Trophy Room Help

[jrfishhunt]

I need help determining what is the best way to make a trophy room. I'm adding a room to my house with 12? walls and a 16? center peak. I would like to line the addition with plywood or osb board under the sheet rock. But what size of wood would hold large mounts like elk and moose. Would ?? hold a large elk or moose or would you use 1? 1/8? I would like to use ?? because of the price difference but not sure if it would hold the larger mounts? Any help would is greatly appreciated.

 

[TOPGUN]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-14 AT 09:26AM (MST)[p]With the brackets and other "dodads" that are available nowadays to hang heavy stuff, 3/4" should do fine for any mount you want to put up.

 

[mmwb]

I expect 1/2" ply would be sufficient, but many don't have a backing behind the drywall. With studs centered every 16", you really have no end of options in terms of a good anchor. If there are a couple of spots relative to center, windows, etc. that you know you are going to want to hang something, then make sure you have a stud there, even if it means putting a few extra in, when you build.

 

[piper]

3/4 should be plenty, ply may be a bit better for pullout strength, but OSB is strong also.

Use deep treaded screws or lags that aren't overly long if your concerned, and if your hanging something really super heavy on the wall, you can just make sure you hit a stud also.

 

[oneaway]

I'm with mmwb, add a few extra studs. I personally think that sheeting the whole room with plywood is over kill. You can add cross braces if you want in areas you plan on hanging larger mounts.

 

[buckhorn]

Securely fastened 3/4 plywood is plenty thick to support a large bull elk shoulder mount with a polyurethane form. The critical step is to properly install an adequate lag bolt with the correct size pilot hole for the bolt.

IMO the mounts look better if they are lower on the wall so you get more of a straight on view of them.

I suggest doing the entire room if you can afford to.



Good Luck,
buckhorn

 

[muley505]

I don't know that you need to do plywood on all of the walls for support. I would be apprehensive about putting an elk mount just into plywood (of any width) without a stud anyway, and if you are going to have to put the hanger into a stud anyway, I think the plywood is just extra expense that you don't really need. A big elk mount is fairly heavy, and I would always make sure your are mounting into a stud because you don't want $1000 worth of taxidermy falling 10 feet to the ground. Bottom line, I would save the money on the plywood and make sure your studs are on 16" centers, and you should be fine.

 

[sjhgraysage]

When finishing a room in our basement that I wanted to have some mounts in, I did it this way. Because I wasn't going to have anything down near the floor I started at the ceiling with 1/2" plywood and attached 4 foot wide sheets to the studs. For the area below that where there would not be anything hung on the wall, I just cut strips of 1/2" thick plywood and firred out the studs so that I could cover the wall with sheet rock. It saved some money over using full sheets all the way from the ceiling to the floor.

I think 1/2" plywood would be ok but 3/4" should be plenty strong for anything up to big moose shoulder mounts.

 

[Horniac]

If it was me, I would use 2x12 flat blocking between the studs. You don't need it the full height of the wall, say in a band from 6' to 10' above finish floor where you figure your mount nails or screws are most likely to be height wise. I used plywood under my sheetrock and it doesn't work all that well for the angled nails and screws used to hold standard shoulder mounts because the screws rotate down under load. Also, with plywood you will have to sheet the whole wall from 0' to 12' AFF to have a flat substrate for your sheetrock which is overkill for sure.

I would take photos of your walls before sheetrock or note the heights and locations on your plans for future reference. Also, don't skimp on the backing. It is nice to center mounts over windows, etc. but as your mount locations change as you fill your trophy room it is nice to have the flexibility to move them wherever you want without worrying about backing. It is also nice to have when you go to hang your life size mounts...

Horniac

 

[piper]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-14 AT 11:57AM (MST)[p]good advise there, the only problem with purely using studs is the layout, with plywood you can mount deer, fish, antelope, and big pictures anywhere and not worry about hitting studs.

I have a wall of trophys where I only threw a few extra studs in instead of using a ply wood backer.
The only drawback is I have rearranged the mounts several times, and I'm stuck with the 16" layout, you don't always know where your mounts look the best rightaway.

 

[MrSafari1]

Here's what I did. 3/4" tongue and grove southern yellow pine plywood, tough stuff, used in flooring. Installed 30 inches up from the floor to the ceiling on the walls your going to place your mount's. 3/4" furring strips on the studs from the floor to the plywood, then sheeted over with drywall or blueboard. I knew where my moose was going so I braced between the studs with 2x12 scrap's. Used a heavy lag screw for the moose and for elk, caribou like critters smaller lag's which work fine. Regular dry wall screws for the deer size stuff.

Just a suggestion as you didn't mention lighting? I ran regular recessed flood eyeball lights 18-20 inches out from the wall in the ceiling, with a spread of about 30-36 inches apart. Then out from those lights about 36" I installed recessed adjustable eyeball lights either flood or spot for the desired effect. This will eliminate a lot of the shadow's. All ceiling light switches had adjustable dimmers.

Great thing about that plywood under your board is you never have to search for a stud and it's easy to patch screw holes when you decide you want a different look. Good luck on your project!

 

[Zeke]

I'm right in the middle of doing mine.
I went with full frame, double cross-braced studs and everything from 4' to 12' got the plywood treatment for the simple reason of layout.
I plan to hit a stud for all the heavy stuff but can arrange everything else around it to suit me.
Of course from 4' down I used strips of plywood to fir it out for a smooth wallboard job. I'm in the middle of hanging 5/8" wallboard also. Ceiling is done.

Good luck,
Zeke

 

[mntman]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-14 AT 11:09PM (MST)[p]3/4" plywood will support anything you want to hang up as long as it is secured properly to the studs. there is NO way any mount will pull out of 3/4" with proper screws. The only thing I could see possible would be a bull elephant shoulder mount...

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"


Let me guess, you drive a 1 ton with oak trees for smoke stacks, 12" lift kit and 40" tires to pull a single place lawn mower trailer?

 

[llamapacker]

Be aware that any windows/ doors inthe wall you intend to fir out will need wider casings. It probably means a custom ordered door frame, and definitely an issue with the windows. Not really a big extra expense, but something to keep in mind. Most doors and windows are designed to site in "standard" thickness walls, and you need to plan ahead.
Bill

 

[Cornhusker]

3/4 will work great, my trophy room is exactly what you are describing 12' walls 16' at center with scissor trusses. I have some heavy stuff on the walls although no moose. Build it big enough I built mine 24' by 18' I'm now out of room.

 

[CHWino_1]

My wall has 3/4" OSB under 1x6 cedar. Cedar or pine makes for a great back drop for your trophies. The other good thing is if you move things around you won't see any of the holes. It also cuts down on seeing cobwebs. For my bigger stuff I just used lag screws and didn't worry about hitting studs. I have a couple of somewhat awkward animals that I additionally used wire attached to the base of the horns since I live in earthquake country.