Will this keep my ceiling from falling?

[PjPip]

Finally got around to ordering a screen to replace the tripod mount one we've been using for the past 7/8 months.

It's obviously going on the ceiling and I've been umming and ahhing for ages about how I would secure it. Lifting the floorboards above is not practical and I'm not completely convinced that cavity fixings straight into the ceiling will not give me sleeples nights waiting for the crash!

My plan is to secure a bit of wood (18x95x2400mm) into 3 maybe 4 of the joists across the ceiling then secure the screen (8.5kg) into that using Rawl metal self drive fixings (LINK HERE) . The data sheet on the fixing says they're good for 8kg in 12.5mm plasterboard, so I should think 4 of them into the batten and ceiling should prove safe enough?

Anyone got any warnings, comments or life-savers before I start screwing??

[F1Boy]

Hi,

The metal self-drive fixings are superb...for use in plasterboard WALLS.

The reason they work so well is because, as you may know, they dispurse the load over a greater area than if using a standard screw - the load is acting as a sheer force - perpendicular to the surface (wall). They wouldn't work to hang stuff from the ceiling as I think they would just rip out (it doesn't take a lot to overtighten them into walls and gouge out all the plaster!). They wouldnt work at all into wood as it is far too dense.

Your idea of fixing a wooden sheet to the joists then screen to that is perfect - all you would need is regular (long) chipboard screws for both joins.

[PjPip]

Thanks for the advice, wood support is up with 6 x 3" screws into 3 joists (hopefully, stud detector wasn't the greatest in the world!!). DRH told me the screen should be despatched today so it should arrive sometime tomorrow

The wood seems pretty solid, so I don't think 8.5kg will stress it too much anyway.