Hanging TV from partition wall with Metal studs!

spida

I have a partition wall between my living room and bedroom and I want to hang a TV from it. After much trial and error with a stud-finder I thought to remove the cable-tv connection and look inside. Now I see that there are metal studs in the wall.

Does this mean that the wall will never be able to hold up my TV? Or can I screw (or nut & bolt) into the metal studs in some way?

Turns out the stud-finder was completely useless. It found many instances of wooden studs despite the fact that there are none in the wall.:mad:

yoshytoshy

If it was my own place ,I'd glue a piece of plywood to the wall (just a little smaller than the tv so it can't be seen)
You can get stuff like no more nails and it's very strong ,you'd have to cover most of the surface with glue for it to be strong enough.

My own place is like yours ,it's an apartment. I've stuck up shelves and glued the brackets to the wall and they're fine.
Probably about 8 kilos on each shelf.

Phoenix3

What size TV are you hanging?

voxpop

Id be a bit uneasy about glueing a tv to the wall. The options that come to mind are to use special fixing for plasterboard - they are rated up to 25kgs I think (see pic below) - or drill into the metal studs and fix onto those.

yoshytoshy

voxpop wrote: »

Id be a bit uneasy about glueing a tv to the wall. The options that come to mind are to use special fixing for plasterboard - they are rated up to 25kgs I think (see pic below) - or drill into the metal studs and fix onto those.

I'm not suggesting the tv is glued ,just a sheet of plywood that could be screwed into.
As long as the surface area of wood is large enough ,there wouldn't be a problem.
Thats provided its not a 40KG plasma tv.

I wouldn't rely on plasterboard fixings for a tv bracket ,they'd pull through the wall because of the small surface area.

items

You'll prob have to cut open wall and add some grounds (wood) between metal studs, if your lucky to have TV fixings directly @ metal stud then just fix straight into metal stud, normal screws will go into metal studs(just drill a smaller hole than screw through metal) domestic metal studs are only light metal, if your fussy you can purchase self tapping screws designed to drill a hole through metal first.

Don't take out any bridging, don't cut top or bottom metal channel when fishing cables, adding grounds etc, you'll weaken stud, metal studs are very light, flexible etc, you cant alter, interfere with studs or channel, except for drilling small holes.

Not to sure about plasterboard screws, I would'nt feel comfortable fitting an expensive TV on a bracket with plaster board screws, they are not really load bearing fixings, just for curtains, clocks, light objects. Heavy objects will pull plasterboard screw clean out of plasterboard.

items

spida wrote: »

I have a partition wall between my living room and bedroom and I want to hang a TV from it. After much trial and error with a stud-finder I thought to remove the cable-tv connection and look inside. Now I see that there are metal studs in the wall.

Does this mean that the wall will never be able to hold up my TV? Or can I screw (or nut & bolt) into the metal studs in some way?

Turns out the stud-finder was completely useless. It found many instances of wooden studs despite the fact that there are none in the wall.:mad:

When looking for studs, take of skirting board and find them by either seeing them or using a small bradawl or screw driver to poke holes, you'll find stud easy, bradawl will only go in so far, keep about 1" off floor. When you find stud take a measurement from close wall or draw level line up to fixing. Studs tend to be around 13" centers so finding only one stud will lead you to others, just measure 13".

Davy

I would be putting the timber between the metal studs too. I wouldnt hang anything of the studs or the plasterboard. Its a little more work, but if your careful with sizing you might not even see the cut plasterboard behind the tv. The brackets are usually only about a foot wide.

yoshytoshy

How is he going to join the timber to the metal studs ?
Them metal studs are very light

Davy

yoshytoshy wrote: »

How is he going to join the timber to the metal studs ?
Them metal studs are very light

Cut the plaster board. Put the timber between the metal uprights and screw in position from both sides. Their is special screws for the metal. This is how the grounds would have been done for the sockets anywhere they couldn't mount them on the wall

yoshytoshy

Davy wrote: »

Cut the plaster board. Put the timber between the metal uprights and screw in position from both sides. Their is special screws for the metal. This is how the grounds would have been done for the sockets anywhere they couldn't mount them on the wall

I didn't know you could do that ,I know a lad who installs metal studs and he's always done any work that had to be done.

