Towel Bars And Drywall Anchors
Hi all. I came across your site
while looking for information about installing a towel bar in my
bathroom. Here's the problem:
I want to replace the existing bar,
as it has a dent in it. Before I took the old bar out, and unscrewed
the first screw, I didn't realize it was in there with anchors.
So...there is now no way to retighten this screw, nor will it come
out so I can install the new bar. Does this mean I have to excise
that portion of drywall, re-drywall and paint, and then install the
new bar? If so: argh!
~elise
Dang,
I wish everyone had a digital camera! Then it would be easier to
communicate about these home improvement problems.
Many towel bars are installed
with drywall anchors. I have seen very few cases where the
carpenters installed extra wood blocking for towel bars.
But... there are many types of
drywall anchors, enough for an entire article on HammerZone.com...
(one of these days...)
Is there a little round ring of
plastic visible? That would indicate a plain anchor. If these
anchors spin in their holes, then they could probably just be
yanked right out.
But I'd bet what you have is a
"toggle" anchor, which is the only kind worth using for
high-load applications like towel bars. If the screw just spins
and spins, it is because spring-loaded toggle "wings"
are just rotating freely in air, with nothing to hold them in
place.
Is there a metal bracket attached
to the wall? Does the towel bar attach to the bracket with a tiny
set screw on the bottom? If so, then try this:
Pull on the metal bracket as you
loosen the screw. Using a screwdriver bit in a cordless drill
makes this MUCH easier. If there is a toggle bolt anchor behind
the drywall, it will probably be 2 or 3 inches long. And the screw
threads they use are usually 6-32, which means 32 screw threads
per inch, which means you may need to loosen that screw 60 to 90
FULL TURNS before the toggle wings fall off. Of course, the toggle
wings fall down inside the wall, which means you can either cut a
hole and retrieve them (I'm being a wise-guy!) or just get new
toggle bolts.
There are other types of drywall
anchors that you could be facing. If there is a metal ring around
the screw, it could be a "collapsing" anchor. Some of
these are reusable, but not if the metal body spins in its hole.
Give it a try and please write
back with your results.
Bruce W. Maki, Editor.
Elise replies:
Thank you so much for your
email--it helped, as did your site!
Keeping pressure on the bracket
while loosening the screw makes perfect sense; that's what I did to
get the old bar back up (well, while tightening it to get it back up
when I feared it wouldn't come all the way down). So, tomorrow I
will try to take the whole shebang down, letting the old anchors
fall into the wall...
Thank goodness for my electric
screwdriver! ;)
~elise
and later:
The new towel bar is up. The screws
included with the bar soooo did not work--they were far too short! I
found what I needed at Home Depot, including the toggles, and
everything is good to go--knock on wood. At least it hasn't fallen
down yet... :)
Thanks for your time and advice!
~elise
I'm
glad everything worked. So were the original screws REALLY long?
Was their length kinda surprising?
I remember the first time I
removed a toggle screw... I cussed a lot... I thought those things
were so stupid. I realized later that toggle screws are the only
serious and sturdy drywall anchor. But they have their quirks.
It's a case where a little
knowledge makes all the difference in the world.
Bruce Maki, Editor
|
