# Forum Home Renovation Television, Computers & Phones  Wall mounting TV, trouble finding studs (fibro walls).

## Slapnut

Hey everyone, 
I'm looking at wall mounting a tv to the wall bellow.  
However, I'm having trouble finding studs. I have never wall mounted or ever found any studs before. I have tried two different stud detectors that have both given me completely inconsistent readings or no readings at all, does anyone have advice on how to go about doing this? I'm on the verge of just nailing into the wall and guessing where studs are to try and find them. 
Also on a side note as the house is quite old probably ~1950s and it appears that the wall is fibro (I also don't know what you call the timber cladding? or whatever under the fibro). As such I am going to assume there is a good chance that asbestos may be present, Is drilling, nailing, or attaching a wall mounting for a tv going to pose a health risk?

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## Bros

I've had no problems with stud finder. As for the fibro it would have asbestos but no one can tell you for absolute certainty about it being a health hazard to drill a couple of holes (I would expect it would be for 10g screws) as they say there are only two certainties in life. 
Me, I would wet the wall above the hole and catch and discard the shavings.

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## droog

> Hey everyone, 
> I'm looking at wall mounting a tv to the wall bellow. 
> However, I'm having trouble finding studs. I have never wall mounted or ever found any studs before. I have tried two different stud detectors that have both given me completely inconsistent readings or no readings at all, does anyone have advice on how to go about doing this? I'm on the verge of just nailing into the wall and guessing where studs are to try and find them. 
> Also on a side note as the house is quite old probably ~1950s and it appears that the wall is fibro (I also don't know what you call the timber cladding? or whatever under the fibro). As such I am going to assume there is a good chance that asbestos may be present, Is drilling, nailing, or attaching a wall mounting for a tv going to pose a health risk?

  Are you tried using the stud finder above the VJ panelling ? 
You may also be able to pick up a row of nails in the panel above with glancing light.

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## r3nov8or

How heavy is the TV? Newer ones are generally much lighter than the early flat screens. A bunch of toggle screws will hold it up, and it's easy to test by hanging weights before you hang the TV. Whether you should drill this stuff, no one here can say...

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## METRIX

A good place to start is that beading above the VJ, there should be a stud behind that, then every 450 or 600 from either side there will be another one. 
You can run a magnet over the flat sheeting to find the nails holding it up, each nail will be in a stud.
I assume you are not going to conceal the wiring inside the cavity ?, as you would need to open up some bigger holes to do that. 
Depending on what TV you are hanging, really depends on the types of fixings you need to hold it up, the studs will most likely be hardwood looking at the age of the place, so some decent steel fixings are the go, with pre-drill so you don't snap the fixings.. 
A few large wafer head batten screws will suffice, as the heads are flat, I think Bunnings do them in 75mm, these screws are good as they have a flat head so the head also acts as a large washer the bracket will run over two studs so 4 fixings should do what you need.

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## joynz

Yes, disturbing asbestos is going to pose a health risk.   
Get it tested.   
And if it’s asbestos, I suggest you don’t wall mount the TV.

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## toooldforthis

> A good place to start is that beading above the VJ, there should be a stud behind that, then every 450 or 600 from either side there will .... [snip]

   :Iagree:  
you should be able to tap on the fibro/asbestos - studs will feel solid, no stud will be drummy.
as others said drill asbestos with precautions.

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## UseByDate

I have no experience of house building in Australia in the 1950s but I suspect that stud spacing would not have been in mm (metric). The normal stud spacing for Imperial units is either 16 inches or 24 inches.

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## r3nov8or

I've not found any hits suggesting that VJ panelling contained asbestos, only timber (natural or Masonite).  
Anyone?

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## toooldforthis

> I've not found any hits suggesting that VJ panelling contained asbestos, only timber (natural or Masonite).  
> Anyone?

  I just assumed he wanted to mount the TV above the dado since mounting it there wouldn't be an issue.
but assume does things to one. 
we can just talk amongst ourselves til s/he returns, or not.

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## METRIX

> I just assumed he wanted to mount the TV above the dado since mounting it there wouldn't be an issue.
> but assume does things to one. 
> we can just talk amongst ourselves til s/he returns, or not.

  
Mounting it above the dado would be way too high for a wall mounted TV, normally the centre of the screen is at eye level when sitting, otherwise you will end up with a sore neck.

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## r3nov8or

> Mounting it above the dado would be way too high for a wall mounted TV, normally the centre of the screen is at eye level when sitting, otherwise you will end up with a sore neck.