I made a picture of something I would probably do myself ,sorry it's no cad picture.

eoghan.geraghty

Fixing your TV bracket to the metal studs will suffice but if it's a particularly heavy TV and bracket then put in some timber grounds.
Cut a hole in the wall, insert the grounds ( either 3/4" ply or 2 strips of 4*2 ), refix the plasterboard piece and caulk around it, it doesn't have to be perfect as the TV will hide it but will still be neat and tidy.

I have used plasterboard fixings for a lot of things, even a radiator, but wouldn't rely on them for a TV on a bracket.

Buford T Justice

voxpop wrote: »

Id be a bit uneasy about glueing a tv to the wall. The options that come to mind are to use special fixing for plasterboard - they are rated up to 25kgs I think (see pic below) - or drill into the metal studs and fix onto those.

Definitely don't use these to hang a TV. the plasterboard won't support it.

If it was me, I wouldn't even consider hanging a tv from a wall like that. Over time, the stress will take its toll.

Can you hang it from the ceiling? As in, fix to joist with a CP1, use Column to come down the wall and fix the TV to it. Cables can be ran through the Column...

Just a suggestion

voxpop

Those plasterboard screws are rated to hold 25kgs - they can hardly put that on the pack if it cant hold 25kg. Now I havnt tried to hang 25kgs off them but its up to you if you want to risk it. Its probably worth adding in the wood as suggested to distribute the load.

yoshytoshy

voxpop wrote: »

Those plasterboard screws are rated to hold 25kgs - they can hardly put that on the pack if it cant hold 25kg. Now I havnt tried to hang 25kgs off them but its up to you if you want to risk it. Its probably worth adding in the wood as suggested to distribute the load.

Maybe 25kgs hanging straight down from the head of the screw.

If you hang a tv with them ,the tv is acting like a lever and will pull them out from the wall.

spida

Thank you all VERY much for your advice, particularly 'yoshytoshy' for taking the time to do the diagram. Some, I realise may not all be tried and tested stuff so there are lots of caveats involved but the discussion all gives me lots of ideas to go with. Most of which unfortunately involve opening up the wall. Something I was never crazy about the idea of.

So, here's the thinking now. What about putting a sheet of wood (solid wood as it's going to be visible) on the outside and screwing it to three of the pillars. Then add the TV bracket (which is held on by 4 screws in a vertical line) to the top of that by screwing through that and into the middle one of the three you are using for support. surely that will give enough support.

BTW: The TV + Stand come in at about 30kg so plasterboard screws would never have cut it. Also I would like to be able to pull it out from the wall to swing it around and so, as pointed out, the lever effect adds to the weight.

Alpha10

The easiest way and imo the best way to do this is to cut a piece of 18mm ply the same dimension as the tv bracket. Glue the ply to the plasterboard with gun o preene or another type of panel adhesive.
From your picture i see you have opened the wall so you know where the studs are located. Predrill 4 holes in the plywood and through 2 studs (2 holes in each stud, studs will be 400mm apart) using a 3mm or 1/8 drill bit. Screw in 50mm x 5mm self tapping screws. Make sure they are self tappers and not timber screws as they have a tighter thread and will not come loose in the metal stud.

When that's done simply screw the tv bracket to the ply using 50mm x 5mm timber screws. This will easily hold the weight of your tv and will do the exact same job as fixing to grounds inserted inside the wall without the hassle of cutting holes.

Hope that helps

yoshytoshy

spida wrote: »

BTW: The TV + Stand come in at about 30kg so plasterboard screws would never have cut it. Also I would like to be able to pull it out from the wall to swing it around and so, as pointed out, the lever effect adds to the weight.

Check your specs for the lever bracket ,that adds a lot of stress on the fixings.
You'd nearly want a concrete wall if it extends much.

I'm use to putting stuff up on walls ,some stuff I have to hang is over 100KGs. It might not be the best route to take ,doing what I first mentioned.

What the lads suggested and the second thing I suggested ,would be safer if your not use to hanging stuff.

