Mounting a ceiling projector, help!

[Quiksilver]

Hello guys, my first post here, so please go easy on me. I've had a quick search and found a few comments related to hiding cables behind plasterboard etc, but my issue is more related to the mounting.

I've recently moved into a converted farmhouse, with a large beam running left-right across the middle of the room. I want to mount a 3Kg home cinema project just infront of the beam, to hit the wall at the end of the room.

In my previous home i found a joist and wanged 3 large screws into it to hold the mount, job done. However, I cant seem to find any joists in the new ceiling, i've tapped every square inch and it all sounds pretty hollow, i've shined a torch along the ceiling and cant spot any divots from nails. I even took down the light fitting to see what i could find - i did establish that the ceiling is plasterboarded, but can see the run of the joists because of a tiny cable hole (its a rented property so i dont want to go making holes any bigger to investigate).

As i see it i have 2 options, put 3 plaster board plugs into the plasterboard celing to hold the projector and hope it doesnt pull a whole sheet of plaster down. Or, tap some small nails up until i hit a joist, a bit like Battlships! Either could turn out to be very messy.

Any suggestions or advice would me much appreciated.

Ollie

 

[ChrisFrost]

Buy an electronic joist finder. It will also include a mains cable detector too so you'll know that you aren't going to hit any wires.

 

[ultrascan]

Hi, The other alternative is to get a piece of plywood a little larger than the base of the bracket.

drill four holes through the plywood, then drill through the holes into the plasterboard. cover plywood with (no nails) adheasive, use 4 butterfly bolts to secure the plywood to the ceiling then just screw the projector bracket to the Plywood.

This not only gives you a strong area to work with but will reinforce the area of the plasterboard it is fixed to.

Please note that it is not seutable for sex games or swings.

The peojector weighs about 8 Lb. there is no way it will pull the plasterboard down. unless it has been fitted by cowboys.

good luck.

 

[Quiksilver]

Thanks so much for the suggestions guys, I think a joist finder is a safe bet to start, being a rented house I want to be as low impact as possible. Would a £20 Stanley base model do the job alright or should I be forking out £60+?!

I'd considered the idea of the mounting board too, would 4 screws hold a 3kg projector, plus the board itself, assuming I miss a joist with all 4?! I wouldn't want to gum it up, as it wouldn't clean up very easily What rawl plugs would be best to use? What are the butterfly screws you mentioned?

Thanks, ollie

 

[ChrisFrost]

The £20 joist finder will be fine.

As for fixing... You could do what this guy has done...which is to make a hole in the ceiling, then insert some wood to act as a weight spreader in the void above.

The benefit here is that you are fixing in to something solid (the wood) rather than hanging everything off the holes drilled in to the relatively fragile plasterboard ceiling. You'd use a longer flatter bit of timber - something like square edge planed timber in 4.5"W x 0.75"T and maybe around 18" Long.

Watch from about 53 seconds to see how he fixes through the ceiling in to the wood.

Butterfly screws - If you want to go for direct fixing in to the ceiling then I'd recommend something like this...

I find them better than these...

They spread the load better than the grey plastic plugs, and they are designed to allow the anchor point (the nut inside the hole) to remain in place even if the bolt is removed - which is exactly what you want to do when fixing up the bracket. Try that with the brass coloured fixings and you'll lose the end inside the hole

 

[ultrascan]

Hi, The four bolts eg: butterfly type or any of the other fixings shown above will be ideal. the glue is for added security.

The same method can be used for plasma tv's mounted to a plasterboard wall.
but the ply would need to be much larger. and more fixings required but the main reason is to spread the load over a large area.

There are some brackets that are supported by only 3 or four bolts and the end of the bracket that fixes to the wall is about 2" by 8"

I have not had one fall off the wall yet.

Ps I used to fit Crt Projectors on false ceilings, and they were secured in much the same way as the previous author wrote with timber passed through a small hole and screwed to fix the unit to the ceiling.
and they weighed in at 70 KG, and they are still up there.
good luck

 

[Quiksilver]

Your input is very much appreciated guys. I think what I will do is invest initially in a joist finder, if i find a joist then we're good to go, if not then I will move on to the mounting board suggestion. I think i would have to do it without the noggins you mentioned and as in the video (and hope my luck, and the ceiling holds) as i dont want to go putting 'big' holes in the ceiling. As you mentioned earlier, ill make sure i dont use it for a sex swing.

Am i right in thinking the butterfly screws are reluctant to be removed? I'm thinking about the clean up operation when i come to move in the future... are they easy to pull out and fill their holes? Or would i be better off using the brass ones safe in the knowledge that i can easily unscrew and simply touch-up the holes?

 

[ultrascan]

Hi. If you do not wish to use the adhesive to fix the ply to the ceiling, then you could use a larger piece of maybe 1 ft square and secure using about 8 butterfly bolts held around several places around the board.

When you want to take it down it will be just a matter of squirting mastic or filler in the remaining holes in the ceiling and wiping with a damp cloth.

 

[Quiksilver]

So the plugs that the bolts screw into can be removed without too much mess?

 

[ultrascan]

The holes in the ceiling will be about 1/2 inch diameter, the spring bit will not be retrievable, if you undo the bolt, the spring bit will remain above the ceiling, on top of the plasterboard, and you would need to buy new ones if you wish to install it somewhere else. as they open up above the plasterboard.

 

[gman76]

Could you not fabricate a metal bracket that you can secure to the beam itself, in a sort of "S" shape, so that you have a metal anchor plate a few mm from the plasterboard?

Screw holes in the wooden beam would be easy to hide.

Or am I reading the whole situation wrong?

Something like this crude sketch!

Untitled

• gman76
• 1 Sep 2010
• 1

 

[churchilldog]

Could you not fabricate a metal bracket that you can secure to the beam itself, in a sort of "S" shape, so that you have a metal anchor plate a few mm from the plasterboard?

Screw holes in the wooden beam would be easy to hide.

Or am I reading the whole situation wrong?

Something like this crude sketch!

Untitled

• gman76
• 1 Sep 2010
• 1

I was thinking this also. I would also suggest that you would need to put screws towards towards the vertical face of the beam, just before the bracket bends at 90 degrees to the ceiling, as otherwise the bracket would suffer from droop- and there is nothing worse! Some bracing pieces may also be a good idea- if if was all painted white to match the ceiling this would probably all match in ok?

 

[churchilldog]

Something like this: (my additions in red)

Untitled

• churchilldog
• 3 Sep 2010
• 1

 

[timtheenchanter]

IMO, the rear screw in the bottom would only need to be very short, if there at all, the shape and load would be pushing that part of the bracket up, into the beam (fulcrum point would be the bottom corner)

 

[churchilldog]

IMO, the rear screw in the bottom would only need to be very short, if there at all, the shape and load would be pushing that part of the bracket up, into the beam (fulcrum point would be the bottom corner)

Correct. It would just keep it all nice and straight and flush against the beam, although as you rightly say it would actually be getting pushed upwards by the load anyway.