Wall mounting a 35kg tv on a stud wall

[maznaz]

Hi folks! As above, I need to mount this TV on a stud wall. I've had my previous TV (20kg) attached by grip-its to the plasterboard only, and it hasn't moved a mm in 2 years. I'm hesitant to repeat that with this one though as it's 75% heavier.

The plasterboard is 18mm and attached to about 3cm of insulation. This means the metal studs are recessed about 5cm which means the geefix fasteners are probably no good to me. Does anyone know what the best fixings would be for me to attach into a metal stud that's 5cm back from the front of the plasterboard? Alternatively, can someone give me reassurance that 18mm plasterboard will hold fine if I don't attach to studs? The fixings are obviously rated for 100kg plus in 15mm plasterboard.

Also, what does failure look like? Is it sudden and catastrophic or does it mean the fixings slowly come loose and I'd see it happen over time if I was attentive?

 

[RogerS]

Could you not screw a nicely painted/carved batten to the metal studs and then fix the TV to that ?

Else those widgetty gizmo things that Deborah Wotsit on Dragon's Den invested in. They are supposed to be the dogs albeit requiring a bloody great hole cut in the plasterboard.

 

[maznaz]

I believe you're describing gripit fixings which is what I presently have. I'm not really sure how I'd screw anything through to the stud to be honest, that's the main issue!

 

[Rorschach]

My suspicion would be that the new TV would be fine on good plasterboard fixings, nearly all of the force is in shear with a flat object like a TV. I like expanding fixings (umbrella fixings) myself.

If I were worried though would cut out an area slightly bigger than the bracket and bolt a piece of thick Ply to the metal studs (probably 2 sheets of 18mm glued together and some packers to make it flush), then use coach bolts for the bracket into the Ply.

 

[--Tom--]

If the mount is static e.g you won’t be using it to pull the tv out and pivot it etc, I would be comfortable with using the gripits.
If it’s a pull out and pivot type, which mine is, I mounted some 18mm plywood between the studs and then fixed into that. So far rock solid when cantilevered out by 2 foot from the wall. I had the luxury of doing this whilst the wall was built, more work to retrofit.

 

[maznaz]

Thanks for the advice folks. In this instance I reused two of the Gripits and supplemented them with two Geefix anchors which felt solid as a rock. We put the TV on the wall, watched a film and then went to bed.

At about half three in the morning my girlfriend and I were woken by an almighty crash! Much panic ensued, and I went to the living room and for some reason she went to the en-suite.

I soon found out that the TV was fine, and that the sucker-mounted shower rack had come off the glass in the en-suite. I had a minor heart attack, but all's well that ends well!