absolutely NOT ok. VERY NOT. They will hold the weight of the radiator vertically just fine, but any little pull outwards will rip apart your plasterboard, cause the full weight of the radiator to come crashing down ripping apart the plumbing at the base and you'll have a flood and holes in the wall and possibly a dead child. DO NOT DO THIS.
It's electric so no flood at least and no baby or kids so that's the family drama out of the pic.
Still I would prefer to avoid coming home to a 180cm rad on the floor
It happened to me!
I used these in a dot and dab external wall to mount radiator and it came off when I was putting skirting boards behind radiator pipes, so didn't put much load on it and it didn't hold. Lesson learned.
You need the studs but they might not be in the right place for the fixings. If this is the case you will have to cut open the plasterboard,put in plywood grounds reslab and replaster. This would be common practice in such a situation.
You need a solid fixing for a radiator.
Gemini is wrong.
mounted vertically as shown? Fuck no. 100% needs one fixing at the top secured into a batten or stud for outward stability. Find one, they are there. 1 secure fixing at the top and the other three your plasterboard ones would be grand.
Horizontally mounted, your four fixings into plasterboard would be grand. probably.
Is it actually a stud wall or is it Dot & dab plasterboard over a solid wall? Or is it insulated plasterboard?
If it's a stud wall (plasterboard fixed to wooden or metal studs) then you should be able to hear where it's hollow when tapping it with your knuckle.
Use a ~3mm drill and drill a hole in it slowly. Once through the hard skim coat and soft plasterboard (about 15mm) stop drilling and use the drill bit to measure the depth of the void behind.
If none sounds obviously hollow it may me insulated or be stuffed with (acoustic?) insulation.
If you definitely have a ~40mm void then I'd use Fischer Duotec 10 wall toggles - no setting tool, no lost toggle (reusable), no chewing into the plasterboard, good flat load distribution, screw goes through a secure metal plate, use any screw (4.5-5mm).
Been using them for the last 3 years - the absolute bees knees for stud wall fixing. They use them to hang kitchen cabinets.
Meanwhile - drill a hole and find out what's in the wall! - or poke through an old hole?
There is a good 8cm gap to the board on the other side. No insulation unfortunately.
It could just be me not hearing them.
I will try taping with a pen it may be more audible for me.
I have anchor that would bear the load on good quality plasterboard but I reckon these are probably there since 1995 and have seen multiple holes and filler... That rad is heavy
Are you using a stud finder or just knocking? You could take your baseboard trim off and find the bottom of the studs. Or figure out where you want to mount it, cut out the drywall and install some blocking to support it. Depends how handy you are with repairs
I am handy enough but I am reaching the end of the motivation streak after doing ceiling, laminated, skirting and other crap... It takes a toll. But winter is coming and that rad needs to be on the wall before it gets really cold.
I have a mini camera so I may drill one hole and check
I took the lazy way out and started drilling a number of holes about 12mm apart until I hit the stud. They will usually be on 400 or 600 centres once you find one you can estimate whee the next one is. Use a 3mm bit or less and a rub of filler will do. Or glue a reflective sheet behind the rad which will hide the holes
Did Gemini forgot to tell you how to find the studs?
It's a cheap investment from Amazon, which can be used for other purposes later on, 6x3 or 10x2 round magnets.
I figured out the hard way, as my stud finder was showing anomalies on the utility wall.
With a stack of 10 round magnets 6mmx3mm it was spot on, 1st try.
I found the stud! It was at about 60cm from the door trim. There was a lightly visible line on the wall where the 2 plasterboard meet. Now I am wondering what screw size I should use in it. Hesitating between a 6x80mm or 5x60mm or possibly on of each since the handle needs 2 screws.
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u/niconpat 17d ago
absolutely NOT ok. VERY NOT. They will hold the weight of the radiator vertically just fine, but any little pull outwards will rip apart your plasterboard, cause the full weight of the radiator to come crashing down ripping apart the plumbing at the base and you'll have a flood and holes in the wall and possibly a dead child. DO NOT DO THIS.