Hi all, I just bought a projector and will need to ceiling mount it, but my house is 100 years old and the ceilings are all lath & plaster. I'm currently planning to use large toggle bolts, but will these hold? There is no way I can find the studs, so it would be drill & guess, and even if I find a stud it may not work for my projector location. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I assume this is a smaller digital projector, not a big CRT dinosaur like I have. In that case toggle bolts should work fine.

Hi - yeah it's an Optoma HD20. Quoted weight is 6.4 pounds but I don't know what actual weight is. I'm just a little worried about $1000 of electronics hanging from the lath & plaster, but I suppose if I use large toggles that can span the width between the lath boards it should be fine.

An average Toggle holds 1000 pounds, but drywall is the weak link. 5/8" drywall will support 200 before ripping out. You'll have 4 such contact points. Lathe and plaster is a heck of a lot denser / stronger than a single sheet of 5/8".

Oh that's great news! I just assumed Lath & Plaster was weaker than drywall for some reason. Hopefully the mounting will go smoothly, looks like I was worried about nothing again :rolleyes:

Some plaster obviously is weak, but the key thing is you have 6.4 pounts. The screws to secure it weigh almost that much ;)

Some plaster obviously is weak, but the key thing is you have 6.4 pounts. The screws to secure it weigh almost that much ;)

I'd normally agree with you 100%, but old plaster can be really dicey. I used to hate doing install jobs in old churches for exactly that reason.

Frank

I'd be a bit concerned too. If the L&P is truly 100 years old, I'd probably test it first. Put up one of your toggle bolts with something that weighs a few pounds (attached by a string with a weight on the end),then do the others, that way you'll know that each one can support the weight you're proposing.

You're really not dealing with much weight with that PJ so you'd probably be fine, but it still would be best to check.