attaching shelves to walls - advice required

spaceboy

I am going to help a friend put up some shelves, she sais she has the screws but not the plastic plugs. Can anyone recommend some good plugs to do this? I think the wall is plasterboard.

costabom

You won't get a decent fitting in plasterboard unless you locate the timber framework and drill into that - in which case you won't need wall plugs, just some wood screws that will go through into the timber.

Alternatively, I think the plasterboard COULD be stuck direct to the brick or block wall, in which case you would need wall plugs, go for no8 as a minumum, maybe no10. If there is a decent hardware shop locally, you would get better advice than you would from one of the sheds.

c.bom

loracan1

Plasterboard wall plugs splay out behind the board as they're screwed in, plastic ones are in one piece, the metal ones have separate arms. Neither will take a particularly heavy weight, but really depends on how sturdy the plasterboard is.

If you manage to locate part of the supporting timber for at least one of the holes it will give more support.

Look for things like "hollow wall anchor", "cavity wall fixing" and "spring toggle"

SailorSam

If the plasterboard is on battens so there's a hollow behind it you can get some 'butter fly' things that go in then spread out.

spaceboy

I'm going to get these:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-plasterboard-plugs-hdf-4-x-mm-pack-of-100/58219

or these:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-plasterboard-plug-ldf-4-x-mm-pack-of-100/81956

dave030445

these are the babies you need they are brill no need to drill hole first you can buy these single as well
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-light-weight-fixings-plasterboard-fixings-metal-25mm-pack-of-100/69132#

spaceboy

dave030445 wrote: »

these are the babies you need they are brill no need to drill hole first you can buy these single as well
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-light-weight-fixings-plasterboard-fixings-metal-25mm-pack-of-100/69132#

Do the screws come with them? What size are the screws I need 4-4.5mm and 3.5mm

Do screwfix sell them single?

tony6403

There is a new product for this job.
It was on Dragons Den - I didn't see the presentation.
Claimed to take up to 180kg which , if true , is good going.
Have a look http://www.wickes.co.uk/gripit?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=plasterboard%20fixings&utm_campaign=Grip+It+Fixing+Promotion&tmcampid=96&tmad=c&tmplaceref=GHp40Oyf&tmcustom=mkwid|sGHp40Oyf_dc|pcrid|45032538652|kword|plasterboard%20fixings|match|p|plid|&gclid=CK_-raTGlsECFY_MtAodmicA2g

robatwork

Interesting product Tony.

Not sure I'd entrust my plasma TV to being secured just to plasterboard, no matter how many Dragons invested. I'm oot, like the TV probably would be.

sniggings

tony6403 wrote: »

There is a new product for this job.
It was on Dragons Den - I didn't see the presentation.
Claimed to take up to 180kg which , if true , is good going.
Have a look http://www.wickes.co.uk/gripit?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=plasterboard%20fixings&utm_campaign=Grip+It+Fixing+Promotion&tmcampid=96&tmad=c&tmplaceref=GHp40Oyf&tmcustom=mkwid|sGHp40Oyf_dc|pcrid|45032538652|kword|plasterboard%20fixings|match|p|plid|&gclid=CK_-raTGlsECFY_MtAodmicA2g

if you had seen the show you would know the claimed 180kg is in just one direction, one of the dragons pulled the radiator off the wall with a lot less force, that's when the inventor owned up...saying that tho should hold a picture no problem,

dave030445

sniggings wrote: »

if you had seen the show you would know the claimed 180kg is in just one direction , one of the dragons pulled the radiator off the wall with a lot less force, that's when the inventor owned up...saying that tho should hold a picture no problem,

To be fair to the product the dragon (Peter Jones) pulled a large piece of plasterboard off the wall the fixing was still attached to the plasterboard so the fixing didn't failed. but plaster board is not that strong to use as a fixing.