Helping mounting on Drywall???

[gotzkill]

Im planning on mounting a shelf about 80" long and 48" deep and 3/4th inches thick its about 475lbs in weight and i want an appearance that it looks like its floating if you will. It will be used to hang my lights over my tank since my ceilings are way to high for the lights to hang from them. Any suggestions, its drywall not sure how thick it is and i cant find any wall studs as of yet. Open to suggestions Thank you.

 

[Reefing Madness]

How To Hang Aquarium Lights from the Wall - Bulk Reef Supply

 

[robbrouse]

475 pounds? Wow.. That will not be an easy chore. Good luck.

 

[iheartsps]

there is no way you are going to be able to hang 475 pounds from drywall alone. it will not work it is impossible. your drywall is probably 1/2" thick to 5/8" thick. you have wall studs every 16 inches. you can tap on the wall and tell by sound where the studs are but I recommend you buy a stud finder. they are relatively inexpensive. Studs are 3 1/2 inches deep plus your 1/2" drywall brings you to 4 inches. You could get by hanging the book shelf with 3" wood screws every 8-10" (vertically on the stud. I would recommend mounting a solid piece of wood stained to match your bookshelf (if it shows) piece of wood being 1" by 2" should do the job, under the bottom edge of the book shelf and running the entire length of the bookshelf. This piece of wood is what your bookshelf will rest on. Mount the 1x2 board first, this will give you a place to rest the bookshelf when installing and help support the weight of it. I hope this helps.

 

[philr]

A cheap stud finder can be had for about $10. The wall should have studs somewhere in it unless very poorly built. Start from an end or corner. Studs will run every 16" for a support wall or could be every 24" for a non load bearing wall. You will need to catch studs to hold that weight. I added hooks with a decorative chain at the far edge away from the wall for additional support.the chains hook into the wall on an angle from the ligjts.

 

[iheartsps]

I'm curious as to what the shelf is made of. I can't imagine a bookshelf that size weighing 475 pounds if it is constructed of wood.

 

[redfishbluefish]

The only way I can think of having a four foot projection into a room that appears as if it is floating is by cantilevering this shelf. To do this you will have to sacrifice a portion of the room behind the shelf (or exterior of the house) to the cantilever.

Otherwise, you are talking about angle bracing back into the wall or bracing up into the ceiling.

 

[gotzkill]

Its actually not a bookshelf more of a mirror, and i have 18 foot ceilings and my lights and wires wouldnt look to pleasing if i hung them from that high and would be a pain to fix them, The other thing is i estimated the weight and it wont be more than 375lbs but rather have more support than less. All these comments are helping me and really appreciate it. I just want a false ceiling if you will to hang my lights rather then to hang them from my high ceilings.

 

[iheartsps]

could you post a pic of what you are actually trying to hang. it would be a big help in figuring the best way to hang it.

 

[Dalmatia]

You will need heaved duty supports behind your drywall, more like steel plate and have brackets welded on to it so you can mount your suspended celling, only safe way of making a shelf heavy with it falling. Or as suggested make an angle brace and make it creative so it looks nice?