Putting up a wall mount with a bolt all the way through?

I know the wall in my bedroom is plaster (old house) so I put a 1" square hole in the wall and used a usb "stick light" to "look around" inside the wall. The studs in this wall are few and far between and even when I find one they are small and they look like they are made out of balsawood. The bottom line is that there is not going to be a good place to thread the bolt that came with the mount into.

So.... what I was thinking about was getting a 6" by 6" piece of 1/4" thick steel w/ a hole in the middle and sticking it on the back of the wall (inside my closet) and using that as an anchor with the bolt running all the way through.

Has anyone had success with mounting anything this way? (does what I wrote make sense?)

So you would open up the wall from the closet side?

Yup, 2 holes straight through the wall. Through the mount on the front, and then on the other side, through a 6" by 6" piece of 1/4" thick steel plate.

My partner has used plywood on steel stud installs, I will ask him for the details.

Originally Posted by Platinum52

Yup, 2 holes straight through the wall. Through the mount on the front, and then on the other side, through a 6" by 6" piece of 1/4" thick steel plate.

It could work, maybe. Why not open up the wall from the other side and insert some 2x4s, fasten to existing studs or both sides of wall and you're good.

Originally Posted by glockman9c

My partner has used plywood on steel stud installs, I will ask him for the details.

Can't you just go through a steel stud with one of those wall anchors? Through a steel stud they should be more than good, right?

EDIT: Toggle bolts. I just remembered.

All I can say is take your time, plan it, and enjoy the savings. Did mine above the fire place and trust me I saved a bunch and the confidence to do it again is priceless.

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Can't you just go through a steel stud with one of those wall anchors? Through a steel stud they should be more than good, right?

EDIT: Toggle bolts. I just remembered.

You can, but it is not recommended. On commercial applications involving metal studs you need to use 1/2" plywood inserts. I wouldn't risk mounting the bracket to flimsy metal studs. But I don't think this applies to the OP.

OP can I get a picture of what you are trying to do?

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

You can, but it is not recommended. On commercial applications involving metal studs you need to use 1/2" plywood inserts. I wouldn't risk mounting the bracket to flimsy metal studs. But I don't think this applies to the OP.

OP can I get a picture of what you are trying to do?

Are you talking abour regular screws or toggle bolts?

I have metal studs and I planned on mounting through the drywall and the metal stud with toggle bolts. I don't know what gauge they are, but they are really tough. I can't imagine a scenario where they could fail with toggle bolts.

Sorry to threadjack. It may apply.

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Are you talking abour regular screws or toggle bolts?

I have metal studs and I planned on mounting through the drywall and the metal stud with toggle bolts. I don't know what gauge they are, but they are really tough. I can't imagine a scenario where they could fail with toggle bolts.

Sorry to threadjack. It may apply.

The only place toggles should be used are to substitute for lag bolts when at AT LEAST 1 maybe even two lags are in place.

Basically if your studs are too far apart. You need to get one side (2 lags) into that stud and substitute the other side with toggles. This is aside from reframing the wall of course.

Never ever ever ever hang a bracket with just toggle bolts. EVER.

Mounting directly to metal studs, like I said before is not advised and we would re-frame the wall or have the commercial contractors re-frame for us. But to that matter it also depends on the size of display you are mounting.

What you are suggesting (I think you have a display > 40) I would not advise.

I see what you're saying. Why is that, though? Just due to risk of failure of toggle bolt?

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

I see what you're saying. Why is that, though? Just due to risk of failure of toggle bolt?

Yep. Structural integrity in two accounts. One the design of a screw on, spring loaded toggle device. Two of drywall. You are basically relying on the integrity of pressure involving a clamp to the drywall sheet to hold the bracket on instead of direct contact of steel to wood.

I would imagine that if you were to go the route of toggles through drywall through metal stud it would probably hold. Personally and professionally I would not risk it, but in your application and your screws, if you think it will hold, it probably will.

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

Yep. Structural integrity in two accounts. One the design of a screw on, spring loaded toggle device. Two of drywall. You are basically relying on the integrity of pressure involving a clamp to the drywall sheet to hold the bracket on instead of direct contact of steel to wood.

I would imagine that if you were to go the route of toggles through drywall through metal stud it would probably hold. Personally and professionally I would not risk it, but in your application and your screws, if you think it will hold, it probably will.

