OK we live in a moble home and we where talking about taking down all of the sheetrock on the interior side the exterior abd replacing them with plywood!!!!! I’m not sure that the studs (wall) are placed like they should. If I measure over 16″ you will not find a stud.We are thinking about this because she can’t hang anything up up on the walls, and you know how they have to hang things up . So any help on this will help me. I have also built a bar, and she wants it the sides covered with river rocks. What is the best way to hang the mess that I got. I have it up with screws, and my next step is the versa bond mix over the mess and on the back of the rocks, then fill in the gabs between the rock. Any help or suggestion will be helpful as well on this on too.
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If you're talking about hanging pictures, there's no problem hanging those (up to maybe 100 pounds) on ordinary drywall -- it's just a matter of using a proper drywall anchor. This page -- http://wedo.hillmangroup.com/category/picture-hangers? -- illustrates several styles, and this one -- http://wedo.hillmangroup.com/item/picture-hangers/classic-hangers/122274? -- will handle 75 pounds in reasonably sound drywall with no problem. This one -- http://wedo.hillmangroup.com/item/specialty-picture-hangers/heavy-duty-hangers/item-20079? -- is actually rated at 200 pounds.
How old is your mobile home? Most newer models are pretty well built and have the same framing as a stick built house. You can't just measure over to find a stud. Get a $4.00 stud finder and locate one stud in the middle of a wall. Or check next to an outlet, there will be a stud on one side or the other. Then measure 16 inches from that stud to find the next one.
Studs are apt to be on 19.2 or 24" centers.
Not in any mobile home I've worked on in the past 40 years but I bow to your greater experience.
Well, the OP says he's got drywall.
Further to what the other guys said, tearing down drywall will be messy and unless you buy very expensive plywood you'll have a hard time getting a smooth finished surface. Cutouts for electical plugs and other penetrations are more work too.
Personally I'd stick with drywall, and if you've got really heavy stuff to mount, just anchor them into a stud (once you find them with that cheap stud finder).
Mobiles all have their own individual methiods varying by vintage and the maker. None are typical to normal construction.
Many don't even have any sort of drywall material.
One thign to be careful of is whether the wall surface material lends any structural support such as sway bracing to the wall. Many mobiles have exterior skin of just AL sheet.So the interior could lend bracing.
Do you have any idea whether this has wood stuids or steel ones?
Since most mobiles are designed to travel, they are lightweight by intent. That means you might have some risk in adding a lot of weight from river rocks.
My recollection is that about 25 years ago new fire safety requirements went into effect, pretty much requiring that mobile homes use drywall rather than plywood for interior walls. The main question would be how thick the drywall is, but thinner drywall would require more support, so they're unlikely to have gone thinner than 3/8".
I've had great success with a 2 part drywall anchor system.
The part that embeds in the wall is all metal - gold zinc on the outside, siver for the missle section. It looks like a rocket ship. You put the metal piece in the wall in a hole about 1/4" diameter. It's threaded so you can screw it in through the drywall. Once it is set flush in the wall, you run the included screw into it. The screw will push the center section out, then flop it over making a "T" behind the drywall. The screw will then pull that T tight to the back of the drywall. Your mount point is now a solid part of the drywall. Back out the screw, then use that screw to hold up or attach whatever you want to the wall. As a bonus, if you find yourself at a stud, you can just use the screw without the mount.
Paul, you're basically describing a variation of the old Molly bolt. There are several styles of this. They (usually) hold securely, but are difficult to remove and leave a large hole. Good for hanging medium-weight shelves and the like, but overkill for pictures.
The anchors to stay away from are the old plastic expandable ones. They do work OK under ideal circumstances, but often don't "lock in" tightly, and they will work loose quickly if the object they support is subject to bumping, etc. Not really superior to plain old picture hangers for picture use. (They do at least come out easily, and with less damage than a Molly, though more than most picture hangers.)
Miller Lite...shudder...at least to the beer ;) I've had to work on some of these over the last year. There are many variables; age of home, zone spec it was built to are just two.
NC ones I've worked on from '91 to 2001 vintage have had:
3/8ths drywall, variing factory finishes for all walls; ceiling/roof structure assembled upside down with ceiling drywall secured with some spray foam (no fasteners in the ceilings other than the spray foam) ; walls secured with construction adhesive and 1/4" crown staples; joints covered with various strips
Interior framing: mostly 1x3; 2x4 on some interior walls on higher end homes; mostly 24's
Exterior framing: 2x4 on 16's with 1x2 slats inlet on 24's; stups factory cut for those inlets; roof trusses 2x2 to 2x4, sissor and common; floors 2x6 on 16's mostly, sheathing material varies widely
expect water damage: any window that has had a window ac unit, any entry door, near the air handler for the HVAC
I'd forget about the rocks or ceramic tile.
Insurance pays to put back; there are mobile home supply places in my area so we use them to supply the mobile home unique parts.
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