I've bought a flat panel TV wall-mount from futureshop for my condo living
room. The wall mount is made by Sanus(Sanus Adjustable Tilt Universal Flat
Panel TV Wall Mount (VMSAS-03) - online sale for $70 less!) and it has a
short extendable arm. Not until I returned home and looked at the specs of
my condo, and only to learn that I have metal studs in the dry-wall instead
of wooden ones.
In the instruction booklet of the wall-mount, it specifically said that the
hardware(assuming that they are talking about the long screws for the
mounting) provided in the package is only for wooden studs, not metal, not
concrete etc...
I've never installed anything like this before. What is the solution here?
Would I have to go to hw stores such as Reno-Depot or Rona to get the metal
stud fasteners? If so, I don't even know how they work vs. regular screws.
The mount itself weight already 35 to 40 pounds, and I assume that the panel
TV(which brand and model yet to be determined by my wife and I) will
probably weight abut 40 to 50 lbs(plus the short extendable arm). Any
expert here has any ideas on how to mount or what hw I should get to mount
this onto the wall? Your advice is much appreciated...

AL

All I can think of is some scheme to spread out the load. Maybe a piece
of plywood screwed into everything you can find, then the bracket to
the plywood? Years back, I had a office where the metal studs were
used, and there was no end of trouble hanging stuff like cabinets. How
are your kitchen cabinets hung?

I'd imagine the problem isn't so much the fasteners ( toggles or large
mollys should hold that weight), but the ability of a metal studded
wall to support it without bulging out.

As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.

I believe the studs will be heavy gauge IF it is a load-bearing
wall,,,if it is just a partition it could possibly have light
gauge..Self-tapping(drill tip) screws are easy to find and work well in
heavy gauge studs..One way to test the gauge is to try a standard
drywall screw for wood,,if light gauge studs the wood screw will
penetrate before long,,if heavy gauge the screw made for wood will
dull...It might be safer and easier to ask management to look at the
plans so You do'nt make un-needed holes..
Dean in Iowa


Mikepier wrote:
As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys. I agreed with Eric that the metal stud
might nothave enough strength to hold the mere 100lbs weight of the wall
mount and the panel TV. I think I'll probably have to check with my
contractor first before I take any action. I assume that the studs they use
can and will support the gross weight that I've mentioned.

AL


"Mikepier" wrote in message
ps.com...
As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.

Thank you Dean, I am actually seeing the builder and the contractor today
about our floor. I'll post the question to them and confirm if the stids
are heavy gauge or light gauge. However, if they are heavry gauge, will I
need metal studs fasteners or toggle bolt for the installation? Or the
self-tapping screws are sufficient enough?

AL

"Dean" wrote in message
ups.com...
I believe the studs will be heavy gauge IF it is a load-bearing
wall,,,if it is just a partition it could possibly have light
gauge..Self-tapping(drill tip) screws are easy to find and work well in
heavy gauge studs..One way to test the gauge is to try a standard
drywall screw for wood,,if light gauge studs the wood screw will
penetrate before long,,if heavy gauge the screw made for wood will
dull...It might be safer and easier to ask management to look at the
plans so You do'nt make un-needed holes..
Dean in Iowa


Mikepier wrote:
As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.

A. Lo wrote:
Thank you Dean, I am actually seeing the builder and the contractor today
about our floor. I'll post the question to them and confirm if the stids
are heavy gauge or light gauge. However, if they are heavry gauge, will I
need metal studs fasteners or toggle bolt for the installation? Or the
self-tapping screws are sufficient enough?

AL

"Dean" wrote in message
ups.com...
I believe the studs will be heavy gauge IF it is a load-bearing
wall,,,if it is just a partition it could possibly have light
gauge..Self-tapping(drill tip) screws are easy to find and work well in
heavy gauge studs..One way to test the gauge is to try a standard
drywall screw for wood,,if light gauge studs the wood screw will
penetrate before long,,if heavy gauge the screw made for wood will
dull...It might be safer and easier to ask management to look at the
plans so You do'nt make un-needed holes..
Dean in Iowa


Mikepier wrote:
As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.




AL-

I've worked with metal studs & the key to mounting items to a metal
stud wall is spreading the load across a few studs (ideally at least
three)

Metal studs are strong in the global sense but their flanges are much
more flexible locally than a similar connection to a wood stud.

