Modern flimsy walls.

[filibuster]

A friend of mine has recently moved from an older, substantially built property to a newer house with what seems like plasterboard interior walls. He has a very old, heavy, probably antique, barometer which he is desperate to have mounted on the wall in his hall. Everyone is of the opinion that it is too heavy for the walls in his house but he is obsessive about having the barometer mounted. Can anyone suggest what might make this possible? I was thinking about something like an easel type structure which could be free-standing but really need some input from elsewhere.

Thank you in advance.

[Frank97]

As long as he finds the wooden uprights in the wall I can't see it being a problem.

[johnk]

2S's idea sounds good, do you know the weight of the barometer?

[bookbinder]

I, like 2shortplanks, am not a builder, but I have done many DIY jobs in the house. My present house (built 1994) has interior walls that are like those of your friend's house. I hung one or two heavy items (including a large bathroom cabinet) on my walls soon after moving in, in 1994, and they are still hanging there! I used Rawlplug Interset fixings, which you can see on this web page. They would probably be suitable for a barometer, also.
http://www.rawlplug.c...=view&id=64&Itemid=34

[bookbinder]

...P.S. The Interset fixings are for use between the wooden uprights. If your friend can find an upright or two, that would give a solid base for fixing.

[filibuster]

Thank you all for your very helpful replies.

[The Builder]

Exactly what the others have said, fili. Most likely to be timber "studwork", covered with plasterboard. The centre lines of each stud might be 600mm from each other, but, much more likely to be 400mm. A screw driven 40mm (1 and a half inches) into one of these will carry it with no trouble.

On a lot of modern "estate" houses, metal studwork is often used. A self-tapping screw into one of these would do just as well.

[Old_Geezer]

You have my sympathy. I'd hate to have the studs dictate where I can and can not hang something. And if I put in a new socket I like a sturdy wall all around it, not a bit of plastic hanging through board into airspace. A chunk of my present place is extension built in this awful thermal breezeblock that you can almost poke a pencil into. When I first bought it and moved in I put up a number of coathooks in the hall: and they all fell out. The first one to fail I drilled out the hole to a large diameter and filled it with filler that could hold the plugs/screws. That sorted it. When I get around to fixing the others I know there are expensive plugs that you screw into the wall, and if it goes in without distorting or breaking, will hold better. But that is a clear case of causing a problem and then charging to fix it. They just don't seem to build to the sturdy quality that past generations were able to. One would have thought advantages could be introduced without introducing problems at the same time :-(

[filibuster]

Thank you Builder and Old Geezer, much appreciated.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

If you fix to an external (or if its a semi a dividing wall) these wont be studded.They will be dry lined...which means there should be a masonry wall about 25-50mm beyond...so you could use a plastic wall plug and a long screw!!....this wont work if its a timber framed house