How to put up shelf supports

prezzacc

Hi All,


Does anyone know the best way to put up shelf supports and a rail onto plasterboard.


Its a built in wardrobe, The back wall and one side wall are internal walls, the other side is the outside wall.


I want to drill holes then screw some timber to each wall for a shelf to rest on. As its plasterboard, im assuming it wont hold much weight. Not done an awful lot of DIY but im assuming I will need to find the wooden joists in the plasterboard and screw into these to make it sturdy?


Anyone have any newbie advice?


Thank you!

Reece_

Finding the studs is the way to go, if your baton is running full length then you shouldn't have a problem getting a good few fixings into the studs.
That said, with batons on all 3 sides, there won't be much leverage force just downwards which plasterboard takes pretty well so realistically decent plasterboard fixings would suffice, but again if you're running a baton all the way it would be stupid not to take advantage and get into any stud that you can.

Ebe_Scrooge

^^^ What he said.


I'd always go into the studs for anything other than very lightweight applications. Handy hint - once you've found one stud, they're usually spaced 2 foot apart, so that should make finding the others a bit easier.


A simple stud-detector device is not expensive, and if the majority of your walls are stud/plasterboard then it's a very worthwhile investment. You can get more expensive ones that detect wires and cables etc., but ones that just detect studs are pretty cheap - and, in my experience, very effective.

prezzacc

Thank you both for the help.


That was my next question, how to find the studs. I did see some people suggest strong magnets as an accurate way?!


From a complete newbie view...once found do I just drill into them, place my timber over and screw through the timber into the drilled hole, if its stud what's the best screws to use.


As its not a giant area if I can find 1 or 2 studs, I assume a couple other screws into plasterboard will still be of help to support.


Thank you for the replies.

Vampgirl

If you have metal studs (rather than wood) then we've found using plasterboard fixings is actually easier and more reliable.
We use fixings like these:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-plasterboard-plugs-hdf-4-x-mm-pk100/58219 for heavy duty things eg. shelves and mirrors
http://www.screwfix.com/p/spit-driva-tp12-panhead-fixings-metal-35mm-pack-of-100/11923 or these: http://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-self-drill-plasterboard-fixings-nylon-32mm-pack-of-100/97406 for lighter duty work eg. pictures and clocks. Though when I fitted out our airing cupboard I used the plastic self drill plugs to attach the batons and they are absolutely solid.

The only problem is if you have a dot and dab outer wall - there isn't enough space between the plasterboard and the blockwork to use plasterboard fixings.