Sorry:(

items

spida wrote: »

Thank you all VERY much for your advice, particularly 'yoshytoshy' for taking the time to do the diagram. Some, I realise may not all be tried and tested stuff so there are lots of caveats involved but the discussion all gives me lots of ideas to go with. Most of which unfortunately involve opening up the wall. Something I was never crazy about the idea of.

So, here's the thinking now. What about putting a sheet of wood (solid wood as it's going to be visible) on the outside and screwing it to three of the pillars. Then add the TV bracket (which is held on by 4 screws in a vertical line) to the top of that by screwing through that and into the middle one of the three you are using for support. surely that will give enough support.

If your afraid of opening slab to insert grounds then as you mention above, fixing wood outside slab is pretty much the same as fitting grounds. If you can get a fixing over 3 studs then you'll be bang on.

BTW: The TV + Stand come in at about 30kg so plasterboard screws would never have cut it. Also I would like to be able to pull it out from the wall to swing it around and so, as pointed out, the lever effect adds to the weight.

If your afraid of opening slab to insert grounds then as you mention above, fixing wood outside slab is pretty much the same as fitting grounds. If you can get a fixing over 3 studs then you'll be bang on. Pick up any kind of wood in a sheet, MDF, Lam board, Ply wood etc 3/4" will do fine. Use a washer with fixing to spread load over fixing so you have a good grip then paint over all surfaces with a color to match you wall, go around edges of sheet with painters mate, rub it down with a wet cloth, sand over sheet and paint.

When you mount TV bracket, swing out extension arm to full extent and add some of your own weight onto it for a quick test, if all holds well under stress similar to TV weight then mount TV.

Alpha10

items wrote: »

If your afraid of opening slab to insert grounds then as you mention above, fixing wood outside slab is pretty much the same as fitting grounds. If you can get a fixing over 3 studs then you'll be bang on. Pick up any kind of wood in a sheet, MDF, Lam board, Ply wood etc 3/4" will do fine. Use a washer with fixing to spread load over fixing so you have a good grip then paint over all surfaces with a color to match you wall, go around edges of sheet with painters mate, rub it down with a wet cloth, sand over sheet and paint.

When you mount TV bracket, swing out extension arm to full extent and add some of your own weight onto it for a quick test, if all holds well under stress similar to TV weight then mount TV.

Do not use mdf for grounds on anything heavy. It's a lot more flexible than ply and over time the screws have more of a chance of coming loose.

If you could catch 3 studs that would great but I doubt the wall bracket is 800mm wide. Fixing into 2 studs will be perfectly fine.

voxpop

These are the actual fixings I was taking about - rated to 40kgs. Now maybe the plasterboard is the weak link at this stage or something, I dont know.

yoshytoshy

voxpop wrote: »

These are the actual fixings I was taking about - rated to 40kgs. Now maybe the plasterboard is the weak link at this stage or something, I dont know.

Basically it's chalk with paper over it ,thats all plasterboard is(as you probably know).
Thorsman Duo-max toggle bolts or butterfly type on plasterboard are better ,they don't bite into the plaster as much and don't pull through as easy.

Edit : found a link that shows what I mean. http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/fixingtoplasterboard.htm

voxpop

yoshytoshy wrote: »

Basically it's chalk with paper over it ,thats all plasterboard is(as you probably know).
Thorsman Duo-max toggle bolts or butterfly type on plasterboard are better ,they don't bite into the plaster as much and don't pull through as easy.

Edit : found a link that shows what I mean. http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/fixingtoplasterboard.htm

Yeah, Ive had trouble with the auld plaster board in the past - had a similar issue with mounting a tv, but there was a concrete wall behind the plasterboard so basically mounted some timber on the concrete wall, put back the plasterboard and mounted the tv through the lot. A lot of hassle, but I didnt want to see my tv crash to the ground.
As I said, it seems a bit strange that these fixings can state on the package - 40kgs or whatever if they cant hold that weight - any boardsies want to do some experiments .

Davy

items wrote: »

If your afraid of opening slab to insert grounds then as you mention above, fixing wood outside slab is pretty much the same as fitting grounds.

I wouldn't agree with that. With the metal uprights, they have a return to allow the slab to be screwed to it. Using this gives extra support. The timber grounds are up against the returns and the load is displacing along the metal.