Today Nathaniel from Garbers Hardware shares his favorite wall anchors for any wall or weight you’ll come across.
So, you just got home with your brand new Floating shelf system/Pot rack/Bike hanging system/other wall mountable thingy. Superb; mounting things on the wall means more room on the floor, a net gain for the total square footage of your apartment.
You’re all set to install your new wall mountable thingy. You follow the directions precisely. You drill the correct size hole in the wall using the proper bit. You install the wee, plastic anchors provided with your new thingy. You attach your thingy to the wall, screwing through the mounts and into the plastic anchors you stuck in the wall. All is right with the Universe. Then, you return home a few days later and it looks as if there’s been a small earthquake.
The epicenter? Thingy central.
The Universe, it seems, has just taught you a valuable lesson. Sayeth the Universe; “You know those anchors that come prepackaged with just about everything? Yeah, they are almost always doomed to fail. Sorry I couldn’t get that info to you sooner.”
Thanks again to the illustrious efforts of the lovely Marian Adams, please enjoy this picture gallery of my most recommended wall anchors, accompanied by a short description of their best uses.
a. & b. Plastic anchors are best used for hanging light to medium weight Thingies when the wall is at least as thick as the anchor is long. NOT for use on sheet rock walls.
c. Fiber plugs can be used like plastic anchors but they also work great in wood. Use them to fill worn out door-hinge holes.
d. Lead anchors are intended for use on concrete, cement, or brick walls. They can be used for reasonably heavy objects and are meant to go into the masonry, not the mortar.
e. Polytoggles are excellent for use on sheetrock. They don’t require a huge hole (5/16″) and if you’re not sure if you are dealing with sheet rock or not, it can double as a plug style anchor. Polytoggles can hold a good amount of weight.
f. Zip-its are great for light to medium Thingies. They can only be used on sheet rock walls. Trust me on this one. They are very convenient since you don’t need a drill to use them.
g. The Toggler and h. the classic Toggle Bolt can be used in just about any hollow wall application. You can use either type on walls as thin as 5/8″ sheet rock to 4″ thick plaster walls. As long as there is a hollow space behind the wall somewhere, you can use these puppies. Togglers and Toggle Bolts can hold very heavy Thingies.
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