I have a dart board in a cabinet that I want to mount on a wall that’s made of drywall. I’m worried about the wall not being able to support it very well due to the weight of it. I also wish to put something else behind that as a border (cork perhaps?) to protect the rest of the wall from holes. Does anyone have any experience/recommendations of the best way to do it?
Thanks…
If it’s under, say 3 or 4 pounds, regular picture hangars should work just fine. If it’s heavier, then use plastic drywall anchors and the appropriate screws. We can probably give better advice if we can see a photo of the back of this thing to get an idea of how it’s meant to mount.
You can but some commercial mounting boards for dart boards. I bought one that is a big square box the depth of the dartboard, filled with dense foam with a cutout in the middle for the dartboard. The dartboard is screwed into that, and then the box itself mounts to the wall with four screws.
A do-it-yourself method would be to get a piece of plywood, glue some cork onto it, and then mount the dartboard to that. Then screw the plywood onto the wall.
When mounting it to the wall, the best option is to drill into the studs behind the drywall. If you can’t do that for placement purposes, you MUST use drywall hangers. There are two basic types - one type is a plastic expansion connector, and the other type is a ‘toggle bolt’ which consists of a metal butterfly type thing with a screw in the middle. The leafs of the butterfly are folded in, and when you push it through the wall they spring out giving you lots of contact area behind the wall. A variant on this is a metal hanger that goes through the wall, and when you tighten the screw the metal fans out behind the drywall, locking it in place.
Use one of the two metal ones. Do NOT use the plastic drywall hangers, because they don’t resist pulling forces very well. People will be constantly tugging on the dartboard to get the darts out, and that WILL cause the plastic hangers to work their way out of the wall over time.
er, you can BUY commercial mounting boards. Preview is your friend. Check local gaming supply stores. I bought mine at a local Dufferin Games Room.
Mount the cabinet (and the cork backing, if possible, though those one-way drywall screws would be fine for the cork) on the studs at all costs. Either use a stud-finder (borrow a friend’s if necessary) or tap around the wall until you find a place that doesn’t sound hollow. The studs are usually 12-14 inches apart, IIRC.
I assume that you know the bull should be 5’ 8 1/2" from the floor, the hockey is at 7’ 9 1/4" from the bull in most cases, etc.
Er, make that 5’ 8" even. And, here’s an article on the subject.
2X4 (or 2X6) studs on interior walls would most likely be centered at 16 or 24 inches. In some cases, 12 inches. What’s cool about figuring out where one stud is, the others are found quite simply by just measuring 12, 16, or 24 inches. Unless an idiot built your walls, which sometimes happens, and they put studs at non standard distances.
Use 2" or 2 ½" drywall screws. Maybe even laminating the plywood to the wall first (ONLY if this is a permanent installation).
Older historical homes are a different animal altogether. But, since you’re asking about DRYWALL, I’m assuming it’s not a This Old House type dwelling. 
There are actually plastic self-tapping anchors that will take a 50 lb. pull. Extremely easy to install, since you drive them in with your screwgun or drill.
I would take three strips of 1/2 inch plywood, maybe 2 inches wide, and screw them into three studs (horizontally), one strip near the “top” of where you want the cork, one near the bottom, and one at the height of the top of the dartboard. Then screw the cork into the strips. Then mount the dartboard to the middle strip.
This gives you some flexibility as to placement, as you don’t have to screw the cork/dartboard directly onto the stud, the plywood caries enough of the strength of the stud across the whole section of the wall.
-lv
If this is a permanent (ie., you own the place and/or expect to live there forever):
I am assuming you aren’t going to be mistaken for Bob Villa anytime soon.
Get a chunk of 1/2" A/B interior plywood 34" wide by however high it needs to be.
Finish (stain or paint) the “A” side (the pretty side, nicely sanded)
it.
Mount it to the wall studs (which will be on 16" centers, unless you’re in a really strange place), but find each one individually.
You now have a nice sturdy surface onto which you can SCREW (NOT nail) the dartboard.
Use self-adhesive cork panels as desired - the plywood will protect the wall from the darts.
I had some scraps of 8" by 1" spruce board, so I glued three side-by-side to form a solid panel 24" by 40". I then covered this with green-ish cotton velvet that I found a big enough scrap of at the fabric store. The fabric wraps around to the back of the board, and then I framed the whole thing with 1x2’s. Then I added another 1x2 along the bottom to form a slot to store darts, spare flights, etc.
For mounting this, I just use 4 regular wood screws with washers, and either drill-in or self-tapping screw-in plastic anchors. They hold the weight perfectly well, and leave no more damage than 4 holes to fill in when I leave. I found the board big enough that in an average year of dart playing, I’d have maybe 2-3 darts go wild enough to hit the wall behind. 'course, this depends on how many guests (who, not having a board in their home, tend to be lower on practice…) you have over playing
Since the board is so flat to the wall, there’s no way to generate pull-out forces on the anchors, so finding studs really isn’t necessary; the plastic anchors are ridiculously strong for shearing forces.
The pulling forces come from pulling the darts out of the board. Again, I recommend NOT using plastic anchors. Metal toggle bolts are no more expensive, and they are MUCH stronger.
I speak from experience here, guys. I mounted my dartboard with plastic drywall hangers, and after six months I had to remove them all and install toggle bolts.
Not to doubt your experience, Sam Stone, but I quite fail to see how pulling a dart out of a dart board generates any significant pull…
And I also speak from experience, having had mine mounted with plastic anchors for a year at a time at each of three apartments so far with never a problem…
Oh. Unless maybe if you’re using one of those safety boards with the plastic darts? I guess they grab on tighter… Normally the dartboard is bristle, and the dart tips are sharp and smooth, and nothing snags anywhere… As long as you keep them sharp, but even if you don’t, you’ll pull bristles out of the board rather than yanking the board off the wall…
You’ve never, in all your time as a dart thrower, found that you needed to apply some force to pull out your darts?
refrains from teasing
One easy way this can happen is when you’re shooting bull/trips. When all three darts end up in (or just outside of) bull or trips, the shooter just might pull them all out at once with one hand. (This is an achievement with dart games at my place: “Nice darts…a one-hander at bull.”) Depending on the individual angles of the darts, this can produce considerable pull.
If you are a bad aim like me, you don’t want to put just the dart board against the wall. I would take a wide flat board and mount the dar board to that, then mount the board to the wall, to avoid having disappearing darts,
I’d be inclined to fix up a sheet of hardboard (not plywood, as it will splinter after a few hundred missed darts), then attach the dartboard/cabinet to that, possibly with hot melt glue.
I guess it depends on the dartboard, and on how you throw. If you use a wooden backboard with thin cork over it, sometimes the dart will go through and embed in the wood. Some dartboards have a very tough bullseye, and pulling a dart out of it can require some force.
There’s also compression force. A lot of people put their hand on the board and push while they pull. This causes the board to compress and flex.
All I can tell you is, I’ve seen those plastic hangers work their way out of the wall. Why not be safe? The metal toggles are about the same price, they are no more difficult to install, and they are WAY stronger.
Right,
Take it from me, a construction worker… FWIW
You need to find the studs and support it to them or get some decent metal toggle bolts. Just dont use the plastic or metal insert type. These would work with 5/8 inch drywall (even then Im reluctant) but not the standard 1/2 drywall - there is just not enough material to grab to make the installation permanent.
Thanks for your help everyone… I installed the board successfully on the drywall using the studs… it’s solid.
Now I’ve just gotta make a nice looking, but protective border… gotta give this some thought…