That's what I meant. I may have misstated or you misunderstood. I never meant for the drywall to hold the bracket in place. I was planning on drilling a hole in the metal stud for the toggle bolt to pass through.

That's why it was so difficult for me to understand what could possibly be the problem. I planned on using 4 toggle bolts through drywall AND metal stud and probably 2-4 more just through drywall for good measure.

To illustrate:

Upper row:

METAL AND DRYWALL / DRYWALL /DRYWALL / METAL AND DRYWALL

Bottom row:

METAL AND DRYWALL / DRYWALL /DRYWALL / METAL AND DRYWALL

Am I really taking a chance here?

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

That's what I meant. I may have misstated or you misunderstood. I never meant for the drywall to hold the bracket in place. I was planning on drilling a hole in the metal stud for the toggle bolt to pass through.

That's why it was so difficult for me to understand what could possibly be the problem. I planned on using 4 toggle bolts through drywall AND metal stud and probably 2-4 more just through drywall for good measure.

To illustrate:

Upper row:

METAL AND DRYWALL / DRYWALL /DRYWALL / METAL AND DRYWALL

Bottom row:

METAL AND DRYWALL / DRYWALL /DRYWALL / METAL AND DRYWALL

Am I really taking a chance here?

Nah, you should be ok. Professionally I would never do it. But thats like saying someone should never work on their own car because they don't have the same tools the dealership has.

If it is your only option, go for it.

So the wall you are considering is an interior wall ?

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

You can, but it is not recommended. On commercial applications involving metal studs you need to use 1/2" plywood inserts. I wouldn't risk mounting the bracket to flimsy metal studs. But I don't think this applies to the OP.

OP can I get a picture of what you are trying to do?

I can take a pic, but tell me if this makes sense.

The other side of the wall is inside my closet. I was going to drill all the way through the wall and use a 10" long screw to go all the way through the wall. On the other side of the wall I was thinking about using plate steel - maybe 1/8" thick and put a hole through it - for lack of a better term it would act as a giant washer, distributing the force over a large area of the inside of the wall.

How about taking off the sheetrock on the inside of the closet, throw in some 2x4's to shore up the closet wall, maybe put some 1/2 inch plywood between the studs so you have a stable base for the mount and throw some sheetrock back on the wall. You could just throw a couple of coats of paint on the wall and not really owrry about it until you repaint the place. At least you would not have to look at a piece of metal. It would be messy, but it would not really be that tough.

Originally Posted by Platinum52

I can take a pic, but tell me if this makes sense.

The other side of the wall is inside my closet. I was going to drill all the way through the wall and use a 10" long screw to go all the way through the wall. On the other side of the wall I was thinking about using plate steel - maybe 1/8" thick and put a hole through it - for lack of a better term it would act as a giant washer, distributing the force over a large area of the inside of the wall.

From the picture you are painting it doesnt sound like it will work. Is the pressure being applied to the wall by the metal plate only on sheetrock and not on any studs? If so, you are relying on the rigidity of the wall itself to hold up the tv. Albeit pressure physically holding the tv up, the wall will only hold up so long.

It is basically doing what I said not to before and mounting a tv with only toggle bolts. Just on a bigger scale.

Either find a stand or frame out the wall.

One toggle bolt holds 265 pounds...... so use like 6 toggle bolts and you are good for 265x6= 1590 pounds

http://www.toggler.com/products_hwh.html

I hung my friends plasma in his condo using these exact toggle bolts. these are not your regular hardware store crap. these things take a 1/4 inch threaded bolt!



there is also a video on the website that shows you how to install them, it is basically taking your metal plate idea, and making it into a small cheap and easy to install package!

First, let me tell the OP that his idea of taking 10" long bolts through both sides of the wall and into a plate on the backside of the wall will probably fail. It will have too much torque on the plaster on the front side. As hard as that stuff seems, believe me when I say that it will crumble on you under pressure like that.

Your SAFEST bet is to defnitely take out the plaster in the closet and put in some 2x10's, then drywall that wall back up. if you can't do that... be careful and good luck?


Hayabusa, your toggles through metal studs will be fine. I hate doing it, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. If you have a way of getting some 2x10's in between the metal studs, again, I would go that route. But if not, just get some 3"x3/4" toggles, and get at least 4 through metal studs. Maybe a 5th and 6th through the center into the drywall alone. $.50 toggles vs. tv coming off of the wall... pretty easy decision!