mounting plasma to all that is metal studs and 2 layers sheetrock

I had a friend that mounted a plasma onto metal studs awhile back. He had to cut a hole in the drywall, mount a wooden 2x4 in between the 2 studs for support/blocking and patch up the drywall. Only took an hour or so to do the whole thing, and another hour or so of sanding and painting. he did have to wait for coats to dry in between, to patch. Took 1 day but only 1-2 hours of actual work involved. He mounted a 46" plasma that weighed about 75 pounds. I don't know if this helps but if the actual building codes for your area are different, you may want to check a metal stud manufactures website. They usually have instructions and specifications for fastener pullout strength, etc...

According to Legacy Reports, a drywall screw will have a pullout value of over 50 lbs each into 25g studs; over 100 lbs each into 20g. However, this is taking into consideration that the screws are properly installed without any overtorque to stripping.


I have been in commercial drywall construction for over 30 years and I know for sure that I can install the screws perfectly. That being said, I would NOT rely on just direct screws for any sort of cantelevered mount; a static mount - maybe but I would feel a lot better knowing the studs were 20 gage.


Good toggle bolts (like you get at a pro electrical supply house) should work fine going through both the drywall and the flange of the metal stud.

IS the sheetrock already up? Use some OSB for the first layer where the TV mounts if not.


Otherwise as mentioned above toggle bolts work well for this application.