how to mount with no wall studs

[enaberif]

I actually checked that out on my wall and they are not 24" centers either. which I suspected at first I went from a wall plugin and measured and there is nothing back in the 1980s at least in BC they had to be built 16" centers allot of older homes where 24" centers but I never ran into any even homes built early 1960s. the building I currently live in I am sure was an old small hospital type place judging by the occupied slider on my bathroom door which is in my Bach suit. lol

Gotta be studs in there somewhere haha. May look in smaller increments? No way a wall is supported on something over 24" safely.

 

[SugarJ]

Structural wood framed walls are usually 16" on center, but can be 12". Partition walls that don't support roof can be up to 24" spacing. If you can find one stud, check at 12", 18", 19.2" and 24". 19.2" is an oddball (96" divided by 5) that used to be used for floor joist spacing and is marked on some imperial tape measures so some framers use it for partition wall spacing.



Otherwise, you could cut a small strip out of the drywall to find the studs, then patch and paint. Or cut a larger spot out and use 1/2" or 5/8" plywood as backing depending on whether it's 1/2" or 5/8" drywall.

 

[Sagath]

If the house is that old, I'm surprised it's drywall at all and not plaster. Which could explain why you can't find a stud. It could be someone at some point drywalled OVER the plaster.

Does your stud finder do various depths? Mine will do up to 2", which has come in quite handy for my friends duplex fire wall (double 5/8ths drywall on the shared before the studs). It may just be you have to go deeper. If you can't, I'd definitely cut a 4"X4" hole and take a look.

 

[dustin1706]

I've done lots of renos of homes from the 50's through the 80's and I suspect that it is as Sagath suggests. Guaranteed you've got studs back there in the range of 16-24". It is possible that one or two of them have bits cut out for duct work or the like. Lots of custom built older homes would use double drywall in generally 3/8" or 1/2" thickness. The first sheet being screwed in, the second sheet being glued on to increase sound dampening and make the mudding easier. This makes it tough for a basic internal capacitor detector to find as they generally only work to a depth of ~3/4". More advanced models with better depth detection do exist, as do magnetic detectors that will locate the screws used to secure the drywall. All that said, you can generally find a stud by pressing into the wall with your body weight (to ensure there are no gaps between the layers of drywall and stud), then tapping on the drywall with your knuckles and listen for the higher pitch / more attenuated sound where the studs are. This should get you +/- an inch either side of the stud.

Definitely do not hang a TV with threaded/press in plastic drywall anchors (aka drywall mollys). Toggle bolts are relatively inexpensive, hold much more weight and are much more reliable long term. Personally I always like to hit at least one stud for something as heavy as a 60"+TV and I've never encountered a situation without at least 1-2 in a 60" span.

 

[FreeKnight]

... The first sheet being screwed in, the second sheet being glued on to increase sound dampening and make the mudding easier.

...

I can picture the sound deadening, but how would that make mudding easier? You'd still have the same number of seams (possibly a double on corners depending on overlap). I'm not disagreeing to be a jerk or anything, I'm genuinely curious how that would help with mudding?

 

[enaberif]

I can picture the sound deadening, but how would that make mudding easier? You'd still have the same number of seams (possibly a double on corners depending on overlap). I'm not disagreeing to be a jerk or anything, I'm genuinely curious how that would help with mudding?

You only mud one side. The back side is not.

 

[Lpfan4ever]

I can picture the sound deadening, but how would that make mudding easier? You'd still have the same number of seams (possibly a double on corners depending on overlap). I'm not disagreeing to be a jerk or anything, I'm genuinely curious how that would help with mudding?

No countless drywall screws to cover over, sand, etc.

 

[dustin1706]

I can picture the sound deadening, but how would that make mudding easier? You'd still have the same number of seams (possibly a double on corners depending on overlap). I'm not disagreeing to be a jerk or anything, I'm genuinely curious how that would help with mudding?

You only mud one side. The back side is not.

No screwholes to mud. Nice lightweight drywall drills or even dimple/setter tools for corded power drills weren't really a thing until surprisingly recent history. Also, going back into the 60s some builders nailed rather than screwed the drywall (I think just due to the cost and availability of power tools), so the first sheet was sometimes a bit beat up.

I could never actually figure out why this was a thing until doing renos in the grandparents house a decade ago, which was a custom build from ~67. The guy who owned the company that built it was still alive and being a small town I was actually able to ask him about some of the (to me) odd ways the drywall, electrical etc. were done.

 

[enaberif]

No screwholes to mud. Nice lightweight drywall drills or even dimple/setter tools for corded power drills weren't really a thing until surprisingly recent history. Also, going back into the 60s some builders nailed rather than screwed the drywall (I think just due to the cost and availability of power tools), so the first sheet was sometimes a bit beat up.

I could never actually figure out why this was a thing until doing renos in the grandparents house a decade ago, which was a custom build from ~67. The guy who owned the company that built it was still alive and being a small town I was actually able to ask him about some of the (to me) odd ways the drywall, electrical etc. were done.

The nail thing is actually a big problem in old places cause they start to push out and causes a lot of work.

 

[FreeKnight]

I guess I never considered screw holes that big a chore, definitely less work than mounting a second layer of drywall....

But if they were using hammers and nails or really butchering the screws in and you had to do a lot of work that makes a little more sense to me.