Fixing/supporting wood to a wall ??

[smudgester]

Hi all,

I have a DIY conundrum which I am struggling to find an adequate solution for.

I have two bits of 2m long 1" x 3" wood. One of these has already been firmly attached to an outside wall on my house using 2", size 6, screw right through the wood and into the, rawl plugged, brick work [ and is not going anywhere anytime soon

]. The other piece needs to be attached to the first so that (a) it can swing out, from one end, so that it becomes perpendicular to the wall and (b) can, also, just sit in front of the other piece. I also need something that will keep the two pieces together in scenario (b) so that hinge just doesn't open out slightly.

I figured this would just require a hinge, at one end, and a supporting 'leg' at the other end and this was all working well for about a day but then the hinge just gave way bringing the 'outer' piece of wood down.

I am presuming that my hinge and leg just weren't up to the task but am struggling in terms of what I should be looking for. The first 'leg' was 34mm x 34mm - which I thought would be adequate - but maybe a more solid 2" x 2" would be better. ? It is mainly the hinge that I am really struggling with - or whether a hinge is the best option in the first place ?

Any expert [ or just more expert than me

] DIY-ers got any ideas ?

 

[JohnD]

A picture would help enormously.

Ard you making a gate? Or a folding support for a worktop?

What sort of hinges are you using?

Why are you using a screw that only penetrates one inch into the wall?

 

[smudgester]

Ok so this is for outdoor projector screen, setup in such a way that - primarily - the screen (and thus the viewing position) can be in one of 2 positions; parallel to the wall or perpendicular to it.

The first hinge I used was a simple butt/barrel hinge - not sure of the material but it definitely wasn't pure steel if that makes sense. Maybe a t-hinge would be better ? Or somebody has suggested a strap hinge would be better still ?

As for the the length of the screws used to attach to the wall, from I gathered online - to attach an n" thick piece of wood to a wall you use a (n x 2)" screw. Is that not correct ? TBH, I am very happy with the how the 'fixed' piece of wood is attached to the wall.

 

[KenGMac]

Any use?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/adjustable-folding-bracket-silver-400-x-272mm-2-pack/56422

 

[smudgester]

Any use?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/adjustable-folding-bracket-silver-400-x-272mm-2-pack/56422

Yeah, I thinking about those - though they only give two options - I think - parallel or perpendicular. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing; at least it would offer a way of keeping the 'hinge' perpendicular.

 

[^woody^]

Perhaps a thick heavy duty paste table hinge top and bottom, and a magnetic catch the other end like a caravan door holder.

 

[smudgester]

Perhaps a thick heavy duty paste table hinge top and bottom, and a magnetic catch the other end like a caravan door holder.

Possibly. As looking at it again I don't think a t-hinge is going to do the job as I can see there is some considerable amount of play in the hinge (possibly even more than there was in the original, smaller, barrel/butt hinge)

 

[foxhole]

Possibly. As looking at it again I don't think a t-hinge is going to do the job as I can see there is some considerable amount of play in the hinge (possibly even more than there was in the original, smaller, barrel/butt hinge)

Woody did not mention a t hinge ?

 

[smudgester]

I know - I was pointing out the current solution I am trying was using a t-hinge; which wasn't working either.

I think the main problem I have is that ... I am effectively talking about trying to have 2 pieces of 2m x 1" x 3" of wood, hinged together along the 3" side, and then suspended about 2m above the ground via one of them being securely fixed to a brick wall and the other having a 2" x 2" supporting leg at the non-hinged end. But some point(s) in that setup is not getting enough support. A sort of right-angled triangle but without the hypotenuse.

I can't work out if the issue is the hinge or whether it needs some other type of support/brace between the non-hinged ends (ie the hypotenuse) or both of these things. Currently there is nothing to stop either a barrel or tee hinge from opening out beyond a right angle [ which the brackets @KenGMac linked to would fix ] but would solving that be enough ?

 

[smudgester]

OK, so replacing the hinge with the kind of brackets KenGMac suggested makes the whole structure a lot more stable. Just need to give the supporting leg some feet and I think it's done.

Thanks all the help folks.