Be Excellent To Each Other

No I don't feel like bearing child. I have had an idea. (uh oh !).

OK. So according to my tracking info my lovely large HD monitor is coming today. I have cleared a space to the left to move the 22" to for use as a TV (god bless multi res multi monitor set ups) and if it arrives I will move the 22" over there.

However, the Acer's stand has seen better days. Because of that I started looking into wall mounting. It appears it's VESA or something and brackets are actually very cheap. I saw some on Misco or whatever it's called last night for £12 a go. They support 17-26" so should be fine.

One thing I lack is desk top space. I use a small desk that's more akin to a cart than an actual desk. So I would like to wall mount both monitors to gain that tiny bit of extra real estate on my desk (for say an external HDD case for my raptor). Problem is I would need to find the studs and I don't want to play pokesee in the walls. I'm decorating in March (new floors wall paint etc) but I hate filling.

How does one find a stud? I know in the USA we had a swanky laser thing that probed the walls and found them but they were expensive.

If I can't find them can any one reccomend a safe way of holding brackets to the wall? My walls are three ply plasterboard. They go 1/2"-3/4" strips-1/2". I forget the techy name for it now.

£24 really could solve a lot of space problems.

Stud finders are on sale in the B&Q and the Wickes and other fine DIY emporiums.

They're pretty cheap, also

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?i ... er&x=0&y=0

Viola.

You're not supporting much weight with a 22" monitor. These would be enough to fix them to the plasterboard.

Tap the wall and listen to the noise.

Yes, it's a tiny metal detector thing. Pretty cheap. Trust the yanks to fit a frickin' laser beam on it.

If you get a deep echoey tap, it's plasterboard. If you get a dull thunk, it's a stud.

What Grim... said. Then poke a really small screwdriver through the plasterboard to check and to determine the centre of the stud, any holes you make should get covered by the bracket.

The studs may not be where he wants to put the monitors, of course.

Try Blu Tack, then drawing pins, and work your way up to Electro Magnets.

That trick doesn't work. The walls are made of a plasterboard sandwich that's enough removed from the studs to make it sound the same all the way accross.

Dav. Cheers, but Doc could well be right. I have used those fixings before to hold up a shelf laden with bits and bobs (and the shelf is probably as heavy as a monitor tbh) so I think that oughta do it.

I'm actually excited. It's a small room as it is but having the monitors on the wall frees up so much space for trinkets and gadgets. And what's more important to a single dude?

I'm still getting conflicting reports on the monitor. Some sites say it's 1920x1080 or whatever and some say 1900x1200. It may well support both.

Aaaaand I'm out.

Old Skool eh? I like your style though

Then he could fix some wood up on the wall (screwed into the studs) and then fix the bracket to that. I (possibly mistakenly) think this may be referred to as a 'noggin'. All the ugliness will be hidden behind the screen. Quick and easy, if a little inelegant.

Umm.. Is it Trinkets?

Just get some decent platerboard fixings - as DoccyG states a) the monitor won't weigh that much and b) more importantly won't protrude far enough from the wall to be a major lever on the fixings anyway.

Studs are a pain in the arse - there is no accepted standard for stud or noggin spacings so even if you locate one there's no guarantee that the other one along the wall will be where you think it is. From recent experience I've found those stud detectors to be pretty flakey at best and even putting screwdrivers through the wall can be unreliable. Last time I had to mount something like this - a radiator (which is heavier than a monitor, obviously, but probably is mounted closer to the wall) I cut a large square section out of the wall exposing the studs and put noggins in then re-plasterboarded the wall. Lick of paint it looked like new.

So - if it's really heavy, do that. As I suspect it won't be, find some decent plasterboard fixings and hope you miss the stud!

Not helpful, but my house is made entirely of bricks. No studs walls for the 1950's builders, apparently.

Our flat has a mixture of masonry and plasterboard walls. Although I've used plasterboard fixings to hang things and never had a problem, I still don't really like using them that much, almost like I have trouble trusting in them (or trusting my work, maybe).

There are plus sides to this config. I actually may have gotten it wrong and there might not even be studs. I have a feeling they have simply stuck slapped these sandwiches onto a breeze block wall. Thus there wouldn't even be any studs..

Plus side is of course that you don't even need a drill. I have used rawl plug type affairs that you can simply stick a screwdriver into the wall without any need for drilling.

I also forgot the metal screw in things that my uncle has hundreds of that seem to provide a very firm fixing. Doh.

Nobody?

Really?




Very disappointing, collective. See me.

My parents house (built in 1999) is like this. It's quite common now I believe.

You bassoon.

House was built mid 90s I believe. They're the newest houses for miles. In other words they're flimsy and shit but incredibly well insulated etc.

A Dimrills knee.

Chinny top tip - When mounting your monitor/TV, make sure all the ports you are likely to use on the back have cables coming out of them. Otherwise access can be a pain.

Very much also consider the cables when choosing a bracket, or be prepared to attack it with a hacksaw.

Yes I have already discovered that. It resulted in me putting it sideways on the mouse mat and holding it with one hand whilst inserting cables with the other whilst pooing myself hoping it wouldn't skid out and crash to the floor.

I missed the audio cable and had to put it in by touch. It sucked.