Stud wall Identification

[antispam246]

First post and new to anything DIY.

Moved into our first home, 2007 build and have put up a fair few wall mounted shelves and heavy objects, I'm now stuck with something.

I want to wall mount a book shelf that has 3 tiers and 7 fixing points.
https://secretsales-prod-product-im...139055/1e4eeef4997d38827b2c536181e0485a_l.jpg

The wall is interior and "I think" it's a metal stud wall, however I'm not 100% as I'm new to this. Ideally, if it is I want to hit as many studs as I can for support.

I've been using a magnetic stud finder, mostly to avoid anything I shouldn't be hitting but now I'm more familiar with studs and wanting to mount something heavier I need to find them to hit, especially if it's a metal stud wall.

My main question is, without opening up the wall how the hell can I really tell?
How do I know it's a metal stud or it's a pipe or something else I shouldn't be hitting?
How do I know if the metal stud is actually a metal plate protecting something, it's there as a warning not to drill further?

It's really confusing me. I don't want to damage the wall too much. I've taken a socket plate off to try and see behind but it has a plastic back plate that doesn't look like it can be removed, no screws and there's no gap to see through.

Here's the wall

If I run the magnet from top to bottom of the wall it sticks all the way where the white lines are (right from ceiling to floor), and it's like this every 17.5". The black dots represent where it's a very strong magnetic pull, these are random. At first I figured this could possibly be metal plating joining the studs which is why it was stronger. I'm not sure.

Believing I should hit the metal stud, I took the centre most point having lined up my book shelf previously and drilled, not to pierce the metal but to see what it was beyond the plaster.

You can't really make it out but it's light coloured metal, like aluminium but solid, doesn't really help. But this is what it would be like behind each black circle where magnetism was strongest. I don't know if it's part of the stud or protecting something.

The wall I'm going into is interior and divides 2 bedrooms on the first floor.

I just wish there was an easy way to identify this beyond getting a really expensive stud detector or cutting through the plaster to see properly. I've considered going into the loft but it would still mean cutting through.

I have a wide array of fixtures for this and although I'd ideally like to hit a stud or too, I do have hollow wall anchors winged type fixings for plasterboard. So I could just avoid all metalic pings and just use the plasterboard.

Any thoughts or help here greatly appreciated.[/img]

 

[ree]

Can you condense your post to a few initial sentences?

 

[antispam246]

Can you condense your post to a few initial sentences?

Sorry is that a joke, or is the formatting not working on a device you're viewing it on?

In simple terms,

How can I tell if my interior wall has metal studs or if it's cabling, piping without opening the wall up?

What's the best way to mount my shelving unit based on the above information, hit the metal studs (if they are) or avoid all metal and use plasterboard anchors.

 

[IJWS15]

The odds are that the only metal pipework you have will be within a couple of meters of the boiler - everywhere else is likely to be plastic.


Fixings into steel studs are not that strong as the screws can easily pull through the thin steel. In our house wherever then needed more strength there is wood inside the steel section.

It is likely that what you have found are the studs but check BOTH sides of the wall for sockets/lights which will tell you where the cables could be and radiators which will tell you roughly where pipes will be.

Use lots of fixings for a bookcase to spread the load.

I hate steel studs.

 

[antispam246]

Thank you. I checked both walls, and there are no radiators and the sockets are not within the vertical of where the shelving would be mounted.

It's probably just being very new at this which is what's making me overly cautious. That being said, I have just notched up 7 holes to be drilled outside the metal findings. I'm going to use heavy duty rawlplugs on the plasterboard.

I think it'll be fine as it's not the heaviest of shelving systems and there's always going to be a time when you can not hit or there are no studs to play with. If the load seems like it's too much at anypoint I can still bolster it up byt trying for a metal stud without having to move it as it covers 2 runs or what I believe they are.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Sorry is that a joke, or is the formatting not working on a device you're viewing it on?

No, there are plenty of better and more concisely written threads on here worthy of answering before some rambling one gets attention.

 

[antispam246]

Sorry is that a joke, or is the formatting not working on a device you're viewing it on?

No, there are plenty of better and more concisely written threads on here worthy of answering before some rambling one gets attention.

Wow, really? Firstly you're contradicting yourself by merely posting in the thread. Secondly, first post, new to DIY, hands up, I'm sorry my rambling was to hard to decipher. I was trying to be as detailed as possible so anyone that was kind enough to help out wouldn't have to waste time asking this and that.

Figured DIY and frustration go hand in hand a few rambling lines doesn't really merit pointing out

 

[Andyc84]

Once you have spent some time on here you will know to ignor a few people who aren't as helpful as others.

Also if you hadn't posted that much info, you will have had all the questions anyway, so you won't win.

Just ignor some comments and move on, there is nothing you can do about it in a public forum.

That said, good luck with the shelving.