In an attempt to acquire more storage space in my small flat, I am trying to put a shelf in a storage area that sections off the top 1/4 of the space. I want to put an old computer and a laser printer in this space so the requirement is that the shelf has to support a lot of weight (approximately 15 kgs).
The plan is to put small brackets on the left and right walls, and another 2 long brackets on the wall opposite the door, all mounted on the studs.
So I got the area measured, marked the locations of the studs on the 3 walls, went down to B&Q and bought myself an mdf panel cut to measurements, some brackets, a power drill, and some woodscrews.
Upon starting drilling, I found out that my studs were metal rather than wood, which I didn't expect in the least. So I went out again to Robert Dyas and bought a drill bit set that had some bits for metal, and on the recommendation of staff, got masonry/plasterboard plugs (plastic, with arms coming out approximately 3/4 inches from the head) of assorted diameters.
So I started drilling again - first a pilot hole (4mm) into the metal stud, then with a 6mm bit to widen the hole, then an 8mm for just the plaster, to make room for the wider head of the plug. However to my dismay, when I screwed on the bracket and tested the sturdiness by hand, I found the top portion of the bracket was not firmly attached, and I could nearly pull it off the wall without too much effort. And when I screwed out the screw, , I could see that the plastic plug had been split by the screw.
At this point I have several questions:
- What is the best way to fix brackets onto metal studs? Given that once I drill through the surface, the inside is then hollow, I suppose the Robert Dyas staff member's reasoning that I would need some plug, is reasonable. On the other hand, maybe the fact that the hole drilled through the metal is going to be fairly stable (i.e. will not enlarge due to load, as with softer materials), maybe a very snug screw might suffice. Lastly, it occured just an hour ago that I might be able to use spring toggles - but then these things seemed to be fairly wide, and leads to the next question:
- What is the best way to drill into metal studs? I found that drilling into them with any kind of precision was fairly tricky and physically challenging. Also I suspect that the instability arose from my having to drill several times for each plug, increasing the margin of error each time. And while we're on the topic of drilling,
- Why does my plug split? Is it because I used a power drill to screw in the woodscrew? Is it because the woodscrew is too thick?
So all of this makes me lose confidence in pulling this off neatly, which makes me wonder:
- Can I hire someone to do this kind of work? Given the round trips to the shops and money invested in equipment that proved to be much more than my initial estimate, not to mention effort, in retrospect it is making more and more sense to have the work done by an experienced professional. Trouble is, I have no idea who should call, or even what category to look up in the yellow pages, let alone budget. If I were to forego the sense of achievement pulling this off, would there be people that I could hire to do this kind of work?
I await your wise advice.
The plan is to put small brackets on the left and right walls, and another 2 long brackets on the wall opposite the door, all mounted on the studs.
So I got the area measured, marked the locations of the studs on the 3 walls, went down to B&Q and bought myself an mdf panel cut to measurements, some brackets, a power drill, and some woodscrews.
Upon starting drilling, I found out that my studs were metal rather than wood, which I didn't expect in the least. So I went out again to Robert Dyas and bought a drill bit set that had some bits for metal, and on the recommendation of staff, got masonry/plasterboard plugs (plastic, with arms coming out approximately 3/4 inches from the head) of assorted diameters.
So I started drilling again - first a pilot hole (4mm) into the metal stud, then with a 6mm bit to widen the hole, then an 8mm for just the plaster, to make room for the wider head of the plug. However to my dismay, when I screwed on the bracket and tested the sturdiness by hand, I found the top portion of the bracket was not firmly attached, and I could nearly pull it off the wall without too much effort. And when I screwed out the screw, , I could see that the plastic plug had been split by the screw.
At this point I have several questions:
- What is the best way to fix brackets onto metal studs? Given that once I drill through the surface, the inside is then hollow, I suppose the Robert Dyas staff member's reasoning that I would need some plug, is reasonable. On the other hand, maybe the fact that the hole drilled through the metal is going to be fairly stable (i.e. will not enlarge due to load, as with softer materials), maybe a very snug screw might suffice. Lastly, it occured just an hour ago that I might be able to use spring toggles - but then these things seemed to be fairly wide, and leads to the next question:
- What is the best way to drill into metal studs? I found that drilling into them with any kind of precision was fairly tricky and physically challenging. Also I suspect that the instability arose from my having to drill several times for each plug, increasing the margin of error each time. And while we're on the topic of drilling,
- Why does my plug split? Is it because I used a power drill to screw in the woodscrew? Is it because the woodscrew is too thick?
So all of this makes me lose confidence in pulling this off neatly, which makes me wonder:
- Can I hire someone to do this kind of work? Given the round trips to the shops and money invested in equipment that proved to be much more than my initial estimate, not to mention effort, in retrospect it is making more and more sense to have the work done by an experienced professional. Trouble is, I have no idea who should call, or even what category to look up in the yellow pages, let alone budget. If I were to forego the sense of achievement pulling this off, would there be people that I could hire to do this kind of work?
I await your wise advice.
