Mounting a TV on metal studs

Most houses around Auburn are framed with wood, but light-gauge steel studs turn up in condos, apartments, offices, basements and some newer construction. They're perfectly good for holding a TV — just not with the same hardware.

How to tell you have metal studs

• A stud finder finds the stud, but a small nail won't bite into it.
• A strong magnet sticks to the drywall screws in a straight vertical line.
• A small test hole hits hollow metal, not wood shavings.

Why lag bolts don't work

Lag bolts thread into wood fibers. A steel stud is a thin folded channel — a lag bolt just spins in it and pulls out under load. Never hang a TV on lag bolts in a metal stud.

What does work

• Heavy-duty toggle anchors (snap-toggle style) that pass through the drywall and stud face, then clamp a steel channel behind it. Placed through the stud face, they hold far more than a drywall anchor.
• More anchor points. We use every bracket hole that lines up, and spread the load across two studs where possible.
• Respecting the weight rating. We check the toggle's rated load against the TV plus bracket, with a big margin.

Full-motion arms on metal studs

Arms multiply the force on the top anchors when the TV is pulled out. On steel studs we prefer fixed or tilt mounts, or a backing plate that spreads the arm's load across several studs.

Commercial walls

Office and retail walls sometimes have studs every 24″ instead of 16″. A wide-span bracket or a plywood backer painted to match can bridge them cleanly.

If you're not sure what's in your wall, tell us when you book — we bring hardware for wood, steel and masonry to every job.