Best Wall Anchor?

[7521]

The screws that secure our dinette table to the wall have pulled out. Putting in larger/longer screws may not be the best fix. Any suggestions on what type of anchor or mounting system would work?

[RV Wizard]

There are several that will work. Mollies, toggles & expanding rivets should secure what you need to in a wall that may only have foam insulation behind luan wall board. Good luck and keep us posted.

[MSHappyCampers]

I have a similar problem. I want to anchor a flat-screen TV mount inside the entertainment center, which would be on the side of the slide-out. I'm not sure what's in the wall, but I can't feel anything solid. It is only a 26" TV, not sure about the weight. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

[LadyFitz...]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jminyard I have a similar problem. I want to anchor a flat-screen TV mount inside the entertainment center, which would be on the side of the slide-out. I'm not sure what's in the wall, but I can't feel anything solid. It is only a 26" TV, not sure about the weight. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

Even a 26" TV weighs too much to safely mount on just the paneling, even if you remove it from the wall before the RV goes bouncing down the road. You need to find out where the studs are and bridge at least two them with something, such as an oak board (you can get fancy and route the edges, then finish it to match the existing woodwork) and fasten the TV mount to the bridge. I would drill the bridge board and insert tee nuts from behind to attach the TV mount to before installing the board to the wall. You will also need to drill clearance holes in the wall to allow for any extra bolt length passing through the tee nuts.

Even though many mounts are designed to mount to a single stud, RV studs are generally too light to risk supporting a TV by themselves so even if you seem to get lucky and have a stud in the right place, I would strongly recommend bridging to the studs on either side.

If the studs are wood, screws alone should be adequate to hold the bridging. Be sure to hit the center of the studs and drill the appropriately sized pilot holes to avoid splitting the studs. A bit of glue in the pilot hole well help to keep the screws from backing out.

If the studs are aluminum or steel, use mollybolts to secure the bridge. Screws alone won't get enough "bite" to hold in the thin metal and stand a good chance of backing out. Toggle bolts require too large a hole, which will weaken the stud.

Stud finders are not very expensive. Get the eletronic type that detect wall density instead of the ones that use a magnet to find nails in studs.

[MSHappyCampers]

I think I may have figured out a solution. I went to Lowes yesterday and bought a 2X2 piece of 1/2" plywood to mount to the side wall and be able to fasten the TV mount to it. I will paint the plywood to match the other walls of the entertainment center. I bought some hollow door anchors that I plan to put in the four corners of the board, then some 1" wood screws to put all around the edge of the board for more support. My 26" TV only weighs about 14 lb. so this should hold it without any problem. I ordered a TV wall mount from Amazon.com last night that will be here tommorrow. I'll post an update to let you know if everything worked as planned! Wish me luck!

[njs42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jminyard I think I may have figured out a solution. I went to Lowes yesterday and bought a 2X2 piece of 1/2" plywood to mount to the side wall and be able to fasten the TV mount to it. I will paint the plywood to match the other walls of the entertainment center. I bought some hollow door anchors that I plan to put in the four corners of the board, then some 1" wood screws to put all around the edge of the board for more support. My 26" TV only weighs about 14 lb. so this should hold it without any problem. I ordered a TV wall mount from Amazon.com last night that will be here tommorrow. I'll post an update to let you know if everything worked as planned! Wish me luck!

If you can hit wall studs do it as suggested in the previous reply. You have spread the force out using 2X2 which is good but a bouncing 14 pounds is heavier than you might think on the way "down". You should easily have two studs available in the 24". Put your screws in them if possible---same with the mollys. If you do this you will take the "luck" out of the equation. IMHO, of course.

[njs42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7521 The screws that secure our dinette table to the wall have pulled out. Putting in larger/longer screws may not be the best fix. Any suggestions on what type of anchor or mounting system would work?

I'm just thinking out loud---a nicely matching well finished board the width of the table glued to the wall using construction adhesive would spread the force over that area and provide a good anchor. Particularly if the table is screwed to the wall through a brace on the bottom of the table out of sight. MOve the brace back and sit the table top on the new brace before reattaching.

In your stick home the braces that hold up your closet rod are almost all installed this way---glue-----no (few)studs in your closet side walls. Tap on it and see.

It holds a lot of weight applied straight down.

JUst a thought.

[ronspradley]

Lowes carries a Moen bathroom grabbar "secure mount" like [SMA1005CH] that is very strong. Like a molly on roids...........ronspradley