Struggling with shelve and plasterboard

willhub

willhub

willhub

Caporegime
Joined
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Chadderton, Oldham
So I've got this shelve and I've tried putting it up.

Firstly when I drilled into the wall, after about 5 or so mm the drill bit evidently punched into empty space so there is a large cavity.

I put the rawlplug that I got with the shelve and when I put the shelved up one screw wouldn't tighten, so I proceeded to take the shelve off and the rawlplug is now stuck in the wall .

I obviously need some new better rawlplugs but I have no idea which ones are suitable for a shelve on plasterboard?

Also how would I watch the drill bit size to ensure the correct drill bit is used?

Cheers
 
How big is the shelf and what do you intend on putting on it? These are two key factors as if it is a tiny shelf and you want to display a collection of dry leaves you could just glue it to the wall if it is a massive piece of oak and you want to display a Lego millennium falcon on it then the level of fixing will be significantly higher!
 
I can't remember what they are called but b&q sell them. They have a metal plug that you insert into plaster board and when you screw into it, it pulls the plug into itself and grips the board from behind

Work well I've used them a fair bit
 
It's a 70cm wide shelve for some books. There is a large cavity behind the wall must be full of insulation.
 
Delvis said:
Used these the most, the ones that pull back into themselves have to have an opening at the back.

The ones linked have never failed me really, just be prepared for potential paint coming off around it as you screw it into the wall first of all.
Click to expand...

I've found these to be utter crap. If you want to tear all around the screw hole then they're OK, but generally they don't work very well.

I've owned two brand new houses. For relatively light stuff like pictures and light shelves, I just screw directly into the wall. The only issue with that is that you can't unscrew the thing, and then screw it back in etc without ruining the hole.

For larger things, like actual shelves, I would try and fix to the stud. If that's not possible, I would use something like these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-hollow-wall-anchors-8-16mm-m5-x-52mm-10-pack/12229

I've used these for small TVs:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-spring-toggles-6-x-80mm-20-pack/1936x

And these for anything actually heavy, these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripit-plasterboard-fixing-25-x-205mm-25-pack/630hp

Please don't use those **** ones!
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I've found these to be utter crap. If you want to tear all around the screw hole then they're OK, but generally they don't work very well.

I've owned two brand new houses. For relatively light stuff like pictures and light shelves, I just screw directly into the wall. The only issue with that is that you can't unscrew the thing, and then screw it back in etc without ruining the hole.

For larger things, like actual shelves, I would try and fix to the stud. If that's not possible, I would use something like these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-hollow-wall-anchors-8-16mm-m5-x-52mm-10-pack/12229

I've used these for small TVs:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-spring-toggles-6-x-80mm-20-pack/1936x

And these for anything actually heavy, these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripit-plasterboard-fixing-25-x-205mm-25-pack/630hp

Please don't use those **** ones!
Click to expand...

I hung our old 42" TV with the ones I quoted, was sat there for 6 years :p

They're currently holding up an ikea 4 piece kallax unit.

I agree they do leave a hole if you take them out, but that's what filler is for, which you'd need to do on practically anything.

On the other side, your last link I've heard people moan about those and say they're terrible :p So you know
 
Delvis said:
I hung our old 42" TV with the ones I quoted, was sat there for 6 years :p

They're currently holding up an ikea 4 piece kallax unit.

I agree they do leave a hole if you take them out, but that's what filler is for, which you'd need to do on practically anything.

On the other side, your last link I've heard people moan about those and say they're terrible :p So you know
Click to expand...

Hah wtf! I'm sure they work fine, they're just such pieces of ****.

dLockers said:
Kitchen cabinets? Wtf!

I wish I knew more about loads and the associated forces. It seems like black magic sometime.
Click to expand...

Well the load is vertical, the weak point in one of those fixings is going to be horizontal. In theory, you're just transferring that veritcal load onto the plasterboard, which is more than strong enough to cope.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Well the load is vertical, the weak point in one of those fixings is going to be horizontal. In theory, you're just transferring that veritcal load onto the plasterboard, which is more than strong enough to cope.
Click to expand...
This may relax my nightmares about my kitchen units falling down given all the weight that is in there
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Hah wtf! I'm sure they work fine, they're just such pieces of ****.



Well the load is vertical, the weak point in one of those fixings is going to be horizontal. In theory, you're just transferring that veritcal load onto the plasterboard, which is more than strong enough to cope.
Click to expand...

Why are they ****? The supplied screw is crap and can be too long I'll give you that. But some of the other fixings require as much as a large hole to be pre drilled.

I guess it's what I've always used, maybe I'll try some of those scrunching up ones sometime, as naturally for smaller stuff the screw in ones aren't ideal.

Oh, they're holding up all out kitchen pans and pots too

XjFZa1y.jpg
 
dLockers said:
This may relax my nightmares about my kitchen units falling down given all the weight that is in there
Click to expand...

Hung up all our kitchen cabinets off the ones I mentioned too :p

Saying that they were IKEA, so I actually hung a bar on the wall and then the cabinet's hung onto that
 
If it's a hollow partition wall and you use cavity fixers or toggles then it's best to put one side of bracket(s) into the vertical stud support. If the item spans the width of two vertical studs then even better. If the studs are wooden you'll need normal Rawl plugs. If metal stud supports then they're likely hollow so you can still use cavity fixers or toggles in them.
 
Brolly anchors (cavity wall fixing)!! Do not use B&Q Dial POS they just twist and deform. Buy some proper RawlPlug Interset Cavity Fixing on the rain forest. You nay also want to buy a setting tool as well as these ensure that the anchor deforms properly and makes them much easier to fix.
 
I would say the crunch up Fischers are the best and you do need the tool to pull them tight before you screw in. Do not over drill the hole.

I used these at work in plasterboard.
 
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