How do I put a hook into plaster board wall?

Dan-Dan

ha ha , yeah ok , fair one taff , cheers

societys_child

You can buy your own stud finder from around £8 upwards.

What I've done in the past is gently drill a horizontal line of small holes across area I want to fix the bracket until I hit the wood (they're going to be hidden by the bracket when it's in place) Normally only have to drill about 3 holes.

. . of course use a bit of sense as to whereabouts wires or pipes may be located.

googler

Dan-Dan wrote: »

so if i have a flat screen 22" tv and a plasteboard wall , where i cant seem to find the battens , then i cant put it on the wall ?

Remove a square or rectangle of plasterboard, smaller than the TV, slightly larger than your wall bracket, and you'll see the battens. Fix a piece of plyboard the same size as the now-missing piece of plasterboard, to the battens with good-sized wood screws and secure the TV bracket to this.

Redecorating the plywood is optional, as it'll be hidden by the TV once it's on the bracket. Cut the plasterboard out with a sharp Stanley knife and a metal straight-edge, nothing more.

lowdownbug

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

I have found these to be the best type of thing to used on plasterboard.
You don't need to drill a hole first.

(link removed 'cos I'm a newbie, even though it's someone else's link I'm quoting!)

My builder used them a fair bit - even for light fittings. I think I got mine in B & Q.

I'll second that. I used these same fixings to put up shelves that support several vivariums, they've been up for about 5 years now and the shelves are still as solid as they day I fitted them, they are supporting quite a lot of weight too, far more than the OP is considering. I even had a small fishtank on the bottom shelf for a while weighing around 80kg when full.

tony6403

googler wrote: »

Remove a square or rectangle of plasterboard, smaller than the TV, slightly larger than your wall bracket, and you'll see the battens. Fix a piece of plyboard the same size as the now-missing piece of plasterboard, to the battens with good-sized wood screws and secure the TV bracket to this.

Redecorating the plywood is optional, as it'll be hidden by the TV once it's on the bracket. Cut the plasterboard out with a sharp Stanley knife and a metal straight-edge, nothing more.

A very destructive suggestion. Leaves a significant repair job should the telly be moved.
Also studs are usually installed at 18" centres.
It's quite possible therefore that cutting out ,say, an 18" wide (or even a 22" wide) aperture will reveal only one stud and not enable a fully stable fixing.

Dan-Dan

googler wrote: »

Remove a square or rectangle of plasterboard, smaller than the TV, slightly larger than your wall bracket, and you'll see the battens. Fix a piece of plyboard the same size as the now-missing piece of plasterboard, to the battens with good-sized wood screws and secure the TV bracket to this.

Redecorating the plywood is optional, as it'll be hidden by the TV once it's on the bracket. Cut the plasterboard out with a sharp Stanley knife and a metal straight-edge, nothing more.

Googler , you must be crazy , but i appreciate your post!

Ebe_Scrooge

For anything heavy you really do need to be screwing into the battens / studs behind the plasterboard. A basic stud-finder is not expensive, or else use a long needle to poke through the plasterboard and feel for them. Studs are commonly 18" or 24" apart, which means when you've found one it's fairly easy to find the next.

If the spacing of the studs doesn't suit what you're trying to hang ( which is likely to be the case with a TV ), then the simplest thing is to a screw a decent sized batten to the wall, horizontally, into the studs - if that makes sense. Then screw your TV into that. It'll be hidden when you hang the TV, and it's simple to remove if you ever need to, just a couple of screw holes will need to be filled.

The thing with all these plasterboard fixings is that with the best will in the world, it's still the plasterboard itself that's bearing the weight, and plasterboard is not very strong. Fine for lightweight things, but I wouldn't trust anything heavy to them.

27col

societys_child wrote: »

You can buy your own stud finder from around £8 upwards.

What I've done in the past is gently drill a horizontal line of small holes across area I want to fix the bracket until I hit the wood (they're going to be hidden by the bracket when it's in place) Normally only have to drill about 3 holes.

. . of course use a bit of sense as to whereabouts wires or pipes may be located.

You don't even need to drill them. You will do fine with a bradawl or even a very small screwdriver. Simple enough to fill them afterwards.

Chunks

If you want to locate the stud, source some strong rare earth magnets (I just bought some - £3 for ten plus postage). Use these to find the screws that attach the pasterboard to the wooden stud behind and bingo, you're figured out where there's something to screw into! The issue is not being able to find the wooden stud but rather is it in the right place as has been stated?