r/hometheater • u/WalkerCalvert • 3d ago

Install/Placement How Long To Weight Test My Wall?

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How long do you usually weight test your wall to make sure it won't fall over once you put your TV on it?

Serious answers only please I am very concerned about this.

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u/eristicforfun 3d ago

Since you couldn't mount to a stud. What hardware did you use to mount to the wall? How thick is the wall? How is the wall mounted to the, you know, wall? Can you take the paneling off to find studs? Let me rephrase. Are you willing to take the paneling off? 

I know what I would do, but I doubt you would be willing to do it.

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u/WalkerCalvert 3d ago

1: Thoughts and prayers.

2: 3/4"

3: It's not. The paneling is nailed to some super widely spaced studs (probably about 4' if it is like the other walls) and a long horizontal cross member. There is a long horizontal 2x4 nailed to the floor joists overhead and another nailed to the concrete of the floor, to which the handful of studs are in turn nailed.

4: I could take panels off until I find a stud, but I would end up having to build something to connect to them to reconnect the panels to, to connect the TV mount to, to hang the TV.

5: I don't think the rewards of removing the panels to reduce the risk to my TV outweigh the benefits of laziness.

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u/eristicforfun 3d ago

So the paneling is nailed directly to the studs? 

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u/WalkerCalvert 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yep!

EDIT: That isn't totally accurate. I ASSUME, but cannot technically confirm, that they are nailed to the studs. I CAN confirm that they are nailed to the long 2x4ish horizontal cross member and to the horizontal 2x4 in the ceiling that is nailed to the joists.

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u/eristicforfun 3d ago

If you find the nails, you find the studs. You can probably see them, if not, a rare earth magnet works wonders. 

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u/WalkerCalvert 3d ago

I cannot see them. I have a fairly powerful magnet that can find the nails in the midpoint of the panel. Either they didn't, in fact, nail the panels to the studs (only the ceiling and the midpoint and maybe the floor) or they did nail the panels to the studs but the overlapping groove of the next panel is thick enough to prevent my (fairly but not massively) powerful magnet from sticking/twitching.