Mounting bass traps to the ceiling (how much weight can sheetrock hold?)

[JCBitB]

I swear I've used the search button, but I can't figure out why no one else has had my problem...

I need to mount some bass traps from GIK (4 244's to be exact) to the ceiling but the "how" is getting me worried. My original plan was to twist in some "eyelets" into the ceiling and then use the included picture wire to hang them, but they are kind of heavy, so I'm not sure if the sheet rock will hold up.

I have runners every few feet that I suppose I could try to find with a stud finder, but wouldn't I have to compromise the positioning? It will have to do, if sheet rock can't hold the weight, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

What do you folks think?

Edit: Ok, so I've been to Lowe's and apparently this won't be much of a problem for sheet rock. The guy there said sheet rock can hold 50 pounds or more. I went and got some special screws called toggles, so I'm going to install those with some brackets and take it from there. I might be back with some new questions tho, and if anybody has a better solution for me, I'd still love to hear it.

[kraskland]

How much do the panels weigh? You're on the right track with toggles, they distribute the weight over a larger area than something like anchor fasteners. Use the larger ones. Also, the more toggles you add, the more weight distribution you'll have. If you can tell where the drywall joints are, you could even straddle two pieces of drywall for even more weight distribution, but I don't think that's necessary. I would start with a toggle on each corner and put the panels where you want them. You can always more toggles if needed.

If you have a spare chunk of drywall laying around, try whacking it with a hammer. It's tough stuff!

Fastening Things to Drywall

[Glenn Kuras]

I went and got some special screws called toggles, so I'm going to install those with some brackets and take it from there. I might be back with some new questions tho, and if anybody has a better solution for me, I'd still love to hear it.

Perfect!!

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by JCBitB

I went and got some special screws called toggles, so I'm going to install those with some brackets and take it from there. I might be back with some new questions tho, and if anybody has a better solution for me, I'd still love to hear it.

#10 sheet rock anchors and #10 hooks...they'll hold up to 50lbs of static weight. If you use four per 244 you're only carrying about 5.5lbs of static load per hook...that's a little over 11% of the allowable load. It'll never come down unless you swing around on it like a monkey.

Frank

[jaaron]

Originally Posted by Weasel9992

#10 sheet rock anchors and #10 hooks...they'll hold up to 50lbs of static weight. If you use four per 244 you're only carrying about 5.5lbs of static load per hook...that's a little over 11% of the allowable load. It'll never come down unless you swing around on it like a monkey.

Frank

Looking to mount some panels from the ceiling myself.
Will a hardware store know what I mean if I ask for a #10 sheet rock anchor and a #10 hook? I've googled the terms, but come up empty. I do of course know what a sheet rock anchor is, just not sure about the #10.
Thanks.

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by jaaron

Looking to mount some panels from the ceiling myself.
Will a hardware store know what I mean if I ask for a #10 sheet rock anchor and a #10 hook? I've googled the terms, but come up empty. I do of course know what a sheet rock anchor is, just not sure about the #10.
Thanks.

They should...the drawers, bags or whatever should be labeled that way as well. By the way, #8 anchors and hooks will also work fine.

Frank

[Glenn Kuras]

I would go with

I went and got some special screws called toggles, so I'm going to install those with some brackets and take it from there. I might be back with some new questions tho, and if anybody has a better solution for me, I'd still love to hear it.

If this is to install our product and don't understand then give us a call (or email) and we will walk you through it.

[greenears]

If I remember, I'll take some pics tonight of my 244 cloud. Hung with materials from Home Depot. Sturdy. Altho I have never swung on it like a monkey.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by greenears

If I remember, I'll take some pics tonight of my 244 cloud. Hung with materials from Home Depot. Sturdy. Altho I have never swung on it like a monkey.

That would be our new Monkey Trap that is not due out until 2015. Stay tuned.

[greenears]

Alright so here ya go. I looked around on the Home Depot site to find the toggle bolt I used but damnit you can't find anything on that site. Then I remembered I had a spare one and went to take a pic and my camera took a shit on me. Then I found a pic on google. Cest la vie.

The first pic shows the trap in full. Second pic shows my hanger construction (toggle bolt above the sheetrock, 2 inch screw with eyelet, S-hook, and a D-ring type deal). Third pic shows the far hanger so you can see better. Fourth pic is the kind of toggle bolt I used, but I used an eyelet screw.

So basically what I did was firstly move all my gear to the other side of the room and covered everything with t-shirts, bandanas, cloth, whatever to keep the dust off. Then drilled holes in the sheetrock. I knew it was gonna be messy but I underestimated how much. I recommend holding a vacuum near the drill bit while drilling to keep you sane. Also make sure your bit is MORE than big enough for the toggle bolt. I cheaped out on the bit to save money and ended up having to drill multiple holes. PITA.

Ok after holes were drilled, I stuck the toggles in them (screw obviously already attached). Then I attached the D-rings to the 244 eyelets. Then hung S-hooks from the ceiling eyelets. Then hung the trap with a friend.

And there you have it.

