I have a small problem that I largely brought on myself. We have wallpapered the stairwell, and I forgot to mark where the handrail was screwed in. The house is an old plank house that was renovated in the 70s with plasterboard on the walls. However, I have no idea what's behind the plasterboard, but when I stick in a needle, it seems to be empty in most places.
I got a stud finder, but according to Murphy's law, it seems to work perfectly on all other walls except in the stairwell. On one of the walls, I can't find any vertical studs at all, but instead a horizontal one at the wrong height. I roughly know where the wood screws for the old railing were, but there doesn't seem to be anything there either. Overall, the function of the stud finder seems vague and strange specifically in the stairwell. There's something about how it can be problematic on a newly wallpapered wall, but it's been three days since it was wallpapered. It must have dried by now.
It doesn't feel optimal to attach a handrail with drywall anchors directly. Could it be that there's a plank wall behind the plasterboard with an air gap in between? How did one install plasterboard on old plank houses in the 70s? Grateful for any tips.
/Mats
I got a stud finder, but according to Murphy's law, it seems to work perfectly on all other walls except in the stairwell. On one of the walls, I can't find any vertical studs at all, but instead a horizontal one at the wrong height. I roughly know where the wood screws for the old railing were, but there doesn't seem to be anything there either. Overall, the function of the stud finder seems vague and strange specifically in the stairwell. There's something about how it can be problematic on a newly wallpapered wall, but it's been three days since it was wallpapered. It must have dried by now.
It doesn't feel optimal to attach a handrail with drywall anchors directly. Could it be that there's a plank wall behind the plasterboard with an air gap in between? How did one install plasterboard on old plank houses in the 70s? Grateful for any tips.
/Mats
Start in a corner because you likely have that in the staircase. There you have a stud, and if it's not built incorrectly, you should find a stud a maximum of about 60 cm from there or closer. Once you've found one, it's cc60 cm that applies.
In 1920, they probably didn't know anything about cc 60 
I've been searching for studs all day with a rented professional instrument and can't find any vertical studs at all. I found some horizontal ones plus there's probably some panel at the bottom, too low to attach to except on one mount. How they attached the plasterboards when they were installed in the '70s is a mystery to me. I guess the vertical studs are further out in the wall, unreachable for the stud finder. There's one wall that's particularly problematic, and we're solving it by placing three mounts on that wall. The one in the middle and one end is attached to a stud or backing panel. The third will be an anchor screw in the drywall. If there's no stud, then there's no stud, and I'm not going to tear up the newly wallpapered stairwell to put one in. At least it's secured well in two mounts.
Yes, I've tried the method of holding up the old handrails, but unfortunately, I'm unsure which is which. They were broad simple boards that fit perfectly into the stairwell frame and were slightly trimmed. They were attached with very long screws, but when I insert a piano wire where I drilled, there's still a long way to go to find something to attach to.
I would give quite a bit to see what it looks like inside the wall.
/Mats
I've been searching for studs all day with a rented professional instrument and can't find any vertical studs at all. I found some horizontal ones plus there's probably some panel at the bottom, too low to attach to except on one mount. How they attached the plasterboards when they were installed in the '70s is a mystery to me. I guess the vertical studs are further out in the wall, unreachable for the stud finder. There's one wall that's particularly problematic, and we're solving it by placing three mounts on that wall. The one in the middle and one end is attached to a stud or backing panel. The third will be an anchor screw in the drywall. If there's no stud, then there's no stud, and I'm not going to tear up the newly wallpapered stairwell to put one in. At least it's secured well in two mounts.Yes, I've tried the method of holding up the old handrails, but unfortunately, I'm unsure which is which. They were broad simple boards that fit perfectly into the stairwell frame and were slightly trimmed. They were attached with very long screws, but when I insert a piano wire where I drilled, there's still a long way to go to find something to attach to.
I would give quite a bit to see what it looks like inside the wall.
/Mats
S
sinuslinus
Träskalle
· Östergötlands län
· 6 036 posts
sinuslinus
Träskalle
- Östergötlands län
- 6,036 posts
What kind of handrail are you going to install? If it's the type with a coarser screw with threads on both ends, you can weld on an extension to screw into the plank wall behind it.
Isn't it chipboard instead of plaster?
You mentioned that you don't want to tear up the wall, but if you do, use a larger hole saw to cut a hole where you want to attach the screw. Insert a piece of wood through the hole and glue it behind the drywall. Then glue the cut-out piece back into the hole and spackle. Preferably done before wallpapering...
Isn't it chipboard instead of plaster?
You mentioned that you don't want to tear up the wall, but if you do, use a larger hole saw to cut a hole where you want to attach the screw. Insert a piece of wood through the hole and glue it behind the drywall. Then glue the cut-out piece back into the hole and spackle. Preferably done before wallpapering...
It's a simple railing made of round, straight wooden rods. Now it's pretty much installed, except I measured it quite poorly. It's a bit tricky with a U staircase when the stringers are curved, and you are attaching straight handrails. To look really nice, the handrails should probably be curved to match the stringers and connected at the corners. I measured from the stringer up to the mounts, but it didn't turn out well. I should have measured at the ends of the handrail to get it fairly accurate.
But to the point... The taperings are already up, and the mounts are simple with two screws in each. The old railings, which were single wide boards, became material for the structure and are cut and mixed up. I tried to gauge with them, but it didn’t work out well. And yes, there is plaster in the walls.
/Mats
But to the point... The taperings are already up, and the mounts are simple with two screws in each. The old railings, which were single wide boards, became material for the structure and are cut and mixed up. I tried to gauge with them, but it didn’t work out well. And yes, there is plaster in the walls.
/Mats