these to me once. I just ended up with massive holes in the plasterboard. I think these only work if you have good quality boards. Mine I guess were too thin and a bit old - they just made a big mess.

Those Corefix look really good, might try them, as I need to put a TV on the wall too. But with a big TV bracket that takes 4 screws, you spread the load and are not likely to warp the boards if you don't over tighten them in a standard long plug into the blocks.

 

[Lucid]

Hi Paul,
Construction method varies depending on the type of wall. The outer walls and usually at least one inner wall (often closest to the stairs for fire integrity) will be load bearing. That is to say the they're taking the weight of the roof and the floors. These will generally be of a brick or block construction for strength. The typical surface finish used to be plaster, but is more likely to be dry lining.

Where strength isn't required, and the wall is simply serving as a partition between rooms or a corridor, then a lighter-weight construction is used. This was often timber frame or some engineered flat panel product. We're now seeing metal framework which is then overboard ed becoming more common.

I haven't come across too many new builds personally where water or has pipes are buried within a divider wall. That's not to say that such properties don't exist; just that I haven't seen it as common building practise.

Central heating water pipes tend to run under floors and then come up at floor level.

It is always wise to check though, and scan for mains and lighting cables too.

As for shielded- or some way of shielding screws, that would be a lot of work for a builder if itbwas even possible. Time is money, and so unless theres some specific benefit, then adding to the job costs for no decent reason isn't likely ro happen.

One exception I can thonk of is for Hi-Fi nuts. There are aluminium radiators and brass screws used in sone listening rooms in order to remove the effect of ferrous metal. That wouldn't normally apply though to existing built walls for non-Hi-Fi rooms.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Thanks guys - hopefully I've applied the "thanks" properly, I've been on this site before and hadn't realised it's a "thing" - always said it but not realised there's a button (not least because it doesn't show up until you hover over where it then appears!).

I have often wondered about those 'thanks' and 'like' buttons, whether it was my browser which made them invisible until it was hovered over - obviously not

 

[rsgaz]

how thick are the studs

The standard stud is "4 by 2", but that's the pre-planed dimensions, so 3½ inches or 89mm in new money.

right length of coach bolt?

M8 40mm will be perfect. Plasterboard is normally 'arf an inch, 12.7mm. Radiator pipes and electrical cables should always go through the middle of the studs, so you don't want longer screws than that in a stud wall. They're supposed to follow "safe zones" (now called "prescribed zones"), i.e. in a straight line up/down/left or right of the socket/switch/etc, but once they're below 50mm of the surface it's a free-for-all and could run diagonally!!

guessing approx 18mm plasterboard plus fixing plus about 30mm into the wood?

I'm guessing you're estimating 18mm based on your pilot drilling, but, as above, plasterboard is usually half an inch, but 15mm 'acoustic' board also exists, but this would normally only be installed between you and your neighbours, not on an internal wall. Plasterboard is sometimes 'double skinned', or can even be plasterboard over plywood or OSB. Pilot drilling is the only way to find out!