a bit OT: attaching things to walls

With hollow walls, Anne, your best bet would be to use molly bolts. They expand behind the wall to give a better "anchor". HTH. :)

Depending on where you live, the studs (wooden boards, for lack of a better term, that supports the dry wall/plaster) may be anywhere from 12 inches to

21 inches apart.

Anything under 10 lbs can be fairly reliably secured/nailed to the wall without bothering to find the studs ... meaning, the dry wall can usually support that much without crumbling. Just make sure that you use REAL picture hangers, rather than simply a nail. Picture hangers are driven into the drywall at an angle so it's less likely to crumble the plaster.

Anything over 10 lbs, I'd find the stud ... to do that you can either buy a studfinder (usually about $10 at your hardware store) or use the "knock-knock" method. Knock on the wall going slowly from one spot to another, and listen for a "solid" sound (as opposed to hollow). Once you find a "solid" spot, more than likely you'll find a stud there, and can safely hang items over 10 lbs.

I would highly recommend using specialized "screws" for your wall if you want to hang something heavier ... these usually come packaged with a plastic "sheath" that helps the screw grip the wall and protects the wall from being eaten by the screw as you drive it in.

I've got no "formal" education in such things (as you can tell, LOL!!) but hubby put himself through college building houses for his dad (who owned a construction company during the housing/building boom in the Keys) ... and this is what he yells, erm, tells me to do whenever I have a project that involves a hammer or screwdriver and drywall! :)

HTH!!

Hugs!! Connie :)

Anne: It sounds like you live in what some call Town House, others call Row House, still others call Attached House. (This IS a large country, we do have lots of variety in language!) It really doesn't matter what you call it. Generally, the 'common walls' must be 'fire walls' so those are of different, more complex, building codes than the room divisions. You will probably need heavy duty fasteners there. To put up any items that have some weight or some 'movement in use' you should use Molly Bolts or Molly Plastic Dohickies. (Technical terms ... check this with the local Hardware People. You can do it, they can help!)

PAT > DH and I are Brits, we live in the USA, some of you might be aware that

and therein lies our problem, not only is what you need different, but it also has a different name! Ah well, committing it to memory for when we make a trip to ACE.

Anne

Anne, Most interior construction in the last 30-50 yrs. in this country are studs/drywall (sheetrock). The studs are supposed to be 16 inches on center (i.e., 16 inches from the center of one stud to center of the next stud). As Connie mentions in her post, if you're haning something relatively heavy (and consider the weight of the items you intend to put in/on said item), it's best to use either a molly anchor or, if not too heavy, just a good sized wood screw. Also keep in mind, the sheetrock/drywall is typically 1/2 inch thick on the interior walls. Walls between units (that are fire rated) are usually

5/8 inch thick. So you need a screw that is 2 times longer than the thickness of the sheetrock so you are screwing a good 1/2 inch into the stud. The molly anchors have the (usually) plastic (or metal) 'sleeve' on the outside of the screw so that if you are not screwing into the wood, the sleeve will expand on the far side of the sheetrock and provide a wider surface for the weight of the hung item to disperse.

I learned alot when we were putting a MAJOR addition onto our house. I can't tell you how may wall studs I nailed, sheets of sheetrock/ drywall that were hung, taped, spackled, etc. All the electrical and plumbing were left to DH. As long as he doesn't steal my tools, I'm in good shape for your basic repairs.

Any local hardware store or the all powerful Home Depot or Lowes should have everything you need. From others here, for your design wall, for starters how about some good sized 'thumb tacks' and a large piece of neutral flannel fabric?

Good luck with the home improvements!

Kim in NJ

BTW- "studs" are the vertical lumber used to frame out the walls- generally

2X4s- which don't really measure 2 in. X 4 in.! How's that for confounding the issue even further? And most interior wall studs are 24 in. on center while the exterior walls are 16 in. on center. The studs hold the drywall/sheetrock sheets in place. And the little cross pieces of lumber to hold the vertical studs in place are called cripples. LOL

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies >> DH and I are Brits, we live in the USA, some of you might be aware that

= UK plasterboard

You may also come across "mud" which is the plaster used to smooth over the tape that joins the pieces of plasterboard.

Watch out for cables etc which can be routed easily through the cavity between the two layers of plasterboard. IIRC some areas specify that cables must be in ducting that cannot be pierced by screws/nails.

Good luck with finding the right vocab and the right items for the job.

Lizzy

On Nov 20, 3:41 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:

Good luck

John

45 years a carpenter and I still hit my thumb.

One more thing, Anne. I don't know if you own your place or rent, but landlords can get a tad ugly of you are drilling holes in their walls and inserting molly bolts.

Leslie (currently putting shelves in the closet for my stash to reside upon- using a stud finder, a level, a jig saw and a cordless power drill/screwdriver), Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"John" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@b15g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

I'll have to climb in this thread with my hardware brilliance. When my hunter neighbor proudly presented us with a 12-point buck to hang in my sewing room we didn't realize how heavy that handsome guy is. Winston (who is gaily wearing his Pilgrim hat for Thanksgiving) has er, ummm. . . sort of bowed the wall and cracked the plaster. Right now, there's a gaggle of bride dolls getting dressed over there with Winston and the wall problem is hardly noticeable. Before you hang something, it would probably be a good idea to actually weigh it. Molly bolts and such are usually rated as to how many pounds they can reasonably be expected to support. We're just glad the neighbor didn't bring us a moose. Polly

"John" > Here is the national building code. Drywall is attached to

2"x4"

we own, so no worries there, thankfully, not being able to put anything up is very restrictive, yet as landlords also, you don't want to give free reign either!

Thanks to John for the helpful advice.

Anne

John wrote: I would suggest that you go to a

I often find that for this type of question, my local Ace hardware store is even better than the "big box" building supply store. The stores are smaller and easier to navigate and the personnel are helpful. I can also buy only one or two screws or whatever if that is all I need; at the big box stores, I usually have to buy a whole package of them.

Julia in MN

Hi Anne,

There are LOTS of different ways to mount things on walls. I'd advise you to go to a home improvement or hardware store and ask them to show you. Meanwhile, here are some sites to look at:

My design wall is a 4' x 6' piece of 3" styrofoam. I've covered it with flannel (I actually used felt at first and when that got funky, switched to the flannel back of a plastic tablecloth. I prop it against the wall--no need to fasten. Of course, it would be easy to fasten, probably with sheet rock nails. I'm changing rooms for sewing and will have room to mount it. But, I like being able to take it to quilt retreats.

I hope this helps a bit.

Happy quilting!

Lenore

Thanks for the tip Julia, we mostly use Ace anyway, it's by far the closest, walking distance, our local Home Depot and Lowes are tucked away in difficult to get to places.

Anne

obvious)

"molly" bolts are also called Toggle bolts....I've always called them mollies, but when I ask for them, the tell me they are toggles . Of course, there are the screws and plastic wall anchors as well.

My goodness, what a day! Connie has stitched 30 page booklets with her SM, Val's foot control has been run over by a motorcycle and now Taria stands to inherit a hippo. I am thankful for you all. Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. Polly

no!!!! that thing isn't/wasn't coming to my house! We are surely diversified around here. I am thankful fo you all too. I hope everyone has a great day. Travel safe and eat well. Taria BTW, we can be thankful that the joke season is nearly here

Polly Esther wrote: