Gypsum walls: mounting objects and moisture

Hello, we are moving soon into a house with a timber frame construction (prefabricated construction). This is new to us (we have always lived in masonry houses/apartments before) and therefore here is a (probably) naive question: the room walls are, as it sounds when knocking, made of plasterboard. Can heavy objects be attached to such walls (for example, we have an old, large mirror that is hung at only one point and already requires a proper anchor in the stone wall)? If yes, how is something like that fastened? Is it sufficient, as with masonry, to drill a hole and use special anchors? Also: do holes in the walls of timber frame houses not pose a risk concerning moisture? As you can see, this is quite new to us, hence the questions. Hope you can help here. Thanks and regards Ashley

Hello, just attach with the appropriate screws. We hung our 100 kilo (estimated) distribution on two screws.

Regards,
Christian

It also depends on whether it is drywall or a slightly more expensive gypsum fiber. Maybe you have an OSB board directly behind it that provides support. We were told that the gypsum fiber board can easily handle hanging cabinets. But I don’t know if that is true.

Timber frame construction (prefabricated construction).

Gypsum boards

What exactly is your wall construction? There are huge differences. Better prefabricated houses have double cladding with wood fiberboard or similar as the second layer. With such a construction, standard Spax screws are sufficient. Each of them can usually hold 50 kg.

And no; such a screw hole is not a moisture problem either. The insulation is normally "open" to the outside anyway.

The wall panels are above all inhomogeneous: the larger part of the wall surface is "hollow" in the load-bearing sense (filled with light fiber mats). For this, there are special toggle bolts. In between, usually at a 62.5 cm grid spacing, the vertical construction timbers run "behind". That means the bolt first grips into drywall (as it otherwise would in plaster) and then into wood (as it otherwise would in stone). There are also devices similar to detectors for power lines, but for beams.

Moisture barriers are not known to me as a topic for pure interior walls. How far under the drywall there is still a (kind of) chipboard must be asked from the manufacturer (who can also say where the timbers run, by the way, and I would always have the execution drawings of my house given to me), and it can vary. Even with timber frame construction, not all interior walls are equally strong. Essentially, there are three types of interior walls: ordinary purely room-dividing walls, partly as known from solid construction in two thicknesses (where quite possibly one of them can be without and one with a fiberboard layer under the drywall), and such walls that are simultaneously installation walls (where kitchens and bathrooms adjoin). For the latter, I would possibly expect moisture barriers on the wet room side.

Interior sides of exterior walls are a different matter than pure interior walls, as are interior walls that transition into exterior walls, for example where covered open spaces are integrated into the floor plan. The manufacturer can provide detailed information about where walls of which construction are located (and you should definitely have this information given to you).

In any case, you need not fear that your wall will rot away from indoor humidity where you have drilled a screw hole for a wall clock.

The wall panels are primarily inhomogeneous: the larger part of the wall surface is "hollow" in a bearing sense (filled with light fiber mats). For this, there are special toggle anchors. In between, usually at a spacing of 62.5 cm, the construction timbers run vertically "behind". That means the anchor first grips into the drywall (as otherwise into plaster) and then into wood (as otherwise into stone). There are also devices similar to detectors for electrical cables, but for beams.

That really depends on the manufacturer.

"Our" prefabricated house builder consistently uses, whether as an interior wall only or towards the outside:

12.5-mm drywall board
13-mm wood-based panel

For exterior walls, there is an additional vapor barrier fleece between these two.
There is no need to search for the construction timbers or toggle anchors in any wall to hang heavy loads. Normal Spax screws (of course they must be able to penetrate the wood-based panel).

But as I said, there are big differences on the market.

: Maybe you’d like to tell us which company? Or have you already contacted them?