Wallboard Thickness
 

Does anyone know what the thickness is for the wallboard being used to build new homes in The Villages (Collier)? I am struggling to hang closet units because of the metal studs used in construction of our Gardenia model home so I hope to buy the appropriate wall board anchors that will carry a lot of weight. I assume it is 1/2" or 5/8" but truly, it is a mystery to me. Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

Stop at new construction and measure the thickness.

I have hung several items on the walls by drilling into the aluminum studs using common anchors.

The drywall is 1/2". When you are able to hit a stud, use a drywall screw made for metal. Don't over tighten, and they'll hold quite a bit.

You can get that information and any other information on the construction of your home by calling warranty. Whoops Mulligan sorry. We posted at the same time and your post was the answer.

Great minds................

Common drywall for residential is 1/2" If you have a block home I do not know if they are using wood firing strips or metal hat channel. Certainly someone in warranty services could tell you that. On a block home there is not much depth on the exterior walls between the drywall and the block and it has foam board in between so an expandable anchor may not work at all!

Correct, Tapcons work great.

Walls are 1/2, ceiling is 5/8. Wood studs on 16" centers are used on all load bearing walls. Metal studs are on 24" centers. Exterior walls on block homes use 3/4" wood furring strips

With all the on going construction drive around find a Gardenia that has only it's walls up and take pictures.
While my home was under construction I photographed each room before dry wall saved it to my computer when ever I want to hang anything I know where each stud is and any electrical wires.

I reinstalled all of the shelving in our gardenia. I agree, the initial installation was not good, as I found over half of the anchors on the large walk in closet were loose, before we even used them. I used a stud locator, and a 1/4 inch drill and the appropriate wall anchor. For the metal studs, I used dry wall or sheet metal screws, with a predrilled 1/8 inch hole. I also added some additional supports, and I hit every stud that I could. The old holes were very easy top patch and paint over.

Thank You.
 

:bigbow:

This is all so helpful. Thank you all for your input.

When you say ".... that will cary a lot of weight ..." that covers a big territory! The proper anchor should be used for the weight it will carry and should always be anchored into the framing studs (whether it is wood or metaL). A good place to get proper information would be from a licensed building contractor or your local building department.

Not really, what if you want to mount something where there's no stud.

All anchors have a lb rating on them