  Yeah, agree above the dado is way too high (unless this place is to be a pub/club!  :Smilie:  )  
... And yes, best we wait until they return (1 post and counting)

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## JB1

> Mounting it above the dado would be way too high for a wall mounted TV, normally the centre of the screen is at eye level when sitting, otherwise you will end up with a sore neck.

  One of my pet peeves. 
Above the fireplace also. 
pa

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## METRIX

> One of my pet peeves. 
> Above the fireplace also. 
> pa

  Yep, it' makes the fireplace look terrible, and surely the heat has to damage the TV eventually.

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## toooldforthis

> One of my pet peeves. 
> Above the fireplace also.

  me too, don't understand why ppl put them up so high.
but if OP wanted to mount it on the dado then they wouldn't be asking the question about finding studs? and their concerns about asbestos?

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## droog

> me too, don't understand why ppl put them up so high.
> but if OP wanted to mount it on the dado then they wouldn't be asking the question about finding studs? and their concerns about asbestos?

  I would always look for studs even with dado boards, that is why I asked if he had checked above the panelling. Most stud finders are useless unless you have plasterboard or horsehair plaster, try using one on lathe and plaster. 
When (if) we hear back from the OP then we will know. Maybe they are out of action after a TV fell on them. 😁

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## JB1

> me too, don't understand why ppl put them up so high.
> but if OP wanted to mount it on the dado then they wouldn't be asking the question about finding studs? and their concerns about asbestos?

  While the dangers of Asbestos is real, I think it can be overblown. 
Wear mask, drill 4 small holes and wipe down wall and floor of dust down with damp cloth and dispose of cloth (twice).  
If you're doing this as a one off job, you're more likely to die by lightning than by affected by Asbestosis. 
pa

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## toooldforthis

> While the dangers of Asbestos is real, I think it can be overblown. 
> Wear mask, drill 4 small holes and wipe down wall and floor of dust down with damp cloth and dispose of cloth (twice).  
> If you're doing this as a one off job, you're more likely to die by lightning than by affected by Asbestosis. 
> pa

  I agree

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## Slapnut

Hey everyone, 
Sorry for the late reply, I have been kind of indisposed. Firstly, thank you for all the responses. To clear some things up I was looking at wall mounting the tv on the VJ area of the wall and running wires in the same area of the wall. 
Forgive me because I have no real understanding of construction or dyi at all. Is there fibro underneath the VJ? or is it just the interior of the wall behind the VJ. 
Im also still trying to find the studs reliably (the stud finder I tried was completely useless over the VJ and just completely inconsistent over the fibro).  There is an obvious row of nails in the fibro (I have attached a picture of this and put a red line in the original picture where the row of nails is) but the space between the nails is kind of all over the place, ranging from 18cm to 29cm.  
I got a magnet and have found some nails in the VJ skirting. In the top part there seems to be a couple of nails a lot more spaced out between 45cm to 95cm. The bottom skirting seems to be varied as well with the space between nails ranging from 25cm to 60cm.

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## METRIX

Yes there is most likely the fibro behind the VJ, typically VJ has been added at a later stage and just put over the top of the fibro.
Can you try the stud finder from the other side of the wall ?, fibro especially the old stuff is often quite difficult for a stud finder to work through as it's too dense for most of them to work reliably. 
If it's a cheap stud finder forget it. 
I would try from the back side of the wall with a magnet, this is the most reliable. 
Do you want to run the wires "inside" the wall so these are concealed, as this presents a few problems, 
You will have to make some bigger holes in the fibro, which is not recommended, I don't have an issue with drilling a few small holes for the bracket as these can be done safely using a small drill bit and a spray bottle of water. 
Breaking a larger hole to get wiring in and out of is a different story particularly if you have no real idea of DIY or building construction.  
Also there will be a set of noggins located somewhere in the wall, these are timbers between the studs, and will impeded you dropping any wires from up higher to be able to retrieve them at a lower point in the wall.
Solution for these types of installs is to install a surface mount cable cover and have the wiring inside this, yes it does look ugly but may be the only choice, paint it the wall colour to conceal it. 
Below is your typical stud wall, not the noggins, could be one set or two, who knows.   
Typical cable covers, once painted probably won't notice it

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## toooldforthis

as Metrix said.
and just to trip you up sometimes chippies did offset noggins.

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## METRIX

> as Metrix said.
> and just to trip you up sometimes chippies did offset noggins.

  Better way of installing noggins where you want to do TV etc, is turn these ones on their side, this way you still get the benefit of the noggin but wires can be dropped straight past them.

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