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Whether you are attaching structures securely to a wall or simply hanging a delicate family portrait in your living room, you need to ensure that you are doing the job properly. Despite what many may be inclined to believe, not all walls are the same. Hence, not all wall anchors will be appropriate for all contexts.
In order to preserve the structural integrity and aesthetic value of your interior walls, it's important that your first attempt at installing drywall anchors is successful.
We're here to provide valuable insights into the workings of drywall anchors by walking you through the different varieties such as screw-in anchors, threaded anchors, self-drilling anchors, and hollow wall anchors.
If you are to understand what drywall anchors are, you must first understand what exactly is meant by the term 'drywall'. This type of wall, also known as a wallboard, is exclusively used for the construction of interior walls and ceilings.
The panel is made of a sheet of gypsum plaster which is then positioned between two thick sheets of either backer or facer paper.
Drywall is typically used to conceal steel structures and envelope columns whilst also being surprisingly effective in slowing the spread of fire. Should a fire break out inside a building, drywall would help to minimize its spread thus allowing people more time to safely evacuate the premises.
Now that the structure of the drywall has been established, we can move on to the drywall anchor. They are designed to secure mirrors, images, clocks, and other ornamental features to interior walls. Common nails and screws do not work on drywalls as they tend to just unscrew themselves without the double enforcement of an anchor structure.
Drywall anchors come in a range of shapes and sizes. You might have heard of the term 'expansion anchor'. This is a drywall anchor. This nickname has been derived from the anchor's mechanism. As the screw is driven further into the wall, it expands to push against the walls of the hole that you are creating and, in this way, it establishes a steady grip.
These type of drywall anchors are suitable for hanging slightly heavier objects. Threaded anchors are typically made of metal or hard nylon and it is sometimes referred to as a 'self-tapping' or 'self-threading' anchor.
The sharp shanks of this anchor do not require a pre-drilled hole. As one of many screw-in anchors, you only need a simple screwdriver to effortlessly insert it into drywall. Once the anchor is in, the screw is inserted. As this happens, the sides of the anchor are encouraged to flare out and in doing so, it becomes securely wedged within the drywall. It should be noted that threaded anchors can not be used to attach objects to interior ceilings. They only work for walls.
Depending on the size of threaded anchors, they can typically support a weight of between 25 and 75 pounds. Although prices will range according to store, brand, and size, they will usually cost between $0.25 and $0.40 per anchor.
Self-drilling anchors are a particular type of rod anchor. They are composed of multiple parts which include a sacrificial drill bit, a hollow steel bar of varying internal and external diameters as well as coupling nuts.
The body of the anchor consists of a steel tube with an outer circular thread. At the one end of the tube are the sacrificial drill bit and the associated nut with a plated steel end. The sacrificial drill bit is an alternative to the classic drill bit and this is what makes self-drilling anchors so unique.
These anchors are appreciated for their increased capacity for stability and resistance to undesirable flexibility despite being comprised of the usual quantity of steel. The hollow steel bar is inserted into the wall by means of rotary percussive drilling. A fluid called the 'injection mixture' moves through the holes of the sacrificial drill bit and this movement ceases once the mixture leaves the drilled hole.
A molly bolt, oftentimes simply called a 'molly,' is a type of screw fastener. This type of bolt is typically used to attach objects to a board made of either gypsum or plaster. As is typical of a drywall anchor, this molly bolt stays secure by virtue of the tension exerted by the anchor arms against the walls of the hole into which it has been inserted.
The more the bolt is fastened, the more the arms of the anchor will pull forward to settle into a highly-secure position that is perpendicular to the placement of the bolt. Molly bolts are ideal for securing moderately weighted objects. Depending on its size, a Molly bolt should be able to support an object that ranges between 25 and 50 pounds in weight.
People will oftentimes opt for a Molly bolt if they are wanting to secure an object to the ceiling. As has been mentioned they are best suited to moderately-weighted objects and would therefore be perfect anchors for smoke alarms, picture frames, and medium-sized mirrors.
Toggle bolts, also known as toggle anchors, are perfectly efficient for supporting lighter objects. As you get both metal and plastic toggle anchors, the weight that they are able to bear will range rather drastically.
Since drywall is more inclined to break when burdened with excess weight, toggle bolts should be used with extreme caution when attached to a ceiling. As a point of comparison, they can support 50 pounds when attached to a wooden ceiling.
