300 South Krueger St., Suring, WI 54174 877.348.9663
The studs are normally set at equal distances apart - on older stud walls they are usually no greater
than 405mm (16 inches) apart, while in more modern stud walls, the maximum spacing is about
600mm (24 inches).
To find the position of the studs behind plasterboard, lightly knock on the wall
while moving sideways - the studs should sound solid while the spaces
between should sound hollow.
It is not so easy to locate the studs holding up lathe and plaster finishes as
there is no discernible difference in the sound of a knock. When all else fails,
the last resort is to draw a horizontal line where the shelf is required and to
drill small holes along the line about 25mm (1 inch) apart until solid timber
(i.e. a stud) is located. Once the first stud has been located, measure along
the line in multiples of 405mm (16 inches) and drill through to confirm the
location of the next stud - if further studs cannot be located in this way, the
only option is to drill another series of small holes until a stud is found.
Lathe and plaster walls may crack when a bracket is tightened down onto the surface as the lathes are
compressed. Drill clearance holes through the lathe and plaster so that these are not subjected to
excessive sideways pressure as the screw is fitted.
A practical solution is to:
•
Identify where the fixings will go.
•
Cut out the plasterboard at these points.
•
Make and fit spacers which can be tightened down onto the
block work behind the plasterboard. The cut-outs and
spacers can be small so that the bracket or batten cover
them, or large - although 'large' is less fiddle, it is harder to
blend it in with the rest of the wall.
The bracket can be fixed with screws through the spacer
into plugs in the blockwork, or the spacer can be screwed to
the blockwork and then shorter screws used to fix the
bracket.
