Reliable way of Finding Uprights in Plasterboard Walls??
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:59 am
Dear Everyone.
I'm basically living in a plasterboard box of a flat/apartment (don't know if you're English or American!) - it wouldn't know a brick if you gave it one with cement-flavoured gravy. Didn't realise that when I moved in and found a whole lovely pile of wood for shelving.
Thing IS - I know you have to put the uprights for the shelves into the uprights behind the plasterboard. And people tell me 'go along the plasterboard knocking on it. You'll hear the difference where the uprights are'. Now I'm THINKING I'm hearing the difference except I don't want to put the uprights in and discover I'm wrong the hard way by chunks of plasterboard wall falling out.
Please, any ideas for a foolproof - make that idiotproof! - way of finding the uprights short of drilling a thousand test holes? Because I've a feeling if I drill test holes and score a few near misses, the near misses would have to be filled in otherwise they'd all join together into one slot. And I don't know how to reliably fill in holes in plasterboard. All the other flats/apts. I've been in have had at least one brick wall and I've just put shelving in that. Not this baby.... (OK, the ones by the window are brick - but it's a bay window. So the amount of wall between the windows is tiny, think about as wide as a plant pot. I've got books and ornaments and all sorts I'd love to put on shelves somewhere.) I've got the planks, supports and Rawlplug wall screws, now all I need is the uprights....
Go gentle with me. I know BITS, but am basically a noob.
Yours hopefully
Chris.
I'm basically living in a plasterboard box of a flat/apartment (don't know if you're English or American!) - it wouldn't know a brick if you gave it one with cement-flavoured gravy. Didn't realise that when I moved in and found a whole lovely pile of wood for shelving.
Thing IS - I know you have to put the uprights for the shelves into the uprights behind the plasterboard. And people tell me 'go along the plasterboard knocking on it. You'll hear the difference where the uprights are'. Now I'm THINKING I'm hearing the difference except I don't want to put the uprights in and discover I'm wrong the hard way by chunks of plasterboard wall falling out.
Please, any ideas for a foolproof - make that idiotproof! - way of finding the uprights short of drilling a thousand test holes? Because I've a feeling if I drill test holes and score a few near misses, the near misses would have to be filled in otherwise they'd all join together into one slot. And I don't know how to reliably fill in holes in plasterboard. All the other flats/apts. I've been in have had at least one brick wall and I've just put shelving in that. Not this baby.... (OK, the ones by the window are brick - but it's a bay window. So the amount of wall between the windows is tiny, think about as wide as a plant pot. I've got books and ornaments and all sorts I'd love to put on shelves somewhere.) I've got the planks, supports and Rawlplug wall screws, now all I need is the uprights....
Go gentle with me. I know BITS, but am basically a noob.
Yours hopefully
Chris.