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The question is pretty much all in the title: My house has metal "2x4's" in the walls. Can I hang cabinets or a TV directly on these metal studs? If not directly, is there something special I must do?

My experience with wooden 2x4s tells me that they are super strong and with correct anchor screws you could mount very heavy items on them with no problem. The reason I ask about these metal 2x4s is because these metal 2x4s seem to bend very easily, and I'm worried that if I attach my TV to them that they might start to bend and put a lot of stress on the drywall causing it to crack or worse. Am I off base? Is there some technique I should be aware of?

Nate
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    Are you sure they are aluminum? They're more likely steel. – DA01 May 01 '12 at 21:03
  • think about all the weight that stud is already carrying.. `shingles + roof and side sheathing + siding + etc.` Of course, the weight is distributed across a bunch of them – Jake Berger May 01 '12 at 21:04
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    @jberger I doubt the metal studs are load bearing. They're typically used in post-and-beam structures or in non-load bearing divider walls in standard structures. – DA01 May 01 '12 at 21:08
  • Yes. I guess I called it a house, but it is really a condo, where they are not load bearing walls. – Nate May 01 '12 at 21:16
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    @nate given that it's a condo, if this is a shared wall, that'd be an argument for not mounting directly to the wall anyways. – DA01 May 01 '12 at 21:19
  • @DA01 There are two walls I'm looking at doing this on, one shared between two rooms within my unit, and one that is between my unit and another unit. This second wall, has cinder blocks in the center and these metal 2x4s on both sides. Also, they may well be steel, but they bend very easily. – Nate May 01 '12 at 21:23
  • It sounds like light weight steel studs. The bad news is that I don't think I'd trust them at all to hold my $1500 TV. I'd look at alternatives to wall mounting. – DA01 May 01 '12 at 21:42

5 Answers5

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Metal studs are great for framing walls. They are super light, easy to work with, straight. But you've discovered one drawback...they don't have nearly the strength of a wooden 2x4 for mounting things to it.

Metal studs do come in different gauges though. The heavier, the better. But it sounds like yours are fairly lightweight.

Some options:

  • take down the sheetrock, add some wood 2x4s, re-sheetrock
  • find toggle bolts suited for this (they may exist, though I doubt any are rated for hanging actual cabinets or HD TVs).
  • add your own mounting panel on the outside...such as some nice finished furniture grade plywood. Since the plywood can be attached to multiple studs in multiple locations, it can spread the load.
  • get an entertainment system designed with its own 'wall' panel. Ikea has several, for instance: enter image description here
Community
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DA01
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  • Is there any rating or way I can look up what weight they might be able to support? – Nate May 01 '12 at 21:24
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    Most TV's are pretty light these days. I've hung a number from metal studs without issue. I once saw TV installer hang himself from a TV mount he installed in metal studs. – Steven May 02 '12 at 01:11
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    @Steven that's a very sad story. My condolences for the loss of your TV installer. – DA01 May 02 '12 at 02:51
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    I meant like a pull-up, not death! – Steven May 02 '12 at 12:03
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    @DA01, I thought the same thing. That's an awfully morbid demonstration. And you really can only do it once. – JoeFish May 03 '12 at 13:02
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I install 20 to 30 tv's a week and more and more of these installations are to homes with metal studs in the walls. If you are mounting a newer tv (even the larger ones are under 65 lbs) and your mounting a flat or tilt mount. there is no need for reinforcing the wall. You need to make sure your mount has a wall plate that is 24 inches or more so as to cover two studs. Find the center of the studs and use strap toggler bolts through 1/2 inch holes in the metal studs to secure the mount. On top of those 4 bolts I always suppliment the wall mount with an additional 4 strap toggler bolts spaced evenly to help keep the load spread. Remember you can torque down the toggler bolts that go through the metal studs but only tighten the supplimental ones to the point the washers dont spin.

Now for fully articulate mounts you MUST reinforce the wall. This is done by cutting 3/4 inch plywood (get the sanded type). Cut it to 30 inches by 24 inches and mount it to two metal studs. Use three toggler bolts for each stud. Before I mount it on the wall I cover the back with construction adhesive. It helps keep the plywood in place and helps distrubute the load of the tv around .

Once the board is installed you can use simple lag bolts to mount the TV mount to the wall. I've used this technique over 100 times. I am the number one rated installer in south florida. And I have never had a TV I have mounted ciome off the wall.

I will add that if your mounting to a rental property you brief the tenants that the glue will make the installation permanent and they should get approval from their landlord before you try this .

BMitch
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David Baldwin
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They make anchors that have a 2 inch piece of metal that you can bolt to. See http://www.lowes.com/pd_115385-10337-55150_4294925630_4294937087_?productId=3183817&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Fasteners_4294925630_4294937087_?page=3&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=&stop_mobi=yes

These are great. I've used them to hang a dozen flat panel tv's in metal studs.

Also, since you are hanging a TV on the wall, you might be cutting a hole behind it anyway to run wires through, so you can cut a piece of 2x4 and put it in the hole and fit it in too the stud to spread out the load.

longneck
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Plan A: You could drill holes through the sheetrock and metal studs and then put the toggle bolts through the metal studs. While this is not as good as screwing to wood studs, I believe it is substantially stronger then a screw.

Plan B: Use ten times as many screws.

Plan C: Supplement plan A or Plan B with liquid nails (liquid nail to the sheetrock as a supplement).

John R
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I helped a friend mount a 50" TV on his wall with metal studs. We used lots of screws (sheet metal I think), so it was a strength in numbers situation. I'm not suggesting this was best solution by any means.

Andrew
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