The decoration and design of modern premises, both domestic and industrial, cannot take place without the use of a material with high quality characteristics. The most popular and popular in recent years has become drywall. With the help of sheets of this material, it is easy not only to create a flat wall surface, but also to make independent partitions, niches and even built-in cabinets with shelves.
But there are also downsides to using drywall. The material is fragile, so it will not be easy to attach the shelf without cracking. Before you hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall, you need to learn the technique for doing such work and prepare the necessary materials and tools.
Problem of attaching shelves to drywall
It is not worth listing all the advantages of the material, it is better to pay attention to some of its features that make it difficult to install suspended structures:
- drywall haslow strength to bending loads, which often leads to its breakage;
- Internal gypsum core of the material is unable to hold nails and screws;
- the outer shell has little adhesion to plaster, so the adhesive installation of shelf fastening strips is also problematic in many cases.
But despite all the difficulties of attaching shelves to a plasterboard wall, there are several effective ways to solve this problem.
Mounting Methods
The solution to the question of how to hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall depends on the weight of the structure and the load on it, which is planned to be used during operation.
Light shelves on which you can put a small item of decorative interior design can be attached with glue. This method is the simplest and does not require the use of an electric tool. Its main advantage is the absence of debris and dust in the process of doing work.
If fixing with glue is not suitable, then not very heavy shelves can be fixed on the wall using special dowels or self-tapping screws. In this case, you will have to perform some preparatory operations and apply additional fixation of self-tapping screws with adhesives.
It is better to take care of fastening heavy structures at the stage of installing a plasterboard wall. The crate for attaching drywall to the wall is in many cases an excellent base for installing shelves and furniture. Also, shelves of large mass can be securely fastened using specialanchor fixtures.
Fastening for hinged structures
To hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall, the fasteners must be of a special design. Simple screws and self-tapping screws, especially nails, will not hold in a loose gypsum structure.
Before fixing a shelf on a plasterboard wall, you need to understand the design of fasteners and how to use them.
Light weight shelves (up to 3 kg) can be attached to a drywall wall with a snail plug, which is screwed into the wall while cutting threads.
For medium-heavy shelves, the following types of fasteners may be needed:
- weight up to 30 kg well withstand dowels "driva";
- on the dowel "umbrella" you can fix a shelf weighing no more than 6 kg;
- dowel "butterfly" can withstand loads up to 10 kg;
- universal dowels withstand a shelf up to 3 kg in weight;
- Molly or Harmut dowels withstand a load of about 35 kg.
You can hang a heavy shelf on a plasterboard wall with either a Harmut dowel or using special anchor fasteners.
Light Shelf Attachment Technology
The use of adhesive composition is only possible to hold structures of low weight (frames with photographs, decorative elements). Before hanging a shelf on a plasterboard wall, make sure that a child or pet cannot pull it during operation.
Technology for fastening light structures with gluelooks like this:
- With the help of a building level to control the horizontalness of the line and a simple pencil, the installation site of the shelf is marked.
- Carefully, strictly along the intended line, a special adhesive composition is applied to the wall. Be careful not to over-glue as this will ruin the quality of the repair.
- The same composition is applied to the shelf in the place of its contact with the wall.
- Then the structure is pressed against the wall and held for the required time to set. The contact time is indicated in the instructions for the adhesive composition.
It is impossible to load the shelf with foreign objects until the glue is completely dry and hardened.
Fixing shelves with dowels
You can attach a light weight shelf to a plasterboard wall with both dowels and universal screws. When using self-tapping screws, they must be covered with special adhesive mastic to prevent the element from falling out of the wall.
Specially for working with a plasterboard wall, dowels called "snail" and "butterfly" were created.
The dowel "snail" does not need to be driven into the wall, the thread of a special design allows it to be screwed into a soft surface without disturbing the structure of the material.
The design of the “butterfly” dowel is designed so that when the screw is screwed in, a support platform is formed from the back of the drywall. Such a device allows you to mount shelves on plasterboard walls of both single-layer and double-layer types. At the same time, the load ona shelf mounted on a wall with two sheets can be doubled. A feature of this method of attachment is that free space is required on the back of the sheet.
Anchor fastening of hinged structures
The use of special anchor devices allows you to fix the shelf on a plasterboard wall of both medium weight and heavy hinged structures.
Anchor "molly" in appearance and design is very similar to the dowel-"butterfly". This type of fastener is completely made of metal, which allows it to withstand heavy loads.
When the anchor bolt is tightened, the shell of the device opens from the back of the sheet and is pressed tightly. It is advisable to hold the cap with pliers or a similar tool when installing this design in order to prevent turning the fixture, which will damage the plaster structure around the attachment point.
Harmut anchor
Harmut anchor has a unique design, it allows you to mount heavy shelves. The metal plate located at the end of the device is carefully inserted into the drilled hole using mounting antennae. Then the plate is aligned with the dowel, and the antennae break off. The screw screwed into such a device is capable of withstanding a load of up to 35 kg.
In the case where the drywall sheet is attached towall without additional lathing, that is, it fits snugly against the load-bearing wall, long anchors are widely used to secure the shelves. Such devices are installed in a load-bearing wall and tightened tightly. The main advantage of this method is the ability to hold structures of almost any weight.
Mounting shelves on the crate
The preliminary stage of leveling the walls is the installation of a special metal crate. Its design provides for vertical and horizontal racks, to which drywall sheets are attached. The presence of these elements allows you to securely and effectively mount a variety of equipment on the wall.
The mounting method is quite simple. The main problem can sometimes be determining the location of the metal profile, if the markup was not made in advance. In such situations, experienced installers advise using a magnet, with which it is easy to find a metal crate.
If the step of the crate does not allow the installation of attachments, then before you hang the shelf on a plasterboard wall, you need to plan the attachment points and install wooden mortgages. These elements must be securely fixed and firmly pressed against the drywall sheet to avoid it being crushed and destroyed during fixation.
Advice from the masters
To hang a shelf on a plasterboard wall, it will be useful for beginnerslisten to some advice from experienced professionals:
- When arranging mortgages, it is better to draw up a diagram of their location or take a photograph of the finished work. This will prevent you from forgetting where the attachment points exist.
- It is better not to overload long dowels, since any strong element can bend and deform the sheet over time.
- The load on the attachment points must be distributed evenly, which guarantees protection against premature loss of individual elements.
- Before finishing work, the location of the metal profile is easy to determine at the junction of sheets.
Remember that the choice of mounting method depends on the planned load on the hinged elements. Placing household appliances on the surface of the walls significantly saves usable space in small rooms.
