High rise construction. What's in the walls?

[atgcpaul]

We live overseas now in an 18 story highrise built in 1996 in the Middle East. I want to mount some shelves on the wall, but I don't know what to expect to hit behind them. The walls are drywall. Am I correct in assuming there are probably metal studs behind that? Will a standard stud finder pick them up or should I find a good magnet? How do you mount stuff to metal studs? Just use a sheet rock screw and be careful not to strip the hole?

Thanks
Paul

[goaliedad]

How heavy are the shelves? I have had good luck with the plastic screw in things for the proper load. Not a good option for heavy stuff

[EdL]

If they are steel studs, use fine thread screws.

Ed

[packerguy®]

We live overseas now in an 18 story highrise built in 1996 in the Middle East.  I want to mount some shelves on the wall, but I don't know what to expect to hit behind them.  The walls are drywall.  Am I correct in assuming there are probably metal studs behind that?  Will a standard stud finder pick them up or should I find a good magnet?  How do you mount stuff to metal studs?  Just use a sheet rock screw and be careful not to strip the hole?

Thanks
Paul

You need a toggle anchor for drywall. If you cant hit a stud, this is perfect.

[jasfrank]

Hey Paul, can you find evidence of studs back there? I'm assuming so. Steel will hold a fine threaded screw ok. If wood, use anything,

[JosephP]

I wouldn't trust a shelf in metal studs with fine thread screw.  I'd just plan to anchor them in...type of anchor depends on how much weight you want the shelves to handle.

[Cooler]

We live overseas now in an 18 story highrise built in 1996 in the Middle East.  I want to mount some shelves on the wall, but I don't know what to expect to hit behind them.  The walls are drywall.  Am I correct in assuming there are probably metal studs behind that?  Will a standard stud finder pick them up or should I find a good magnet?  How do you mount stuff to metal studs?  Just use a sheet rock screw and be careful not to strip the hole?

Thanks
Paul

Interior wall or exterior wall.  On exterior walls I would expect to come across some steel I-beams.  There might be some load bearing interior walls too.

If you use standards and brackets, you can displace the load over a larger area and it will hold more weight.

These people make brackets for this sort of thing.  Perhaps you can write to them and ask.

https://www.steelnetwork.com/Product/BackIt

[atgcpaul]

I couldn't find the spring loaded butterfly toggle bolts or Toggler bolts locally so I had to wait for Amazon to deliver the Toggler bolts by USPS.  All installed and the bar is open!

The shelf mounts needed a little tweaking because Togglers use 1/4-20 bolts.  That was my only gripe but at least I got to bust out the tools and folding bench my wife questioned me bringing.

I've used the Togglers before and prefer them to the butterfly toggles because you have a lot of opportunities to take the bolt (and hardware) on and off the wall while you figure things out.  With butterfly toggles, you have to be sure everything is correct before you commit to installing it or you end up losing the toggle.

What I found interesting is that this was an interior wall and there was fiberglass insulation behind the drywall.  The climate here is like San Diego's so pretty temperate.  In the US I have owned in SD and in the DC area and never saw insulation in interior walls.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Paul

[JosephP]

I'd assume the insulation is there to reduce noise between rooms.  It can make a big difference.  There are better ways to cut down on noise, but none cheaper - and even most of those would still involve fiberglass in the walls.

[Phil Thien]

I'm thinking infidels.