A traditional metal toggle bolt, while being the strongest toggle bolt available, is rather tricky to install. It requires that you first drill a hole into the wall. The hard part is drilling the right size hole as it should be three times wider than the diameter of the bolt which you are inserting. This is to accommodate the necessary expansion of the anchor.
Once it has been inserted, you need to quickly twist the bolt in order to loosen the wings that were previously folded flat against the bolt. Once this is done you need to ensure that the bolt remains straight as you tighten it with a screwdriver. This process allows the anchor to secure a sturdy perpendicular position along the back of the drywall.
As the name might suggest, hollow wall anchors, are specifically designed to secure objects to walls that have hollow cavities. What makes this anchor particularly useful is the fact that the body of the anchor will remain steadily placed within the wall even if the screw component is removed. This means that hollow wall anchors are ideal for securing things that might need to be moved from time to time.
In typical drywall anchor style, the flaps open in an umbrella-like motion as you twist the screw into the wall. There are four of these flaps and each one is slightly dented in the center.
This type of anchor can also be effortlessly installed using a hollow wall anchor gun. If this is your chosen approach then all you need to do is place the anchor into the pre-drilled hole and hook the head of it to the gun. The gun will pull the bolt and this, in turn, allows the anchor to move into its most secure position.
The most common uses of hollow wall anchors are electrical sockets, electrical fittings, lightweight brackets, and hooks. For this reason and many others, this form of drywall anchor is a popular favorite amongst electricians, construction workers, and plumbers.
When it comes to installing drywall fixtures it's important to be informed on all available options before making any rash decisions. There is nothing worse than leaving a permanent mark on your otherwise-spotless wall because of simple carelessness. There are a few considerations that can circumvent any potential mishaps.
As we have mentioned, it is incredibly important to mark with a light pencil where it is that you are wanting to install drywall anchors. This is particularly essential if you are installing more than one anchor for a single object. This easy step ensures that the ultimate degree of neatness and 'amateur professionalism' can be achieved.
Secondly, you should always check on the structural integrity of your drywall installation. If drywall does not have adequate edge support or enough space between sheets then the stability of the wall is compromised. Furthermore, drywall that comprises a number of differently-sized sheets that are held together by multiple bolts is inevitably unstable and unfit for the installation of anchors.
If you were to attach drywall anchors to a wall that has any of the three issues mentioned above, you could compromise the safety of the entire room. It is always worth consulting a professional if you are unsure. They will advise you on how much weight your drywall can tolerate as well as the ideal positioning of the specific objects that you are wanting to secure.
At the end of the day, there is an abundance of excellent drywall anchors available for purchase today. With a little research, you will be the DIY king or queen of your household in no time at all.
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If you're insanely lucky, you'll have a stud in your wall exactly where you want to hang something heavy. For the other 99% of the time, you're going to need to use a drywall anchor to hang that thing on the wall. (That's a sheetrock anchor for the American folks out there.)
I know. The drywall anchor! It's a big, scary looking thing but once I explain it, it'll be about as scary as a chocolate covered cotton ball. I'll be calling it a drywall anchor through this post by the way because that's what it's called in my area in Canada. You might refer to it as sheetrock and a sheetrock anchor, but it's the same thing.
We've all been there I'm sure ... hung a full sized cow on our wall only to have it fall down in the middle of the night, scaring the farts right out of the cat. It happens. But it doesn't have to.
For some reason people are under the impression that hanging things on the wall is frightening. This fear stems out of two things. The fear of filling your wall with holes (you can overcome that fear in this tutorial where I teach you how to fix nail holes in drywall), and the fear of having no idea what the hell you're doing, what the hell you're supposed to use and how the hell you're supposed to use it.
Also you hung something once before and it fell down. And it was traumatizing.
But that's only because you probably used the wrong types of drywall anchors. I bet you're using those little, brightly coloured plastic wall anchors aren't you?
It's O.K. Not knowing, making mistakes, asking questions and learning are all a part of your successful home improvement journey.
Plastic Wall AnchorsKSQ Technology contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.
I've used them too. I'll admit it. Those plastic anchors (expansion anchors) in bright colours that you hammer into the drywall. You keep screwing and screwing your screw into it and it just keeps spinning and spinning because it isn't actually grabbing onto anything. But you hang something off of it anyways because you paid for it and installed it and can't think of any other way to do it. Then your cow falls down.
