I recently bought a house that need some minor work. One of the things was the fireplace mantel shelf appeared to be falling off. In fact, it was, because it was mounted with drywall anchors instead of into the studs. I can’t get a good guage of how heavy the mantel is - weighing it on the bathroom scales (by itself and with me or my son holding it and subtracting our weights) says 13 pounds but that seems a little light to me. The dimensions of the longer side are 7"x3"x60" and it is wood. My problem is that the hole for the mounting board is about 45", and my studs are 24" apart, meaning I will have to hang this thing with one stud and two anchors. I won’t be adding anything of any significant weight once I mount it - a small clock, a small candle, that sort of thing.
Will this be okay being hung into just the one stud? Or should I buy a slightly longer mantel shelf that fits the studs in the wall?
Well, studs should be 16" on-center. But if they’re not, they’re not. That said, one stud should be enough to support 13 pounds – the problem is that the one fastener might not be enough to do the job without twisting. One possibility (which might be more trouble than it’s worth) is to actually open a slit in the drywall and put in some sturdier cross pieces to hold up the mantel. I take it you can’t drill more appropriately positioned mounting holes in the mantel?
If the studs are spaced at 24" and your mantel has mounting holes with 45" between them, options I can see would include:
Mount another piece of wood (say 3/4" thick) to the studs, then screw your mantel to that. Decorate appropriately to disguise.
Is there any way to change the mount points on your mantel by moving keyhole hangers, drilling additional holes, etc?
Use better drywall anchors. Good toggle bolts have load ratings of something like 100 pounds each in drywall. I’ve used them at work to mount metal shelves and two such fasteners are pretty solid.
2x6 studs are routinely installed at 24" on-center. This meets code, and is actually supposed to be stronger than 2x4 studs at 16" on-center. It also saves lumber and allows more of the walls to be filled with insulation.
Of course, if you’re a belt-and-suspenders type like myself, you specify 2x6 studs at 16" on-center.
Thanks for all the advice. I’ll go with the one stud and two anchor mount. After reading everyone’s replies I feel comfortable with that. It’s off to Home Depot, then!
The more I thought of your answer, the more I liked it. It currently does not mount by keyholes, but I’m thinking if I drill keyholes in it, the whole job will be easier. The edges of the shelf have four sides, so I could drill keyholes in the backsides of the edges, then I could mount it into the studs. I think that will probably be the easiest solution.
