#Anchors shelf plaster and lath walls how to

If I do I can just use a regular old screw. If I’m not sure if there’s a piece of solid wood behind where I’m drilling, and in an old lath and plaster wall it’s often hard to tell, I drill a tiny pilot hole to see if I hit solid wood behind the lath.

Rodriguez suggests that it will work in lath and plaster and there’s even a new tool to make installation easier if you’ve got a lot of them to put in.Īnd a tip on using either of these two hollow wall anchors: they won’t work if you hit a stud or fire block. The patent goes back to the 1930s so there’s nothing new about this particular flavor of wall anchor. Though I haven’t tried this type of wall anchor I’m intrigued with another anchor that Rodriquez mentions, the Molly bolt. It’s not perfect as sometimes the plastic snaps prematurely, but I’ve used this bit of hardware to hang heavy stuff successfully, such as flat screen TVs. One I’ve already blogged about, is the pull toggle pictured above. I’d like to highlight two of the suggested anchors in that Fine Woodworking article for those of us in the lath and plaster tribe. But, if that’s not an option, take a look at Rodriguez’s article for all your wall anchor needs, whatever kind of wall you’re dealing with.

By all means, if you can, get thee some picture rail. Thanks to all who commented.Fine Woodworking has a phenomenal article by Mario Rodriguez that, next to the meaning of life, unlocks the second greatest philosophical conundrum of all time, “what kind of wall anchor should I use?” If, like us, you live in an old house with lath and plaster walls you’ve likely made a mess at one point or had something just plain fall of the wall. They work nice but if you need a higher load rating this is the way to go. The ratings were around 75lbs per fastener. I have hung TVs on dry wall with the OD screw style fasteners. A bit more expensive but they have one of the highest load ratings and as well discussed, they do not fall behind the wall if you remove the screw. I would recommend the Togglers to anyone putting heavy items on a plaster wall. Worst case paint something in the style you like.

If you want a decorative screw you can usually find something that will be suitable. I think the tool was Called 'Stud buddy'.Īnother possible nice feature is that it uses a standard machine screw( 1/4-20 or 10-24). I tried to find the studs with a magnetic stud finder but it was not strong enough to find anything. The strength is as good as the wall integrity. When drilling in old plaster you have to be very careful. I did see a video but I just wanted to be sure before I set a sail. Maybe it was a piece of paper that was not included by accident. The box I bought did not have any installation instructions for some odd reason.

#Anchors shelf plaster and lath walls how to

I made a practice run on a piece of wood before i attempted to do the job so I understood how to use them. If you can do it all the more power to you!!!!Īs a follow up I used the Toggler's as recommended. Usually you have a 1/2 or5/8' hole with a conventional toggle. Click to expand.I am sure you can at times.