Can’t screw into wall...how do I hang a clock?

dirtychinchilla · 12 Jan 2018 at 23:06

Zefan said:
Ah, didn't copy the right link. I meant to link to the self drilling types such as https://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-self-drill-plasterboard-fixings-metal-35mm-100-pack/47347 and https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-self-drill-plasterboard-fixings-metal-32mm-100-pack/2422h

Ah OK, I’ve also used them a number of times, but in general I’ve found they wreck the wall a bit and that, for light stuff at least, it’s easier just to screw straight into the plasterboard.

dholdi · 13 Jan 2018 at 00:29

dirtychinchilla said:
Ah OK, I’ve also used them a number of times, but in general I’ve found they wreck the wall a bit and that, for light stuff at least, it’s easier just to screw straight into the plasterboard.

But aren't you fixing something heavy ?

dirtychinchilla · 13 Jan 2018 at 08:28

dholdi said:
But aren't you fixing something heavy ?

Not nornally

godinman · 13 Jan 2018 at 08:58

Those gripit things are great, I've attached a 50" TV using 4 of them, the blue ones are rated at like 200kg.

dirtychinchilla · 13 Jan 2018 at 09:00

godinman said:
Those gripit things are great, I've attached a 50" TV using 4 of them, the blue ones are rated at like 200kg.

You’re a very brave man. Did you clean the wall first? That was probably my error the first time round.

godinman · 13 Jan 2018 at 09:02

The gripit things are the ones that screw into a hole in the plasterboard, I'm not that brave (or stupid!)

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripit-blue-plasterboard-fixings-25-x-20mm-8-pack/

dirtychinchilla · 13 Jan 2018 at 09:05

Ah sorry, I got mixed up. That’s what I’m going to get today, I think.

Lakeland · 13 Jan 2018 at 09:06

Lumeycom said:
Is it plasterboard? If so just get a pozi screwdriver and push it through whilst rotating it. for that weight I'd be looking at a spring toggle or something else that spreads out.

This. It will take longer than drilling but it’s a safe solution.

Don’t be tempted to hamme through the last bit as it’ll just delaminate the board.

dirtychinchilla · 20 Jan 2018 at 15:43

In case anyone is interested, I used one of the yellow Gripit fixings. It worked perfectly.

As far as my fear of screwing into a wire goes, I used a hand drill with a 15mm drill bit and took it very slowly. Worked perfectly.

Thanks all for the advice.

Caged · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:16

If your detector was throwing warnings all over the place is it because you might have foil-backed plasterboard?

dirtychinchilla · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:38

Caged said:
If your detector was throwing warnings all over the place is it because you might have foil-backed plasterboard?

Yeah quite possibly. The outside walls seems to be 100% no go if you use the detector.

BigBoy · 22 Jan 2018 at 16:39

Sounds like foil backed boards or foil insulation board behind the plaster board.

dirtychinchilla · 24 Jan 2018 at 07:56

Yeah I think it probably is

Yaayuh! · 24 Jan 2018 at 08:44

Minstadave said:
Just drill a hole, it'll be fine!

Last year I couldn't be bothered to go get the wall scanner that we had just put away and I needed to drill a hole to mount something. So instead I checked above and below to ensure that there were no sockets/switches that would be wired in. Then I literally said "Ah whatever, who dares, wins" and went for it...

BANG

Tripped downstairs sockets.

Turns out the person who wired it previously hadn't done a straight run form the sockets and/or under floor heating control and I'd gone through the conduit and hit two cables. I had to smash a hole in the newly decorated wall and get the two cables repaired.

I've since always used two different wall scanners on every drill. If I'm unsure and don't feel it's safe, then I use the Command strips, I'm quite a fan of them now.

dirtychinchilla · 25 Jan 2018 at 07:55

Rossi~ said:
Last year I couldn't be bothered to go get the wall scanner that we had just put away and I needed to drill a hole to mount something. So instead I checked above and below to ensure that there were no sockets/switches that would be wired in. Then I literally said "Ah whatever, who dares, wins" and went for it...

BANG

Tripped downstairs sockets.

Turns out the person who wired it previously hadn't done a straight run form the sockets and/or under floor heating control and I'd gone through the conduit and hit two cables. I had to smash a hole in the newly decorated wall and get the two cables repaired.

I've since always used two different wall scanners on every drill. If I'm unsure and don't feel it's safe, then I use the Command strips, I'm quite a fan of them now.

Exactly. I've done exactly the same thing, although I was honestly just a ******* idiot and even said out loud to the mrs, "the plug socket isn't below here, I already checked." It was directly below unfortunately. I managed to get an electrician from work to come and check it in the end, fortunately.

It's not something that I'd like to take the risk on.

Photo to complete the thread (blurry AF, soz):