UKC

Could anyone offer advice regarding this situation…
 

I want to put up some shelves fixing brackets into a wall that has some sort of board before the actual stone/brickwork.

This is not plaster as far as I can tell. It has a hollow sound when tapped. The house is a approx 200 yr old stone construction.

I plan to simply drill through the wood board and install rawl plugs into the stone. Ten screw the brackets into these.
 

Is there any reason to not do it like this? 
Thanks for any useful comments!

The shelves will only ever be as strong as the wall/board they are attached to. Are you sure it isn’t plaster board? It could have been retro fitted at some point. The very best fixings for hollow walls IMO are the screwfix anchors. These type need a tool to ‘set’ them but that too is fairly cheap. Only downside is that they are semi permanent- that is, the sleeve stays in the wall forever, if you take shelves down in the future, tap the sleeve into the wall so it’s just under the surface, skim with filler and paint over.

fixings

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-hollow-wall-anchors-8-16mm-m5-x-52mm-10-...

tool

https://www.screwfix.com/p/setting-tool/12429?tc=TA1&ds_kid=92700048793...

Thanks, yes, suppose it could be plasterboard.

Will have a look at those fixings.

As long as you get into the solid wall, the board you talk about isnt so thick that you end up with a ton of leverage on the fixings, and you use long enough screws, I dont see it being a problem. 

Is it in an alcove or are you fixing straight into a flat wall?

It is an alcove but I’ve bought the shelves to length so that they are fixed to the back wall. Fixing to the sides would look odd!

And yes, realise I should have taken a closer look at the wall beforehand 😝 

Yes. To locate the fixing in the masonry,  you'd have to make a hole in the board with a diameter larger than the rawl plug! You really just need to get a decent fixing into the board. There are plenty on the market that will take a decent load from your shelves and whatever you'll be putting on them.

This guy's videos are usually very straight forward and helpful:

  youtube.com/watch?v=Jdu9RId7m90&

Edit: sorry,  just realised you have brackets so my earlier comment doesn't really apply as they will hide the outer hole. But I'd still just fix to the (plaster-) board.

The first thing to say is Asbestos!

Before you start drilling the “board” I think you need to find out what it is.

Once you know what you are dealing with then the shelf fixing solution will likely be more obvious.

Fingers crossed it’s just hardboard.

How big is the gap between the stonework and the board? If the board stands 2 or 3cm out from the stonework there must be some battens fixed to the stonework. The board will then be attached to the battens. Assuming the battens are properly fixed, if you can l locate them perhaps you could attach the shelf brackets with scews through the board into the battens. But heed jls’s asbestos warning.

That was my first though too, it's probably just wood or plasterboard to help insulate the walls a bit in an old stone house but I would get it tested just incase. 

You sure it's not a dot n dab wall? Even if not, might still be worth using Corefix fixings as you might not get much strength just fixing into the board.

Cheers Ross 

Heck! 
Hadn’t thought about asbestos….

Hmm, one side does seem to be a couple of cm away from the stonework…

Probably isn’t but there is still enough of a chance it could be and you wouldn’t want to disturb it. I have friends with an old house in which asbestos had been installed at some point in its history. On seeking advice, they were told to leave it where it was and not to disturb it. It’ll not be an issue if left covered over.

That is an excellent point.

I've only ever owned "modern" houses where asbestos would never have been used, so wouldn't naturally be my first thought.

Stand-alone bookcase 😀

If you do this, then you have the problem of tightening up the screws enough to make the plugs grip, but not enough to flex the board. Worst case is you'll crack the board, or even pull the brackets through the board. May not be an issue if it's dot and dab and the holes happen to go through the adhesive behind.

You could try these (or similar) to solve this issue*:

https://www.diy.com/departments/corefix-zinc-plated-nylon-steel-plasterboar...

If it's a big void, though, I'd use the fixings mentioned by Wilkie14 above.

* Having said that, I put up a mirror at the weekend in similar situation, with a couple of stacked plugs - one knocked through into hole into block behind and one in the plasterboard. Difference is that I didn't need to tighten the screws up, as it's just hooking a cord and the load is all vertical.

From experience, don't over-tighten the bolts on these, or you'll invert the structure behind and it won't be as strong. You'll know if you've done this, as it'll go tight, then ease off then go tight again as the nut part butts up against the board.

Re:asbestos - standard procedure would be to put a dollop of wallpaper paste on the board and drill through that so it catches any dust. In reality, you can easily poke a hole though by hand using a bradawl then screwdriver and not have a power drill blowing the dust around the room.

In terms of fixings, the ones designed for dot&dabbed plasterboard are called Corefix. https://www.diy.com/departments/hardware/fixings-plugs/DIY580653.cat?Brand=...  I've not used them so don't know how good they are.

  You could try using standard hammer-in fixings like this:- https://www.diy.com/departments/fischer-countersunk-hammer-fixing-l-100mm-d...   but you need ones with at least 5mm screws in them to prevent the screw bending under load.

The other alternatives would be 'gripits' https://www.diy.com/departments/hardware/fixings-plugs/plasterboard-fixings...  , but if you try to fit one where a batten or dab is you will struggle.  I've not used them so don't know how good they are, but the principle is sound - spread the load over a large hole in the plasterboard.

Avoid these:-  https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-steel-hollow-wall-anchor-m4-l-33mm-pa... because you need the right fitting tool and the fitting tools they sell are rubbish.

I'd poke holes where you want the fixings using a bradawl to find out what's behind and chose the right fixing as appropriate.  If you're putting up support battens and the fixing position is flexible, then using a stud finder device might allow you to find any battens. fixing into (or better still, through) these using hammer-ins would be the best option.

Modern houses you say. How modern? asbestos was only banned in certain in certain building products in 1999.