mountingstudswalls
WARNING: I'm not the greatest handyman.
I bought a TV mount the other day, expecting to hang my heavy 40" TV above the fireplace. However, the instructions specifically say to first screw the mount into the studs in the wall. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any (according to my brand-new seemingly-functional stud finder).
Installing studs into the wall is not an option, and the TV is relatively heavy. My question is: What other options do I have? Could plugs possibly do the trick?
Do you have any high powered magnets? like the rare earth neodynium magnets? If so you can probably rub one around the wall until it attaches to one of the nails in the studs. Or you can try thumping on the wall, a stud will sound alot less hollow versus empty drywall. That's how I've searched around in the past.
As Legion600 suggested, you probably have steel studs as furring strips. You need to be sure you are not hitting protection plates installed on wood studs.
These protect electrical or plumbing lines close to the stud face, and you must never attempt to drill through these. Usually, if you drill several inches above or below such plates, you will hit wood. If you are hitting metal along the entire stud length, it is not a protection plate, but a metal stud. Metal studs in this application should be fairly light gauge and easy to drill through. Protection plates are about 16 GA and are not easy to drill through.
You may anchor objects to metal studs. They are sturdy enough when finish sheathing is attached along their length. Do not use toggles, the hole required is too large. It's best to use a number of self-drilling screws that are barely long enough to engage the stud face material after passing through the mount and wall finish. This avoids damaging any lines routed through the center holes of the stud. You can also use self tapping screws into pre-drilled holes, but drill very carefully so as not to damage any underlying lines when the drill breaks through the face material, and again, use appropriate length screws.
Best Answer
If you have a wall, you have structure.
If your wall is masonry then the TV mount can likely be mounted directly to the masonry (or mounts are available which can).
If your wall is drywall then you must have structure behind it... perhaps your studfinder is malfunctioning or you're using it improperly?
Studs can usually be found beside original electrical boxes (as the boxes are mounted to the side of the stud). Check your stud-finder against both sides of a nearby electrical socket for functionality. If you cannot locate a stud, try tapping a small nail into the wall board near an existing fixture. If it meets resistance behind the wall-board then you have a stud. Wall studs should be spaced in regular intervals (usually 16" on center in the US) so you can simply measure over to your mount area to locate them.
Once you believe you have found studs simple repeat the above test: tap in a small nail to verify structure behind the wall board. Studs should be 1.5 inches wide, so check that you can mark both sides of the side (to mount into the middle).
You may need to tap many small holes to accomplish this without an adequate stud finder.