18 gauge (.043") or 20 gauge (.037") are about as thin as I feel
comfortable depending on screwing into the stud flange for hanging
heavy / important loads

If 22 or 24 gauge have been used.... there is a high probability of
screws stripping out.

Additonally, the pullout strength in studs thinner than 18 gauge is not
only MUCH lower than 18 gauge but the pullout strengths are highly
variable.

With 16 or 18 gauge studs you're in good shape...... 20 gauge I'd start
to get nervous


& at 22 or thinner I'd want a large piece of plywood (16" x 34") with
lots of screws (~20+)

Another poster suggested spreading the load from the bracket into a
piece of plywood....

good advice, you can use a substantial number of screws to hold the
plywood to the steel studs thus spreading the load well & minimizing
any corner punching of the drywall.

suggested fastener style

a TEK style self drilling screw, clearance holes thru the plywood
suggested

90064A463
Znc-Pltd Stl Hex Washer Head Self-Drill Screw 10-16 Thread, 2" Length,
Drill Point #3
In stock at $10.45 per 100 Pack
www.mcmaster.com

if you cannot find them locally


cheers
Bob

Go back to the hardware store and ask for a pound of 16d nails. Just
like that. "Sixteen dee nails". Use the nails to put the TV onto the
wall. Put the nails about four inches in from each corner. Use two
nails per corner of the TV.

Of course, I could be kidding. You could use a sheet of half inch
plywood stuck to the wall with liquid nails. And then mount to the
plywood.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"A. Lo" wrote in message
...
I've bought a flat panel TV wall-mount from futureshop for my condo
living
room. The wall mount is made by Sanus(Sanus Adjustable Tilt Universal
Flat
Panel TV Wall Mount (VMSAS-03) - online sale for $70 less!) and it has
a
short extendable arm. Not until I returned home and looked at the
specs of
my condo, and only to learn that I have metal studs in the dry-wall
instead
of wooden ones.
In the instruction booklet of the wall-mount, it specifically said
that the
hardware(assuming that they are talking about the long screws for the
mounting) provided in the package is only for wooden studs, not metal,
not
concrete etc...
I've never installed anything like this before. What is the solution
here?
Would I have to go to hw stores such as Reno-Depot or Rona to get the
metal
stud fasteners? If so, I don't even know how they work vs. regular
screws.
The mount itself weight already 35 to 40 pounds, and I assume that the
panel
TV(which brand and model yet to be determined by my wife and I) will
probably weight abut 40 to 50 lbs(plus the short extendable arm). Any
expert here has any ideas on how to mount or what hw I should get to
mount
this onto the wall? Your advice is much appreciated...

AL

What I have seen done with success is using toggle bolts through the
stud, so that there is no chance of the bolt stripping out of the stud,
plus the toggle spreads the load across the flange. You have to find
the center of the stud, and drill a few good size holes to accept the
toggles, usually about 1/2".

A. Lo wrote:
I've bought a flat panel TV wall-mount from futureshop for my condo living
room. The wall mount is made by Sanus(Sanus Adjustable Tilt Universal Flat
Panel TV Wall Mount (VMSAS-03) - online sale for $70 less!) and it has a
short extendable arm. Not until I returned home and looked at the specs of
my condo, and only to learn that I have metal studs in the dry-wall instead
of wooden ones.
In the instruction booklet of the wall-mount, it specifically said that the
hardware(assuming that they are talking about the long screws for the
mounting) provided in the package is only for wooden studs, not metal, not
concrete etc...
I've never installed anything like this before. What is the solution here?
Would I have to go to hw stores such as Reno-Depot or Rona to get the metal
stud fasteners? If so, I don't even know how they work vs. regular screws.
The mount itself weight already 35 to 40 pounds, and I assume that the panel
TV(which brand and model yet to be determined by my wife and I) will
probably weight abut 40 to 50 lbs(plus the short extendable arm). Any
expert here has any ideas on how to mount or what hw I should get to mount
this onto the wall? Your advice is much appreciated...

