Hanging 30lb reflector/bulb from sheetrock?

Weight is about 30lb, give or take 5lb. It might move a little or vibrate from an oscillating fan in the room.

The entire room is made of sheetrock, and there IS space after the sheetrock, but no beam/stud for me to comfortably mount things on.

I have toggle bolts, and plastic anchors.. plastic anchors are useless here I think, and I'm afraid toggle bolts will bring down a big piece of sheetrock along with the light?

Also, the package of hooks/chains I got specifically for hanging HID fixtures contains one very long chain, one chain about 1 foot long, and 3 hooks and 1 hook-screw thing that will go into the wall (in my case I won't be using this, not along anyway).

Am I missing something here? I was thinking that each end of the HID reflector will have its own hook/chain connected to its own toggle bolt (or whatever) in the ceiling.. should I exchange this?

The sheetrock has to be nailed to something usually the ceiling joists. I located mine and screwed a 2x4 into it using 3" long deck screws. Then I got 'eye hooks' rated for 40# and screwed them into the 2x4. I think it's easier to change the light height if you use separete chains for each side. Menard's sells 50' packages of chainsuitable for the weight of the fixture's for $10.00 and 'S' hooks for under a $1.00 for like 6 of them. If it would help I can post some pictures of how I did this?? VV

Thanks. Yeah, I want them on separate hooks for that reason, and so that the strain on the sheetrock is divided.

Thing is, there's no joist/stub/anything I can use above the sheetrock. There's a large space.

I always read that Toggle bolts can support 256lb in 1/2" drywall and all these crazy numbers..

Anyone with experience willing to chime in?

truckin said:

Thanks. Yeah, I want them on separate hooks for that reason, and so that the strain on the sheetrock is divided.

Thing is, there's no joist/stub/anything I can use above the sheetrock. There's a large space.

I always read that Toggle bolts can support 256lb in 1/2" drywall and all these crazy numbers..

Anyone with experience willing to chime in?

Click to expand...

Not in unsupported dry wall. This must not be a very large area. I would build a frame out of 1 1/2"pvc to support the light before I would try to hang a 10# light from drywall that is not supported, let alone one weighing 30#. Light fixture are sometimes hung using toggle bolts but the ceiling is supported, every 16" if there is a floor above and every two feet if there is a roof above. It sounds like some one added a small piece of drywall improperly.
I know I only have four lights hanging in that grow room now but if you count the number of times I have moved them I have hung Hundreds of lights, did all my own wiring and built the tables my plants are on. What kind of 'experience' were you looking for?? VV

Sorry, what I said was interpreted wrong. By experience, I just meant somebody who may have had the same problem as me - hanging from unsupported drywall.

The PVC frame idea sounds good. I'm also thinking about maybe putting a long piece of wood over the drywall ceiling, and hanging from the middle of that. This would act as support, sort of like a gigantic toggle bolt.

I have access to the top of the drywall. Imagine a small "hut" made with 5 sides of drywall, that's basically what it is.

Thanks for the reply.

You can hang your light in unsupported drywall pretty easy,all you need is a peice of 1/12 lumber the entire length of your ceiling,a couple tubes of liquid nails caulking & some 3" coarse thread drywall screwqs.

Cut the lumber to fit the entire length of the ceiling tightly,give it a test fit,if its cut tight it should be a tight fit,take it back down & squirt the hell out of liquid nails all over the back of the wood & take a spoon or something & rub in the liquid nails to be sure it bonds to every inch of the wood,its messy but do not skip rubbing it in good.

Take another tube of liquid nails & squirt it exactly where the lumber will go on the ceiling,again rub it in with something,it is important to cover every inch of the wood & the same on the ceiling,now all you need to do is to screw the wood to the ceiling every 3 or 4 inches,it helps to start all the screws before hanging the wood.

Let that shit harden up for 72 hours & you'll be able to hang anything you want from the wood,it wont budge,all the down force will now be spread out over a 12 inch wide area times the length of your ceiling,it'll cost ya about $15 to do.