Mounting Flat Screen on Dot Dab Wall

[gilbertdave]

Hi,

I want to wall mount my 40" inch TV. However, as you may have guessed, I have dot and dab walls and unfortunately, in order for me to mount the TV centrally, it would need to mount on a part of the wall without any brick work behind it.

To make things a bit worse, I want to mount the TV on a cantilver style bracket so that I have the option to swing the TV out and angle it. In the event that we had a full house at home, some of the seats in my living room would not offer a good view of the TV without angling it slightly.

By swinging the TV away from the wall, I would be putting a lot of weight on the wall.

Is this safe, do I need special fixings, or do I just not do it all ?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

[newstuart]

Here is mine.

I cut the plasterboard away enough to fit the bracket direct to the breezeblock behind and used the void between the plasterboard and breezeblock to chase the cables out of the way.


Mine is only a tilting bracket but I would imagine a swinging bracket would pull from the wall when extended and would be safer bolted to something solid.

Just my opinion, hope that helps

[EVH]

I don't understand.. if you have dot and dab then there's breeze block about 40mm behind the plaster, surely?

Try some pilot holes with a small bit (3mm) and poke around... I'm sure you'll find some block.

Failing that you could use a stud/cable finder to locate the wooden studs and mount some MDF board across 2 studs.. essentially acting as a load distributing brace, and mount the TV direct to the MDF.

If you do have brick behind.. ignore ^^ and cut out the plaster and mount directly to the block as newstuart mentioned.. it's also what I'll be doing when my plasma arrives (see my thread)

[gilbertdave]

Thanks for the pics Newstuart. They look like they will help !

EVS... Its possible that my understanding of dot dab isn't right. I had assumbed there where breeze block piles set about 600mm apart and the plaster board simply spans them. Which, would leave a void in between ?

I think the thing that has come from reading around these forums is that whatever happens, I can mount my TV using a cantilever mount,... it just depends how much work I have to do to get it secure.

Once I have a bracket I will start drilling some prosecting holes and see what turns up !

[EVH]

Originally Posted by gilbertdave

Thanks for the pics Newstuart. They look like they will help !

EVS... Its possible that my understanding of dot dab isn't right. I had assumbed there where breeze block piles set about 600mm apart and the plaster board simply spans them. Which, would leave a void in between ?

I think the thing that has come from reading around these forums is that whatever happens, I can mount my TV using a cantilever mount,... it just depends how much work I have to do to get it secure.

Once I have a bracket I will start drilling some prosecting holes and see what turns up !

You're understanding is incorrect, but that's a good thing...

Traditionally, plasterboard is/was attached to wooden battons or "studs" (usually for internal partition walls where there is nothing solid to start on), however dot and dab can be used because it's easier (possibly quicker?) to do when you want to cover breeze block walls. The plasterboard is basically glued to breeze block using lumps of special adhesive. It is the thickness of this adhesive that gives the illusion that the plasterboard has a gap behind it. It can be anywhere from 5mm upwards, depending on the folks who put it up.

If you have old stone walls (without sufficient damp proofing) you'll be able to see darker patches or blobs on the plasterboard where the adhesive carries moisture through the walls. We have this in places in our house because it's an old barn.

I'm sure if you cut a section of the plasterboard out you'll be able to mount directly in to the blocks with some nice fixings, then it won't matter what you want to do.. it won't be going anywhere

Hope that explains it better.