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How to hang a floating shelf without studs?

Bree-Zy

Hi folks, I'd like to hang a floating shelf in my laundry. I've purchased a stud finder but unfortunately there are no studs in the location I wish to hang the shelf. I don't want to put the shelf elsewhere, what can I do? If I purchase some good quality wall fixtures will this get me out if trouble? I only plan to put a small plant and a candle up there for decoration, however I do want to ensure it will be sturdy enough if my cat decides to jump on up there too.

According to my new stud finder, the studs run parallel on the Green lines. I've marked my ideal shelf placement in blue.

Thanks in advance for your expertise

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EricL

Hello @Bree-Zy

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about installing a floating shelf.

There are a number of floating shelves available at the store and depending on which one you get will determine how the shelf is supported. Most of the shelves will have a manual on how it's supposed to be anchored to the wall.

Seeing that you have two horizontal studs, I suggest anchoring the shelves to those studs and if you have a support piece at the bottom such as a timber angle or a powder coated steel angle bracket. I suggest using hollow wall anchors such as the https://www.bunnings.com.au/ramset-3-16-x-75mm-plasterboard-spring-toggle-anchor-10-pack_p2260183 or the https://www.bunnings.com.au/ramset-super-wallmate-toggle-anchor-10-pack_p2260188 to support the sections that won't hit the timber stud.

Here is a handy guide - How To Install Floating Shelves

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1, @Nailbag, @TedBear, @JoeAzza and @DIY4Knuckleheds for their recommendations.

Please remember to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a mask.

If you have any other questions we help with, please let us know.

Eric

JoeAzza

hi @Bree-Zy , if the wall was built by a builder, there should be vertical studs at 450 mm to 600 mm apart, if you can locate the vertical studs, that’s if there is any, just measure from the corner at 600mm to see if there is a stud, by using a a small drill bit in a drill , then drill a couple of holes until you hit the timber, some stud finders won’t locate the timber behind the plaster. If this fails, I suggest to cut out a square piece of plaster where you want the shelf installed, approximately 100 mm x 100mm square, then get a torch, to see if you can see any studs,

You will have to re patch the wall, it’s a bit more work, hopefully you can locate the vertical studs. If there are no studs, you could cut out the plaster, install two vertical studs , for the floating self , then re install the plaster, then refinish, patch and paint,

A lot more work, but it will be strong enough to hold your cat.

Dave-1

Good Evening @Bree-Zy

Im thinking that @JoeAzza has the right idea. Id definitely have a closer look to where @JoeAzza has suggested as there should be a stud there. I suspect it may be just to the right of the power point.

Dave

DIY4Knuckleheds

G'day Bree-Zy, If for some reason you don't have any studs available, have a look at this video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Tg2pFDTBXzc I'm not sure where you can find the brackets from but might be worth a google search and as far as wall fixings go, EricL's suggestion of the Ramset Super Wallmate is a great toggle to use. I made a video a few years ago where l tested those fixings and they had amazing holding power. Good luck

Nailbag

Hi @Bree-Zy

The reason you can't locate any studs with your stud-finder is because the walls are made of fibre-cement sheeting and not plasterboard. DIY devices can't detect through masonry.

I'm pretty confident the studs are located as per below. To be sure of the central stud you can use @JoeAzza method of drilling a small locating hole. But you will need a masonry bit so not to blunter a HSS one. To access the right hand one, you would need to checkout the quad so the shelf fixing plate can access the stud.

For fixing locations without a stud you could use Ramset wall fasteners. Depending on shelf load, I would highly recommend at least one stud be used as a fixing point.

All that said and BEFORE you make a start, due to the age of the property or at least this room, the walls could be made of asbestos so you would need to have that tested prior to drilling any holes.

Nailbag

Bree-Zy

Hello everyone, thanks for your advice. This laundry was added on to the existing house in the 1950s so to avoid the risk of running into any asbestos (which I'm sure is likely given the build date) I've decided to not hang the shelf there. If I find another suitable place in the home I'll be sure to come back to this post for your wonderful tips. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment

Dave-1

Good morning @Bree-Zy

Thats a good decision :) Definitely a valid concern and a safe way to approach it.

Dave

Noyade

I was looking at the power-point above and thinking about asbestos.

My house is full of asbestos fibro. Made in 1947.

I now have this in my fuse box….

I take it that any tradesman who sees this can walk away saying "can't help you mate." - ?

Dave-1

Good Morning @Noyade

Im pretty sure that refers to the board that the meter box has for all the fuses/circuit breakers. My mum has the same one in her meter box.

Dave

Noyade

I'm sure there would be asbestos in the meter box @Dave-1 - and probably 90% of my house walls. My point is we advocate on this site not to drill through it (fair enough), but tradesmen are doing it. Two metres from that signage an electrician installed an outdoor power-point by punching/drilling through the fibro to a bedroom supply. I told him about the asbestos - he kept going…

Just being curious and I don't know how you get around it - unless you move to a modern home.

Dave-1

Afternoon @Noyade

:o ooooooh man with a few extra words thrown in.

I worked at garden island removing old asbestos cables from the Navy ships, we were super cautious as it had just been found out how dangerous the fibers are to long term health (back in the 1992 ish) So its given me a very "Nope" type handling to it. I have always wanted an older style house, weatherboard and fibro walls on the inside so I have often wondered how i would approach it. I ended up with two paths of thought.

- Gut the fibro all in one go if I could afford it / time wise. (Done professionally and disposed of correctly)

- Do room in one go if I couldn't. Then work my way through the place as needed. (I really really like weatherboard places) Done professionally as well.

Spraying the surface of what is being cut as you cut it with water to stop fibers floating about and then sealing it with a compound is what we were taught to do. I really dont think Id want to have the microscope fibers floating about while I work.

Dave