It's because those plastic anchors aren't really meant for drywall. They're actually meant for solid walls like concrete. They *can* in certain circumstances be used for drywall but even the must robust plastic anchor can only hold around 10 pounds. So they're very definitely light duty and don't have a lot of holding power.
If you INSIST on using a plastic wall anchor in drywall, remember this tip.
Pull the wings out on your plastic anchor!Not all plastic anchors are going to have them, but if they do, pull them out. They'll squish back in when you hammer the anchor into the wall but they'll pop out again a bit once they're in there. They'll help (a minuscule amount) to keep the anchor from falling out of the wall.
So if plastic wall anchors are crap, what should you be using to hang your stuff on the wall?
Threaded AnchorsThreaded anchors, (also called self-drilling anchors and E-Z anchors) are the absolute easiest choice and one of the most effective. They have a point on the end so you can tap them into the drywall. Then just stick a screwdriver into them and screw them in the wall. An average sized threaded anchor can hold about 50 pounds.
But my favourite is the hollow wall anchor. Otherwise known as a Molly Bolt. It's more complicated to use than the threaded anchor but I like them better.
What is a Molly wall anchor?Also known as the classic "Molly Bolt" or a molly wall anchor. THESE are the only drywall (sheetrock) anchors you should use. (bit of an exaggeration but honestly if you aren't sure what to go with they are the best.) How do I know they're the best? Just ask Bessie the cow.
These are my favourite anchors. Yes there are others like screw-in anchors, toggle bolts and a bunch of other things, but these Molly wall anchors are my favourites so that's why I'm talking about them and telling you to use them too.
When you buy a box of Hollow Wall Anchors there are 3 things you need to look for on the box:
What to look for in Hollow Wall Anchors
Also make sure you own a drill. I have a couple of drills, a "vintage" electric one I found at a garage sale that's GREAT and this Ryobi cordless one, which is great when the battery actually works. If you have issues with 18V batteries suddenly not charging, read my post on how to get a seemingly dead cordless battery to take a charge.
How to use Molly Bolts To Hang Stuff on Drywall2. Take the Hollow Wall Anchor out of the package and hammer it straight into the wall. You don't have to adjust it or fiddle with it or anything. Just whack it in there.
If you look back up at the first picture I showed you you'll see that there's tiny teeth under the flat edge of the anchor. These will grip into the outside of the drywall so make sure you hammer it in good.
3. Now you get your screwdriver and start screwing the screw in. I know it looks like it's already in (and it is) but what you're doing at this moment is creating Hollow Wall Anchor magic.
As you screw the screw in, a sort of flange is being pushed out at the back of the drywall. The more you turn the screw the tighter and tighter the flange gets. Just keep turning until you can feel some good resistance. It may take a while and you might get bored.
4. Once you've screwed it in to the point that you feel the resistance of the flange (I'm not really sure that's the right word to be using) against the back of the drywall you can start unscrewing the screw. Again. Totally boring.
I recommend doing it by hand though and not with a drill because you don't have enough control over the drill and if you screw your Hollow Wall Anchor in too tightly you could end up squishing your drywall and ruining it. Just do it by hand. Super exercise for your wrist anyway which will come in handy the next time you slap someone.
And don't worry. Undoing the screw doesn't do anything to the flange. It stays rock solid. That baby's in your wall for good now.
Seriously. To remove a hollow wall anchor you have to just hammer it into the wall and fill the hole it leaves with drywall compound. Yes. I know. That's scared you even more. Calm down. Remember? I showed you how to fix a hole in drywall. It's easy.
What are the Strongest Drywall Anchors?If you use either the threaded anchor or the molly bolt you'll do just fine. They can easily hold 50 pounds.
If you want to hang something a very large, heavy picture or mirror these no stud picture hangers are the absolute BEST. They are hooks and specifically for hanging mirrors or heavy artwork and I've used 2 of them to hang the life sized portrait you see in this post. Each of these hooks will support 200 pounds.
You're still scared. You don't think you can do this. It seems ... scary and you're pretty sure you're never going to need to hang anything on your walls. Ever.
You say that now, but one day you'll be driving around the countryside, hit a cow by accident and need to hang it. Now you know how to do it and what to use.
Good job.
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