Oh no! Metal stud!
June 22, 2007 6:09 PM   Subscribe

How to securely attach my double-monitor wall mount? I thought I would just be screwing two 5/16 lag screws into the stud, no worries. As soon as I drilled the pilot hole I discovered that I don't have standard wooden studs there. Instead, the stud is metal.

Two lag screws into a wooden stud would have provided more than enough strength to hold two monitors on their articulated arms, but I have no idea what kind of fastener to use to get the same strength out of a metal stud. The mounting plate actually has eight holes. The top center and bottom center holes are centered on the stud. Three holes along each side would land on nothing but drywall. I have no problem putting four or six drywall anchors for those side holes, but no way would those alone provide enough support for the weight of the monitor mount plus two 18" monitors.

Help?
posted by Lokheed to Home & Garden (5 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
You could try larger toggle bolt type anchors, but you may need to put up some sort of backing board to spread the weight out over more drywall. Find a good hardware store, they should be able to give you some idea of the weight loading limits.
posted by pupdog at 6:33 PM on June 22, 2007


Oooh, I should have looked first, the Toggler folks have an application finder that takes into account weight, distance held from wall, etc. It doesn't look like they include monitors or TV's, but they do have 'wall mount'.
posted by pupdog at 6:36 PM on June 22, 2007


Metal studs are not very strong, they can bend if you attach a heavy weight and may need some reinforcement (e.g. somthing inside to help distribute weight).

See this PDF Requirements for Installing Mounts to Walls Constructed with Metal Studs.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:51 PM on June 22, 2007


self tapping sheet metal screws
posted by hortense at 10:14 PM on June 22, 2007


As MSN says, the studs alone can't hold a load.
Can you get to the other side of the wall? You might need to put screws right through the steeel studs and anchor to something behind - a chunk of 3/4 inch plywood or MDF. Might not be pretty but maybe it'd be ok if you could hide the anchor plate or use it for something else.
posted by Flashman at 7:01 AM on June 23, 2007


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