It really helps to understand that there are two types of stresses
involved at
the wall: shear- attempting to laterally displace .the mount along the
wall;
bending- resulting in tensile force at upper attachment(s) and
compression
at lower. Note also that the tensile/compression forces drop in
magnitude
as the attachment points are spread vertically. And they increase as
the
position of the c.g. of the assembly moves away from the wall.

A creative person can often manage additional load pickups to reduce
what could be critical stresses. But first, you've got to understand
what's
going on where. After all, you might want to have a safety restraint-
cable or fishing line maybe- in case tv takes flight.

HTH,
J



AL

wrote:
A. Lo wrote:
I've bought a flat panel TV wall-mount from futureshop for my condo living
room. The wall mount is made by Sanus(Sanus Adjustable Tilt Universal Flat
Panel TV Wall Mount (VMSAS-03) - online sale for $70 less!) and it has a
short extendable arm. Not until I returned home and looked at the specs of
my condo, and only to learn that I have metal studs in the dry-wall instead
of wooden ones.
In the instruction booklet of the wall-mount, it specifically said that the
hardware(assuming that they are talking about the long screws for the
mounting) provided in the package is only for wooden studs, not metal, not
concrete etc...
I've never installed anything like this before. What is the solution here?
Would I have to go to hw stores such as Reno-Depot or Rona to get the metal
stud fasteners? If so, I don't even know how they work vs. regular screws.
The mount itself weight already 35 to 40 pounds, and I assume that the panel
TV(which brand and model yet to be determined by my wife and I) will
probably weight abut 40 to 50 lbs(plus the short extendable arm). Any
expert here has any ideas on how to mount or what hw I should get to mount
this onto the wall? Your advice is much appreciated...

It really helps to understand that there are two types of stresses
involved at
the wall: shear- attempting to laterally displace .the mount along the
wall;
bending- resulting in tensile force at upper attachment(s) and
compression
at lower. Note also that the tensile/compression forces drop in
magnitude
as the attachment points are spread vertically. And they increase as
the
position of the c.g. of the assembly moves away from the wall.

A creative person can often manage additional load pickups to reduce
what could be critical stresses. But first, you've got to understand
what's
going on where. After all, you might want to have a safety restraint-
cable or fishing line maybe- in case tv takes flight.

HTH,
J


J-

Great description of the forces at the mount / wall interface......the
tensile forces are why glue alone is not a great idea.

The tensile forces at the upper edge of the plywood are resisted by
drywall paper tensile strength (through the thickness of the
paper)......not a very reliable load path

I wouldn't want to depend on paper strength to hold up my $X,000 flat
screen.

cheers
Bob

Al
I think You can use either if heavy gauge..If using screws and You have
any doubt just add/drill some screw holes in the brackets and use more
screws..
Someone mentioned gluing plywood to the sheetrock but I dunno bout
that,,it would probably work but do You want to rely on the existing
sheetrock screws for strength? Or the bond between the gypsum and paper
face on the sheetrock? Whatever You do extra hold power near the top of
the brackets will be a good idea..This is probably moot cause I'm sure
it is done by now anyway..It's MOVIE TIME!!

A. Lo wrote:
Thank you Dean, I am actually seeing the builder and the contractor today
about our floor. I'll post the question to them and confirm if the stids
are heavy gauge or light gauge. However, if they are heavry gauge, will I
need metal studs fasteners or toggle bolt for the installation? Or the
self-tapping screws are sufficient enough?

AL

"Dean" wrote in message
ups.com...
I believe the studs will be heavy gauge IF it is a load-bearing
wall,,,if it is just a partition it could possibly have light
gauge..Self-tapping(drill tip) screws are easy to find and work well in
heavy gauge studs..One way to test the gauge is to try a standard
drywall screw for wood,,if light gauge studs the wood screw will
penetrate before long,,if heavy gauge the screw made for wood will
dull...It might be safer and easier to ask management to look at the
plans so You do'nt make un-needed holes..
Dean in Iowa


Mikepier wrote:
As long as it's a heavy guage stud ( and I'm assuming it is being that
this is a condo with certain building codes) it shoud not be a problem.
The sheet rock itself spreads the load across the stud. You could use
sheet metal screws or if you want to be real secure use toggle bolts
through the studs. But as long as the entire assembly weighs less than
70 lbs you should be fine with just screws.