Measuring wall thickness

thezappa · 21 Feb 2016 at 21:36

Hope someone can help me out here.
My house is semi-detached, I'm keen to get a wall bracket for my tv which will mean attaching it to the wall that is between our property and the neighbours.
Is there anyway to determine the thickness of the wall that divides the two?

They were built mid-19th century so I'm hoping the walls are plenty thick enough to drill into and attach suitably heavy-duty fixings for the bracket. Is there a way of measuring it (without forking out for a sensing device)?

bitslice · 21 Feb 2016 at 22:10

Generally there are two layers of brick between houses, the actual air gap is a bit variable.
Drilling into your side of the partition shouldn't be a problem.

Apparently some are single skin although I've never seen this.
Have a look in the loft to see what the arrangement is up there.

If your properties are symmetrical, you might be able to determine this by measuring to the edge of his window and subtract it from your internal measurement.

Personally I'd just drill a 100mm hole in the hallway and see what happens

chaparral · 21 Feb 2016 at 23:12

Remembers when I used a hammer drill to make holes in one my house walls and the vibrations made big clunks of plaster fall off on the other side.... :eek:

I also happened to do this a second time at work..

lsg1r · 21 Feb 2016 at 23:26

thezappa said:
Is there a way of measuring it (without forking out for a sensing device)?

Sort of but it won't be 100% accurate. You could measure the outside house dimension and then remove the thickness of the side walls on both sides (measure the thickness of a window recess). This would give you a rough idea if it's single or double thickness wall.

Another option is 'chopping out a brick' to see if there's another behind it, although obviously this can have issues too.

UFX · 21 Feb 2016 at 23:31

Measure full length distance between windows openings between yours and neighbours then measure internal distance in both and should give you an idea of how deep you can go, obliviously check for any recesses .

Fixings should probably only need be about 75 mm at most at a guess.

Use an SDS drill to make an easy job of it.

Skiddley · 22 Feb 2016 at 08:10

Bash a hole through, and use a tape. 100% accurate.

john_s · 22 Feb 2016 at 08:38

Have a look at the wall up in the loft. That might give some indication. Sometimes you'll find bits of gaps or voids where you can see through or poke a tape through.

SeatIbiza · 22 Feb 2016 at 12:59

It's going to be at least a brick thick plus plaster. Standard brick is 110mm.

Just drill a hole and rawl plug it and don't worry. It will be a solid wall so the fixings will be in there really good

My 55" is up with these http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-metal-plastic-wall-plug-screw-pack-of-50/254316_BQ.prd

4 of them and it's absolutely fine.

john_s · 22 Feb 2016 at 13:28

SeatIbiza said:
It's going to be at least a brick thick plus plaster. Standard brick is 110mm.

Being pedantic, a brick is 102.5mm wide (or thereabouts, given manufacturing tolerances).

And to further complicate matters, in the building trade a wall that is the aforementioned 102.5mm thick is referred to as "half brick thickness". A single brick wall is 215mm thick.

Adam · 22 Feb 2016 at 14:21

You'll want to use these, they are fantastic: http://buyrigifixonline.co.uk/

SeatIbiza · 22 Feb 2016 at 17:05

john_s said:
Being pedantic, a brick is 102.5mm wide (or thereabouts, given manufacturing tolerances).

And to further complicate matters, in the building trade a wall that is the aforementioned 102.5mm thick is referred to as "half brick thickness". A single brick wall is 215mm thick.

You are correct - but the whole point is he won't be drilling deep enough to worry about it...

Those fixings look good but slightly overkill for a TV!