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[tunnie]

So in my new place there are a few DIY jobs I'd like to do, such as putting up a pan rack in the kitchen. Now in the good old days, helping FatherT and GrandpaT and such, a knock of the wall would tell you if it's solid or not.

If it was solid, no problem, drill hole, bang in a wall plug, bish bash bosh, job done.

But in my new place, because it's a new build, every frekin wall 'sounds' hollow. The kitchen for example, tap it, sounds hollow, but it is the wall to the exterior of the house. So no doubt it has this insulation stuff onto the wall, before the brick, great for heating the house, but I'm nervous about drilling holes for something that needs to hold a fair bit of weight.

I assume, going through I would hit brick eventually? Longer or different type of all plugs?   

Any help appreieated 

[aaronjb]

Are the exterior walls (at least) dot 'n dab, by any chance?  Plasterboard stuck to the brick with dots of adhesive.. tap around the wall and if it intermittently sounds hollow or solid then that's what you've got.

It's a pain in the arris as you have ~12mm of plasterboard then ~10-15mm of air gap and then your bricks.  But, yes, very long rawlplugs and screws or knock the rawlplug through the plasterboard and into the brick so that it's operating end isn't sitting in the air gap.

That usually works for me (my 1970s build is entirely dot 'n dab, internal walls and external, so I've hit this problem repeatedly! ). On bigger stuff I tend to use extra long rawlplugs but they're quite expensive.

[chrisgixer]

Timber framed. Stud work all round, insulated, plaster board on top.

Get yourself a stud reader(?) screw onto the wood where possible, use plaster board fixings where not possible.


Given some of the breeze block/powder blocks in our last house, I prefer timber framed tbh.

[chrisgixer]

Ps, obviously only screw light weight items to plasterboard only fixings.

[tunnie]

Cheers chaps, will look into a stud reader. Guessing it can detect thick wood? (ooo errr    )

House is brand spankers, so will be as Chris details I suspect, everything sounds hollow 

[Marks DTM Calib]

EEEkkk, not timber framed surely. 

Thermalite with dot n dab is so much better, easy to drill and secure heavy loads to and will sound hollow.

A good wall plug inserted through the plasterboard into the block behind and then a longer screw, job jobbed.

If its an internal partition wall then use a good quality plasterboard fixing and the same applies, plasterboard walls can hold very heavy loads IF the correct fixing is used.

[chrisgixer]

Depends on the depth of the item being hanged.

For instance a 50" plasma is very close to the wall, so the strain on the fixing is directly down, where as a portable tube tv stands considerably further out from the wall and has much more leverage pulling the top fixing out.

Almost all new builds I've encountered recently are timber frame, cheaper construction means more profit for the builder. Current economic restrictions mean this timber frame is almost across the board on builds started recently.

This annoys me as ours is timber frame. It's valued down as a result, yet the layout, room size is unrivalled in the area, yet new builds still fetch the top end price.

[tunnie]

EEEkkk, not timber framed surely. 

Thermalite with dot n dab is so much better, easy to drill and secure heavy loads to and will sound hollow.

A good wall plug inserted through the plasterboard into the block behind and then a longer screw, job jobbed.

If its an internal partition wall then use a good quality plasterboard fixing and the same applies, plasterboard walls can hold very heavy loads IF the correct fixing is used.

It's a side wall to the kitchen so not internal, but does sound hollow. So behind the plasterboard is a gap, then it's block? 

[Marks DTM Calib]

If its dob and dab it will be 12.5mm plasterboard with typicaly a 10mm air gap and then the block.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Depends on the depth of the item being hanged.

For instance a 50" plasma is very close to the wall, so the strain on the fixing is directly down, where as a portable tube tv stands considerably further out from the wall and has much more leverage pulling the top fixing out.

Almost all new builds I've encountered recently are timber frame, cheaper construction means more profit for the builder. Current economic restrictions mean this timber frame is almost across the board on builds started recently.

This annoys me as ours is timber frame. It's valued down as a result, yet the layout, room size is unrivalled in the area, yet new builds still fetch the top end price.

I have seen a few new builds around with timber frame but light weight block for the internal construction is still the norm here.

Problem is that timber frame has a few longer term drawbacks and its reliability is very dependent on the quality of install. The framing is considered to only have a sixty year life (no issue for most but will impact re-sale) and is VERY dependent on external finishes, roof, gutters and flashings being maintained to a high standard.

Hence its higher risk and consequently lower resale value, in thoery it should yield a cheaper 'new' product but sadly the builders normaly profit that bit.

[tunnie]

If its dob and dab it will be 12.5mm plasterboard with typicaly a 10mm air gap and then the block.

Any easy way to tell if it is dob and dab?

Something like this be ok?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-nylon-expansion-plugs-8-x-70mm-pack-of-10/29068

Be for something like this:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/j.k.-adams-grey-wall-mounted-pot-rack/s681784

[Marks DTM Calib]

I would decide where you want your item and make a small hole where the screw needs to go, this will allow you to determine the wall constrcution type. 

You just need a standard Nylon plug and matching screw, so say a 2 or 2.5 inch 8 screw and matching fixing

[Shackeng]

Cheers chaps, will look into a stud reader. Guessing it can detect thick wood? (ooo errr    )

House is brand spankers, so will be as Chris details I suspect, everything sounds hollow 

  Seems strange, as with timber framed it will sound solid where the timber studs are, and with dot and dab, as said, it will sound randomly solid on the dabs.

[Gaffers]

I have just moved in to a dot and dab and I can concur what has been said about drilling through to the wall and putting a plug in.  The only time I had difficulty was when the hole ended up a little bigger than required, easily jobbed with some wet paper

[tunnie]

Again, many thanks chaps 

I'll tap a bit more along the wall, see if I find a solid part. (either dab or timber)