Am I the only one who refuses to mount keypads on drywall without backing plates?

I walked into a new construction house last Tuesday and found the previous installer had screwed a touchscreen keypad straight into two layers of sheetrock with nothing behind it. Three months of someone leaning on it and that thing is going to crack the wall or rip right out. How are you all securing these things when the stud is nowhere near your mount spot?

3 comments

3 Comments

river_burns14d ago

Three months of daily use on a toggle bolt in lightweight drywall and that screw eye is going to wallow out the hole, I've seen it happen way too many times lol. Plywood or a metal plate is cheap insurance against a call back.

jakef6616d ago

One piece of plywood behind the drywall makes those solid as a rock.

garcia.casey15d ago

Oh come on, y'all are WAY overthinking this. I've mounted keypads directly into drywall for years and never had one pull out. The trick is using the right toggle bolts, not plywood scraps. Those little plastic drywall anchors from the hardware store are junk, but a solid metal toggle bolt rated for 50 pounds? That bad boy is NOT going anywhere. I've got a house full of them, my kids hang on them, no cracks, no rips. Backing plates are an extra step nobody has time for.