Towel rail fixings for triple skin plasterboard walls

[opps]

I need to wall hang a towel rail in a house that has walls made out of plaster board. Nothing else- no wooden batons, no metal studs.

The wall is a 12.5mm sheet of plasterboard on either side and in between is what looks like an inch of plasterboard. There is a 25mm timber floor plate

The only thing that I can think of is the GripIt fixings (with their keyhole cutter bit to create space for the wings).

I am not used to working in houses that are so poorly/cheaply constructed. Lean against the wall and you can see it flex... The wall from architrave to the return wall is about 800mm and will be tiled.

The towel rail is about 1.2m tall with 4 fixing points.

 

[mcmoby69]

Try saying please ffs!
This forum has many members with thousands of years knowledge between them.
Saying please and thank you might just get a response.

Try it, you never know!

 

[opps]

Try saying please ffs!
This forum has many members with thousands of years knowledge between them.
Saying please and thank you might just get a response.

Try it, you never know!

I do thank people who give me good advice.

Are you really suggesting that I should have started my post by saying "Please advise me, I need to wall hang a towel rail..."

(Note: I haven't thanked you).

 

[dilalio]

I need to wall hang a towel rail in a house that has walls made out of plaster board. Nothing else- no wooden batons, no metal studs.

The wall is a 12.5mm sheet of plasterboard on either side and in between is what looks like an inch of plasterboard. There is a 25mm timber floor plate

The only thing that I can think of is the GripIt fixings (with their keyhole cutter bit to create space for the wings).

I am not used to working in houses that are so poorly/cheaply constructed. Lean against the wall and you can see it flex... The wall from architrave to the return wall is about 800mm and will be tiled.

The towel rail is about 1.2m tall with 4 fixing points.

Pretty sure it’ll be Paramount wall boards and the sandwiched layer in between is honeycomb cardboard. You’d get away with most plasterboard fixings such as gripits or pig’s tails (easyfix one’s from screwfix are good as they self drill properly).
I’d be tempted to try spring toggle bolts and use a bent Allen key in the end of a cordless drill to create a cavity behind the pilot holes in the honeycomb cardboard for the wings of the spring toggles.

 

[Hot&Cold]

opps Dont forget towels will be tugged of the heater and if its a ladder style heater there is a possibility of children using it as a climbing frame.

you need very good fixings or leave the job to someone else

 

[mcmoby69]

I do thank people who give me good advice.

Are you really suggesting that I should have started my post by saying "Please advise me, I need to wall hang a towel rail..."

(Note: I haven't thanked you).

Sorry my fault , I thought they went together.
IE.
Can I have a coffee please?
Thank you!

Must have been the way I was dragged up.

 

[polesapart]

opps Dont forget towels will be tugged of the heater and if its a ladder style heater there is a possibility of children using it as a climbing frame.

you need very good fixings or leave the job to someone else

^^^
Very good advice.


OP if you're not prepared to open the wall (from one side or t'other) and put some timber or ply in and make good, you could at the very least buy a second set of towel rail brackets and double up on fixings.

Even so, a bit risky IMO.

 

[dilalio]

C’mon guys it’s a towel warmer on a sh!t wall - if a kid is gonna climb it then there’s as much chance that the same bloody kid will run through these flimsy walls! How about telling kids “no” these days .

Hang the bloody thing and warn all concerned that the walls are crap.
Spring toggles and tiling over the top will be fine.

 

[CWHEATING]

Kids climbing on them? My god. Just use plasterboard fixings. Job done.
To many what ifs. Nothing would ever get done. Simple jobs would be become difficult if we tried to cover EVERY base.

 

[opps]

Pretty sure it’ll be Paramount wall boards and the sandwiched layer in between is honeycomb cardboard. You’d get away with most plasterboard fixings such as gripits or pig’s tails (easyfix one’s from screwfix are good as they self drill properly).
I’d be tempted to try spring toggle bolts and use a bent Allen key in the end of a cordless drill to create a cavity behind the pilot holes in the honeycomb cardboard for the wings of the spring toggles.

I did remove some of the plasterboard. No honeycomb. Just a narrow void and then three layers of plasterboard glued together.

By pigtails, do you mean these?

https://www.firestoppingshop.com/Spiral_Pigtail_Screw_fixings_pack_of_100/p755015_16917800.aspx

I have never seen or used them before.

Toggles would work on one side, where the void is but the other side of the rad will be in the 3 layers of plasterboard section.

GripIt claim that the brown and blue fixings have a bearing load of 93 and 113kg respectively.

 

[opps]

opps Dont forget towels will be tugged of the heater and if its a ladder style heater there is a possibility of children using it as a climbing frame.

you need very good fixings or leave the job to someone else

No kids but I accept your point.

I will stress test it before I fill it.

 

[opps]

Sorry my fault , I thought they went together.
IE.
Can I have a coffee please?
Thank you!

Must have been the way I was dragged up.

No need to apologise but I was not intentionally being rude and I do not consider that I was being rude.

If you walked in to, for example, Starbucks in the hope that they can serve you a cup of tea, would you say "Can you please tell me whether you sell tea or not" or would you ask "do you sell tea"?

The former strikes me as being overly formal and unnecessarily time consuming. The latter would only be impolite if the person asking the question forgot to thank the sales person irrespective of the answer. If they do sell tea then, in my opinion, one should reply "can I have a cup of tea please?". If they don't sell tea then an appropriate response would be "Okay, thanks".

Ironically, accusing someone of being rude without taking the time to discover if they are habitually rude (by, for example, looking at their previous posts) strikes me as (potentially) being rude.

I genuinely do appreciate that tradesmen on this site give others the benefit of their hard earned knowledge. If you take the time to look through my history, you will discover that I, like you, are one of those people.

I respectfully suggest that chiding users for what are highly debatable examples of deportment/etiquette is not particularly helpful and ultimately might discourage people from asking questions.

 

[James1991]

If the wall is being tiled, I'd just drill into the tile and use a rawl plug with a bit of sticks like Shiite on the back of the bracket. Hung loads like that and none have fell off. Well, none that I've heard about.

 

[mcmoby69]

We obviously have different opinions then. We live far enough apart for it not to matter too much. I wouldn't need to worry about your wonky towel radiator falling on me, should I ever of needed to use you loo after having a cup of tea at yours!

 

[MeldrewsMate]

There are metal fixings with prongs to grip into the plasterboard at the front, and metal expanding 'ears' that compress onto the rear of the plasterboard. These are a really secure fixing, but they need to be used with a special setting tool. Other than that, if you're suggesting that the wall will collapse or pull apart if a fat kid climbs the rail then blame could hardly be attributed to the fixings!

My second best suggestion would be to wait until the tiling is finished, then drill for the brackets, then use polyurethane glue to fix tightly fitting plastic plugs in place. The glue will expand in the cavity and make the plug very secure. Mount the rad the next day. Consider the use of a cattle prod to train this notional naughty child.