Can you hang? Oh, I can hang. Or can I?

October 12, 2015 1:06 PM

So, we're redoing our kitchen- a 12x12 space in a 1950s colonial. We did it pretty much down-to the studs. Everything's new except for the original wood frame of the house. Assume I don't know much of anything about construction. Could I embed this piece into a wall shared by an adjoining room? The piece is 2'x5' and weighs approximately 200 lbs.

No insulation in this specific wall, and about 1/2'" of drywall. In total, the wall is 5 inches thick. Will this crash to the floor at some point in the future? Will it break our house? Are we nuts?
Thanks, green!

posted by marsbar77 to Home & Garden (19 answers total)

Response by poster: Forgot to mention that this would be about 7 or 8 feet off the floor.
posted by marsbar77 at 1:07 PM on October 12, 2015

Response by poster: Also, what would you do with such a piece if not embed it? Okay, no more-threadsitting!
posted by marsbar77 at 1:09 PM on October 12, 2015

Best answer: You'll have to build-in a frame to hold it, much like you would if you were putting a window in. You'd want to add a couple of extra support studs beneath it, in order to support it. You'll probably want to build a shallow box for the panel to sit in, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:20 PM on October 12, 2015

Response by poster: So, basically nothing that could in any way be done without taking out a large part of the drywall, yeah?
posted by marsbar77 at 1:30 PM on October 12, 2015

Is that more than just tile? Many, many bathroom walls are lined with 10 times that much tile.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:30 PM on October 12, 2015

Best answer: 200 lbs is no big deal in the realm of hanging things on the wall. As long as your fasteners are rated for the load and solidly into the studs, this is no problem at all. You don't need to change any framing for this unless you absolutely want it to be totally flush with the drywall. If it can sit on top of the drywall or sit in a cut out in the drywall, you have a lot more options.

It is hard to tell from your photo how you might attach it to the wall. What kind of backing is it on?
posted by ssg at 1:30 PM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It's a plywood backing. I personally haven't seen it. This is what my parents tell me. It IS just tile, but it seems like an incredibly concentrated mass in what (I think) will otherwise be a flat wall. That's what scares me.
posted by marsbar77 at 1:31 PM on October 12, 2015

Best answer: If you don't mind it standing 3/4" proud of the wall, you could use a french cleat system. If you want it to be flush, you could build a wood frame with a profile that fits over the edges.

Whoever is doing the trim work or installing cabinets in your kitchen should be able to help.
posted by ssg at 1:38 PM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: And if you want it really embedded in the wall, you could do some notching of the studs (checking first if the wall is load-bearing, of course) and install some blocking to attach it to. If you want it embedded and the wall is load bearing, you'd have to check local building codes to see if notching to depth you need would be acceptable. Otherwise, you may need additional framing.
posted by ssg at 1:41 PM on October 12, 2015

This is at a store right? I don't suspect that you literally hang this on the wall, it's meant to be applied like tile and directly attached to the wall right?

Anyway, it's it's not a mosaic that's actually set on the wall, yeah, 200lbs is not a big deal. Just make sure the anchors are in the studs. If you get one of those rail-type hanger systems it'll go into a couple studs and also ensure the piece is totally level.
posted by GuyZero at 1:51 PM on October 12, 2015

Are you thinking that you'll hang it like a piece of art? Or that it will be in a larger tiled area like a back splash or a shower wall. Is it going to be a section of tile in a wall that's otherwise a slab of drywall?

That looks like an example of a tile treatment that the tiler would install. The manufacturer will have a recommended mastic/adhesive.
posted by 26.2 at 2:05 PM on October 12, 2015

Response by poster: Argh. Somewhat confused again, and I'm realizing that this question might be more at home on a construction forum. As far as I know, yes, this is supposed to be applied like tile. I know ( only from what I've seen in magazines) that most people would just have this as part of a backsplash and be done with it. We don't have the real estate for that, hence the wall thing. We just really love the way it looks. Is hanging it non-flush not a good idea, even with the french cleat system, which seems to be the least destructive option at this point? Anything else we can do? The drywall is already up and we got a really good deal on construction. They're nice guys, but I suspect asking them to do something major at this stage wouldn't go over well.
posted by marsbar77 at 2:05 PM on October 12, 2015

Response by poster: It would need to be treated as a separate piece of art, yeah. And our guys are general contractors- the tile people don't offer installation as far as I know, nor would it be worth the extra expense if they did. We're not THAT attached to it.
posted by marsbar77 at 2:08 PM on October 12, 2015

I'm not sure I understand the "not having the real estate".

Tiling is really easy. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and see which one has the next free class. Both stores will have those classes about once a month (and you could take both!). You'll practice on a big piece of plywood.

Tiling is not hard at all if you're walls are in good shape. You can rent the tools and be done in a weekend. You can lay out the tiles to fit your space so you don't need to cut fancy tiles.
posted by 26.2 at 2:14 PM on October 12, 2015

There are so many different options, but you really need someone to look at the mosaic itself and how you want it to look in order to find the best option. I'd bet that if you call the store that sells this mosaic, they can tell you the best way to attach it to your wall.
posted by ssg at 2:42 PM on October 12, 2015

Best answer: You can apply tile to any piece of wall. Assuming that the piece comes as tiles that are meant to be assembled you can just put it onto any piece of drywall. I assume when you say "We don't have the real estate for that" you mean behind the kitchen counter or above the stove. Because presumably you have the wall space for it SOMEWHERE.

Regardless, I don't think there's any need to tweak drywall to either mount it directly to the wall or hang it as an art piece with its own backing.
posted by GuyZero at 2:53 PM on October 12, 2015

I am assuming that this is a self-contained piece consisting of tile already mounted on a plywood backing, and you just want to hang it from the wall. The wall will be fine as long as you use hangers rated for the weight, with long screws sunk full depth into the studs. I mounted bookshelves to the non load-bearing wall of my wife's office which are probably carrying close to 2,000 pounds of books and other stuff. The secret is three inch screws sunk completely into predrilled holes so that they go all the way in. The studs themselves will carry plenty of weight, just make sure the load is transmitted to them and not the sheetrock.
posted by Bringer Tom at 3:00 PM on October 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

I am assuming that this is a self-contained piece consisting of tile already mounted on a plywood backing, and you just want to hang it from the wall. The wall will be fine as long as you use hangers rated for the weight, with long screws sunk full depth into the studs.

This is exactly what I was going to write (though better written). The 2x4 studs (at a minimum) in your wall can hold much more weight than this -- just make sure you are attaching the weight to the studs, not to the sheetrock.

If you are instead buying the tile and tiling a section of your wall, there are also no structural concerns, just the hassle of tiling, for which there are countless online DIY tutorials.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:39 PM on October 12, 2015

Check exactly what is the drywall made of? If it is what we call 'plasterboard' (plaster between sheets of paper) it is definitely not structural and applying that many tiles may be stretching the friendship. On the other hand, if it is the sort of wet area sheeting that goes into bathrooms and gets tiled, then providing IT is fixed properly, the tiles should be no problem (for added security, scrape all paint/whatever off so the tile adhesive can bond with the sheet directly.

If you use the method of treating it as a separate 'picture' to be 'hung' on the wall, make sure you attach it to the studs themselves, not the sheeting.
posted by GeeEmm at 9:44 PM on October 12, 2015