[greenears]

and just remembered something. You'll notice the far hanger isn't an eyelet screw but rather a hook. That's because I hit a stud on that hole and couldn't jam the toggle up there. So I just screwed that hook into the stud.

[Glenn Kuras]

perfect!

[Rick Sutton]

I just don't trust sheetrock to hold anything but itself up. What I do is to screw a couple of sleepers (1"x2") perpendicular into some actual joists and then screw the attachment points for the clouds to the sleepers.

[greenears]

I'm not a master craftsman but can tell you there's no way my cloud is coming down. I could probably even hang on it and I weigh 175 lbs. When I put the toggles in, I pulled on them as hard as I could and not even so much as a budge. The sheetrock in my ceiling is about 1" thick.

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by greenears

I'm not a master craftsman but can tell you there's no way my cloud is coming down. I could probably even hang on it and I weigh 175 lbs. When I put the toggles in, I pulled on them as hard as I could and not even so much as a budge. The sheetrock in my ceiling is about 1" thick.

That sounds fine. Just thought I'd post an alternate approach as there are people who may attempt to hang up something a little too heavy in a standard constructed ceiling with 1/2" rock and and I can tell you from experience that it is really a mess if one of those toggles pulls through. Also, what may be solid now can deteriorate over the years.

And for heaven's sake, for anyone else following this thread that's thinking of hanging something from a sheetrock ceiling, don't use any kind of expansion device, either the sleeves that go in a hole or the expanding screws. Recipe for disaster.....

[soundslikejoe]

I just started on my cloud and horizontal corners. I found GIK's vertical corner mount video and that worked great but horizontal and ceiling mounting hasn't gone as well. Especially with only Oooks hooks on hand.



Maybe I missed something, or just need to explore the hardware isle better.... I didn't see any rock anchors sold with those type hooks.

[Weasel9992]

The sheet rock anchors will be in the same aisle as toggle bolts, screws and nuts would be. #8 or #10 hooks will be the same aisle and will fit the anchors of the same size numerically.

The way to do it in the wall/ceiling corners is to use sheet rock anchors and hooks or toggle bolts instead of Ooks hooks. Measure out the same way you would with a vertical corner, but use zip ties at the eye screws instead of wire. Works like a frickin' charm.

Frank

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by Rick Sutton

I just don't trust sheetrock to hold anything but itself up. What I do is to
screw a couple of sleepers (1"x2") perpendicular into some actual joists
and then screw the attachment points for the clouds to the sleepers.

Like Rick, I also like to err on the side of over-engineering with something like
suspending heavy objects over my head. If I couldn't screw hooks directly
into the joists I'd go one step further and use T-nuts on the top side of
the sleepers and screw metal-threaded hooks (or whatever) into those. I'd
also use some pretty long and coarse screws to fix the sleepers to the
joists.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/227908598/T_nut.jpg

Paul P

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by PaulP

Like Rick, I also like to err on the side of over-engineering with something like
suspending heavy objects over my head. If I couldn't screw hooks directly
into the joists I'd go one step further and use T-nuts on the top side of
the sleepers and screw metal-threaded hooks (or whatever) into those. I'd
also use some pretty long and coarse screws to fix the sleepers to the
joists.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/227908598/T_nut.jpg

Paul P

I am not going to say it is OVER KILL but I really think toggle bolts are pretty safe. It is not like the panels weight is 60 pounds.

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

I am not going to say it is OVER KILL but I really think toggle bolts are
pretty safe. It is not like the panels weight is 60 pounds.

I can imagine it would take quite a bit of weight to pull a toggle bolt through
sheetrock but there are only a few tiny screw heads keeping the sheet
itself, which is very heavy, attached to the ceiling. Depending on who
installed the sheetrock the screw heads may already be partially through
the sheet.

Your panels may not weigh much but someone might DIY a large trap out
of something like MDF and end up with quite a bit of weight.

I realize that the original question was regarding a specific panel made by
your company but the general nature of the thread's title could mask this.

Paul P

[soundslikejoe]

Personally I just didn't like the idea of using toggles. The hole size would have been too big for me. After spending so many hours "pointing up" my sheetrock, drilling holes wasn't a consideration.

I used a long 2x1. Screwed it into the studs, then attached wood hooks to the board.

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by joenovice

Personally I just didn't like the idea of using toggles. The hole size would have been too big for me. After spending so many hours "pointing up" my sheetrock, drilling holes wasn't a consideration.

I used a long 2x1. Screwed it into the studs, then attached wood hooks to the board.

That'll work just fine! thumbsup

Frank

[Powder Kutz]

IMO- Never trust drywall! Go to the wood....if you have access to the joists then get up there and add some cross pieces and hang from them.

Drywall is strong WHEN ITS DRY! moisture, leaky roof, upstairs neighbors flooding the damn tub will turn it to puddin....i prepare for the worst!

plus If it does rip down you will have a nice mess and a weekend or two patch job!

*O and i have over 5 years com/res construction experience....I've seen things go wrong and i've met a lot of drywaller's i wouldn't let tie my shoe