asbestosmountingwalls
I'm currently living in a house in which we have clear instructions not to drill through the walls for danger of asbestos.
I purchased a small projector and would like to mount a shelf to the wall, but I know that I cannot drill through. The projector weighs about 1lbs, and the shelf could be just a piece of wood or plastic stuck to the wall. Does anyone have any suggestions about making this shelf and how to stick it to the wall without drilling through?
you definitely don't want to drill into the brick. Drilling into the mortar isn't too bad though, and easily repairable if ever desired.
I've used Tapcons for anchoring into mortar. They work well:
The box will say what size masonry drill bit you need to pre-drill, then you just screw them in with your driver like any screw. I'd suggest longer is better (though no longer than the width of the brick, as that may be as thick as the brick is.)
Also, make sure this brick you are drilling into isn't a chimney. If it is, make sure it's either not in use, or has a metal flu inside (and don't puncture the flu)
Your idea of installing a wood cross-member into the brick and then hang something from there isn't a bad idea. I'd suggest 3 screws, then perhaps attach peg board to that, hanging the pots from peg board ala Julia Child
The vast majority of TV mounts have multiple slots across their face to provide a range of choices for mounting bolts. Decent ones are fairly cheap and I would recommend getting one that gives you some choices on positioning support.
If you must use the one you have, drilling two holes in a solid area of the mount should not compromise the unit. You should definitely put two lag bolts in studs on the top and two on the bottom.
Mounts are designed to allow the TV to be positioned anywhere along the track, even fully to one side. the force of the TV on the mount is mostly shear force, pulling straight down. Counteracting this force is the shear strength of the bolts and the stud materials.
The effective force on the bolts and studs is based on where the weight load is in relationship to the bolts and studs. If the weight were exactly centered between the bolts and studs, the effective weight would be divided between each stud and vertical pair of bolts and be halved (43 lbs on each). If the weight were totally on one end and there were a middle set of bolts and a set of bolts on the opposite end, the weight on the middle set could be increased to the full load of the TV (86 lbs downward) and the pressure on the bolts at the opposite end of the mount would be the load of the TV, but upwards.
Any serious lag bolts 1/4" or more, and stud should have no problem handling that shear force.
If you were to have the middle bolts further away from the TV than the center of the mount, you start to get leverage forces that could multiply the strain on the bolts and studs that might compromise their ability to hold the TV in a stable position. The likely weak points would eventually be the threaded holes in the studs rather than the bolts. You could also see a pulling of the TV and its mount out of horizontal.
In sum, so long as you do not compromise the integrity of the mount and have the mount holes separated by at least half the width of the mount, you will probably be fine.
BUT, once again, I would urge the selection of a mount with a wider range of mounting choices to benefit from its full width for support.
SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The vast majority of TV mounts in general are only intended to span two studs. Additionally, if you are willing to add a bit of depth, you could attach the mount to a 1x6 board (or a strip of 3/4" plywood) using nuts, bolts and fender washers through the existing holes, and then mount the board or strip to two or even three studs with lag bolts.
SUPPLEMENT:
The Original Poster has now added information that this is a full motion mount. Because of the outward hinge aspect, these mounts almost always have one vertical pivot line in which all of the weight is concentrated. This makes the entire unit prone to horizontal twist forces and lateral tension forces (outward), not just shear forces. This also makes it more important to spread out the load, either with a new mount that has more mounting hole choices or using a bracing board that is then mounted to the studs. It also calls for deeply embedded lag bolts (at least 2" in the stud).
There are some full motion mounts that can accommodate 70 inch sets, have multiple horizontal slots and even allow some horizontal adjustment. But they are much pricier than basic mounts.
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Best Answer
A "C" (or perhaps "[" is better) shaped shelf could sit under and behind the couch, keeping it no more than an inch or two (even less if it was metal plate for the section behind the top edge of the couch) off the wall, and holding the projector above the couch without needing any attachment into the walls.
Not exactly what I'm thinking of (not having much luck thinking of the right search terms to find what I am thinking of), but the general idea - legs that can slip under the couch, standards, a shelf.