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. 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. 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). Stud walling (both lathe and plaster and plasterboard).įix shelving just to the plasterboard (or lathe and plaster), strong fixings can only be achieved when fixings are screwed directly into the vertical timbers (the studs). Some blocks (such as modern high insulation types) are extremely soft, always drill these carefully to avoid over-enlarging the hole and use the special wall plugs. To overcome this, an option is to fix a batten to the surface of the plaster and then screw shorter fixings for the brackets into this batten.

Some clay bricks (mainly old ones) and true concrete blocks contain hard pieces (flints etc) which can cause a drill bit to run off line - this can result in the bracket holes not lining up or the shelf not being level.

Plaster alone is not strong enough to hold wall plugs, so the holes (and plugs, screws) need to be long enough to go through the plaster into the brick or block work.Īnother weak point may be the mortar joints between the bricks/blocks, especially where lime mortar has been used - it is best to locate the fixing so that the fixing holes go into actual brick/block rather than the mortar joints. Strong fixings can be easily made on most masonry walls just by using screws and wall plugs - for extremely heavy loads wall bolts can be used. for brackets) can be made to them, below we give suggestions for making strong fixings to masonry plaster, stud walling, plasterboard dry lining walls. Which type of wall you have, will affect how strong fixings (i.e. A number of different types of internal wall will be found masonry plaster, stud wall (either plasterboard or lathe and plaster), plasterboard dry lining - see our page which explains these different types of wall.

Will lathe and plaster walls hold shelf