Hanging a dryer to a tiled wall with no studs

[Deems36]

Howdy all,

As the title suggests Im hanging a dryer to a tiled wall where the studs cant be found.

My fault should have planned ahead when stripping and roughing in for the pluming and electrical.

The wall tiles have been glued to fibro -I have already fixed the bracket to the wall by drilling and fixing 7 short fat screws via green plugs.

As I sit back and look at the bracket it looks rock solid and feels rock solid but Im still uncertain if it will take the dryer with a full load.

Perhaps liquid nails behind the bracket will help ?

The bracket is about 600mm wide 50mm tall with to teeth to grab the dryer with.

Your comments please.

[Ashore]

Take a long drill that will fit between tiles 1/8", 3/16" etc..., drill through grout , easily replaced later , drill along horozintal line between tiles till you find studs, mark tiles with felt pen where studs are , re-grout as necessary .
Affix brackets into studs , or run batton on wall into studs and fix dryier to the batton , Not a big problem and once you find the studs you rest easy at night .

Love the changes to the BB but still can't say ******-****


Rgds
Russell



Useless infomation for the day

Virginity like bubble, one prick, all gone.

[maglite]

I have the problem........sort off.
No tiles on wall, gyprock only and cant find or rember where the studs were.
If i used gravity toggles or similar, would they hold the weight of the dryer plus a load of wet clothes.
I really dont wish to head down the batten on wall path if i can help it.
Any advice appreciated.

Steve

[Gaza]

we put 3x1 pine on the wall about 1.2mt long so that we can screw to the studs then screw fix the bracket to the pine.

This problem is not un common and i have herd stories about dryers falling off with a full load of washing,

[Fordy]

I agree on hang dryer onto studs or batten fixed to studs. Can't see plugs being strong enough for dryer and wet load at all..

[Deems36]

I agree on hang dryer onto studs or batten fixed to studs. Can't see plugs being strong enough for dryer and wet load at all..

Problem is that the studs are spaced 700mm apart and the bracket is around 600mm and happens to sit perfectly centre of the studs on either side.

The height or postiton of the dryer cant change-I really needed to batton internally prior to tiling.

The outside of the house has been cladded on top of the old fibro- lifting the external cladding, cutting the fibro to insert a batton could get quite messy.

I could fix a batton to the studs either side of the dryer on the outside - but that would like untidy in a newly renovated laundry/bathroom.

If its the only option then its the only option.

Was hoping someone would be aware of another method.

Cheers

What to do?

[Iain]

You can make the batten an attractive feature with a bit of tarting up, stain and poly.
I went down that track many moons ago and the dryer DID fall off the wall, and it DID punch a hole in the top of the washing machine, and the wall then the door.
The icing on the cake was that the insurance did not cover it as it was not the result of a break in or vandalism and I was about $700 out of pocket.

[Deems36]

You can make the batten an attractive feature with a bit of tarting up, stain and poly.
I went down that track many moons ago and the dryer DID fall off the wall, and it DID punch a hole in the top of the washing machine, and the wall then the door.
The icing on the cake was that the insurance did not cover it as it was not the result of a break in or vandalism and I was about $700 out of pocket.

My probe for an easy fix does not seem viable :D

After reading your post I dont think ill be taking my chances.

Ill weigh up how much time it will take to batton ineternally as apposed to externally and go from there.

Thanks fellas.

[Dr Dee]

Don't even think about not being sure the dryer is securely fixed. Murphy will be observing carefully and happy to provide a surprise. I have seen a case where Mum was putting wet washing in a wall mounted dryer when it let go. It pushed her sideways but it took her little daughter who was helping mummy, 18 months to be able to walk again.

If you can get to the external wall, I would neatly cut the external cladding, put in a solid piece of timber and run bolts through to mount the bracket or whatever. A bit of work but will make sure an accident you would regret for the rest of your life never happens.

cheers

[Theremin]

I agree. It's not just the weight of the dryer and wet clothes, but also the constant movement and vibration that will shake it loose. Our dryer is fixed to a concrete block wall. The mounting bracket was supplied with two smallish-looking dynabolts, which I promptly threw in the spares draw and replaced with two meaty 12mm dynabolts that aren't going anywhere! :D

[DavidG]

Drill right through the wall and put a piece of wood on the outside wider than the stud spacing. Bolt right through and it won't be going anywhere.

[adrian]

Ashore is spot on. Use a small drill bit to drill through the grout and find the studs. You can re-grout and no-one will be the wiser.

[Pulse]

If it is 6mm villaboard you may get away with toggle bolts. If the load was spread over a large area and the sheet was firmly fastened to the studs it would be difficult for a dryer to pull a hole in the wall. Other option is a neat piece of threaded rod from the top of the machine into a ceiling rafter.

cheers
Pulse

[Deems36]

Murphys law - thanks Dr Dee hit a nerve.

I decided that If I was to do it properly then I would do it the way it should have been done to begin- that way at least I wouldnt be kicking myself for not thinking of it from the start :eek: ( yes I know I find that hard to believe myself)

I removed 3 tiles (200x300) fixed a 90x90 batton to the existing studs and a few smaller battons to fix the section of fibro needed to tile on.

The tiles are in. Ill grout this arvo and fix the dryer bracket in a few days.

Thank you all for getting me off my ass and motivating me to doing it the right way!

Cheers

[Iain]

getting me off my ass
Leave my beasties out of it thankyou :rolleyes:

[Tools]

Good job deems,glad you did it the right way.You will be happy you did in the long run.Just one question though....why are your studs at 700 between them?WAs this place built by a registered builder?I suspect not,and I also suspect that the frame wasn't inspected either.

Tools

[Deems36]

The house itself appears to have been built in the late 50's all hard wood frame. The laundry was gutted a year ago, old window removed and new frame inserted for the new aluminium window. I suspct that when framing up for the new window the orginal stud was cut out to accomadate the smaller frame.

To be honest I cant exactly remember why it ended up this way especialy considering that the dryer was going to be fixed along side the window.

The rest of the house studs are spaced out at 550 or 600mm.

We have renovated this house from front door to back and the laundry is the last room to the project. Myself (former landscaper) and father ( cabinet maker) have done all the work and in hindsight we left our best
<expletive> ups for last.

[Jon]

I have had to mount our dryer in a pos that meant that I could only pick up one stud. To provide the additional support I used a piece of flat steel bar as a batton. It is probably only 5mm thick so not too obtrusive.

Jon