Spent a weekend with The Boy in his new (first) house.
Managed to build a “simple” IKEA bookshelf and desk, but failed on the main project – hanging his collection of guitars on the wall.
Purchased proper brackets, but could not drill far enough into the wall, and an adhesive/velcro solution failed miserably.
The Boy was disappoint.
Any help from The Massive greatly appreciated!
We’ve got four guitars on the walls, including a Fender bass. I bought sprung brackets from Amazon and hung them in the usual way: rawlplugs, holes drilled with a masonry bit using a hammer drill. We have brick/breeze block walls. Even the heavy bass is still up. I do tend to use heavier screws than supplied, just in case.
The supplied screws that come with anything for wall mounting are always pathetic. It’s one of the ways they cut costs.
If it’s a solid wall, use 2 inch screws into rawlplugs. Red ones for #8 screws, brown ones for #10. Most domestic-use (percussion) hammer drills are pretty pathetic and will not penetrate hard bricks or concrete. Pneumatic SDS-type drills are worth getting if you are going to be drilling anything harder than thermalite or breeze-block walls.
For plasterboard walls, use something like these. In my opinion they are one of the world’s great inventions.
or if it’s a particularly heavy guitar, either use at least a couple of them to fix a mounting plate to screw each instrument hanger into, or even better screw the hangers into the vertical studs in the wall only.
I have heard of the necks of guitars going out of alignment by being hung up on walls.
Mike is correct. Also, consider these butterfly fxings, both of which expand behind the plasterboard to spread the load.
I have an Ikea “floating” shelf fixed above the bath, loaded with Mrs F’s heavy lotions, fixed to a plasterboard wall.
The only trouble comes if you ever have to remove it because, frankly, they aren’t going anywhere. In the past, I’ve pushed them in with a hammer and skimmed plaster over the dent.
Thank you. Exactly what we hoped for.
The problem we had was/is the supplied screw doesn’t go in far enough, as the drill kept hitting something very solid!
I’ve had problems hanging blinds and curtain rails in the past, hitting a concrete lintel or once, some kind of metal cladding which the masonry bit couldn’t get through so I had to use a metal drill bit. I haven’t come across anything like that in a “wall” though.
A proper decent quality SDS hammer drill and bits are a good investment for the occasional home handyman. Will get through anything but solid steel. Use 2″ screws and good wall plugs and chuck away the screws and plugs that come with the brackets.
I used to drill walls and fix things to them as part of my job for over 30 years. I know what I’m talking about.
If that “something very solid” is only in that one spot I guess you could put a long piece of (possibly painted to look better) wood/plank/strip (unsure of the correct term in English) as long as needed for the amount of guitars to hang, secure that to the wall and then drill through the wood + the wall to put the brackets up. As long as the wood is secured with a few screws that goes deep enough into the wall, it wouldn’t matter if the screws for the brackets mostly went through the wood and not that long into the wall, right? (I’m no DIY expert, so don’t take my word for it, but it sounds like common sense to me…but this only works if the wall is only acting weird in that one spot!)
PS I’ve never drilled through a wall in my life, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me! 😀
Are you sure you haven’t hit as RSJ? Even a decent SDS won’t get through one of those. Did you scan the wall first to make sure you are not near any cabling?
Yes, you won’t get anywhere trying to drill an RSJ with a masonry bit.
Pick another spot on a different wall or try a bit lower down in the same wall. A long really-skinny screwdriver or a bradawl is handy for testing where you intend to drill in a plasterboard wall as, if the location isn’t suitable, then you haven’t done much damage.
In a properly-wired house all cable runs in walls should be vertical, so where there’s a lightswitch, wall light or power point, don’t try to fix anything to the wall directly above or below any of those.
Never make the assumption that all runs to sockets come up from floor level. Especially if you live in a basement flat.
*speaks from painful, loud and explosive experience*
(It was a 30A circuit too)
I am totally clueless at DIY but I surprised myself when i managed to hang my little guitar collection (six string, twelve string, electric, bass, banjo since you ask) onthe wall of my music room this summer. Applause please, thank you.
I had it easy, mind. We have a newbuild house with thin plasterboard walls, so it was a skoosh to drill into them.
It’s a huge improvement, not least because my wife is now more likely to say “aw that looks nice” and less likely to ask “but why does anyone need more than one guitar?”
I have a Yamaha stage piano and an antique harmonium, and I wouldn’t dream of hanging them on a wall.
What is it with you guitar nuts?
Blame my wife. They used to be on folding floor stands but apparently they clutter the otherwise unused room up.
Can I take it from that, that she’s the one who does the hoovering?
Yes. When you put it like that it sounds terrible but I don’t ask her to unload the van at 6am.
I don’t have enough walls. I have 5 guitars on a stage stand, 6 on the walls and one on a normal guitar stand. Mrs. T says it’s too many guitars, not too few walls.
Obviously she is incorrect, but don’t tell her I said so. In fact best not to mention it at all.
What I’ve seen people do is screw a 2×1 to the wall (or glue etc) and mount the hangers on that. Means you have a little more scope to drill where the wall cooperates.