Drywall anchor repair

[TheClaw]

Kind of a garage question. Unless of course you have a bathroom in your garage. The toilet roll hanger mounting anchors have come loose. One of the holes is pretty messed up. I could just stuff some mud in there. Sand and re-drill it, but I don't think that's going to be very strong. Any other suggestions or materials to use to reinforce that hole so I could reuse it without relocating the entire thing.

 

[Roert42]

Spring loaded butterfly nut.

 

[PCustoms]

Kind of a garage question. Unless of course you have a bathroom in your garage. The toilet roll hanger mounting anchors have come loose. One of the holes is pretty messed up. I could just stuff some mud in there. Sand and re-drill it, but I don't think that's going to be very strong. Any other suggestions or materials to use to reinforce that hole so I could reuse it without relocating the entire thing.

What kind of anchor was it?

Can you use one like this in the same hole:

 

[larry4406]

What kind of anchor was it?

Can you use one like this in the same hole:

I like this style.

 

[mm08822]

cut a strip of 3/4 plywood about 6" long and 1" wide.

Attach a screw and wire to the center of it and feed it into a clean rectangular hole through the sheetrock. Attach plywood with drywall screws through the sheetrock above/below hole into the plywood.

Patch/spackle a/r. sand paint. W/o a solid anchor surface you'll just be fixing it again.

 

[mm08822]

Anything that has repeated action is going to eventually fail unless it is secured into solid blocking/framing, IME.

 

[PCustoms]

I like this style.

Unless it's really light, these are all I use lately. Way easier to install (and remove) and they don't seem to pull out

cut a strip of 3/4 plywood about 6" long and 1" wide.

Attach a screw and wire to the center of it and feed it into a clean rectangular hole through the sheetrock. Attach plywood with drywall screws through the sheetrock above/below hole into the plywood.

Patch/spackle a/r. sand paint. W/o a solid anchor surface you'll just be fixing it again.

If the anchor doesn't work something along this path would be my next option. Personally with a TP holder I'd span the studs if possible

 

[rlitman]

Spring loaded butterfly nut.

Those work well behind larger objects, but require a large hole that you probably can't cover up with the TP holder's escutcheon.
For something this small, a molly bolt, or toggle lock or zip toggle can be almost as strong, but only need around a 1/2" of coverage.

The 1/4" zip toggle is probably overkill, and the TP holder probably doesn't have a 1/4" hole, but I've used these with great success.



There are all metal versions that take smaller screws:



Too late for you now, but before skinning the walls in my last bathroom project, I cut pocket holes in a leftover piece of subfloor and installed the large rectangle flush with the studs adjacent to the toilet so I'd have wood to anchor the TP holder too. That's crazy overkill for something like this, but great if you might ever place a grab bar there.

 

[nutjob]

The 1/4" zip toggle is probably overkill, and the TP holder probably doesn't have a 1/4" hole, but I've used these with great success.

They make a Toggler in 3/16" screw size, still uses the same 1/2" hole for install.
These are my go to for bathroom stuff. Except grab bars, different install.

Check Ebay and you can find smaller quantity's than the 100 box

Kevin

 

[4xdog]

Maybe 3M Command Strip adhesive hook and loop tabs? It's only a toilet paper roll...

Or perhaps patch the holes and used a free-standing TP roll stand?

 

[rlitman]

Maybe 3M Command Strip adhesive hook and loop tabs? It's only a toilet paper roll...

Putting velcro on each square gets expensive fast and takes up a lot of wall space. And then there'll be little holes torn out of each square when you pull it off the velcro. It would be just my luck that the hole would align with my fingertip.

Oh, you meant to use Command to hold up the whole thing. Good luck with that much weight. Command falls of the wall moments after I stop looking at it.

 

[larry4406]

It’s a toilet paper holder.

Not a grab bar folks.

 

[TheClaw]

What kind of anchor was it?

Can you use one like this in the same hole:

That's what I took out.

I know I could cut the old drywall out and put in a patch. That's easy enough. I'm trying to get away with just plugging the hole with something and not going through all the hassle of patching, priming, repainting and all that ****

 

[Shiftless]

I faced a similar problem years ago with a towel holder. I got a scrap of oak 1x2, routed the edges and varnished it. Then attached that to the wall with a screw with an anchor on each end going into new places in the drywall. It has held fine over the years.

 

[TheClaw]

@rlitman you give me an idea, I could just get some butterflies and put that back there. I might even have a swab and laying around

 

[PCustoms]

That's what I took out.

I know I could cut the old drywall out and put in a patch. That's easy enough. I'm trying to get away with just plugging the hole with something and not going through all the hassle of patching, priming, repainting and all that ****

Hide the holes and drill new ones

 

[mm08822]

It’s a toilet paper holder.

Not a grab bar folks.

But sometimes hits the .

 

[rlitman]

But sometimes hits the .

 

[Burt Shaver]

cut a strip of 3/4 plywood about 6" long and 1" wide.

Attach a screw and wire to the center of it and feed it into a clean rectangular hole through the sheetrock. Attach plywood with drywall screws through the sheetrock above/below hole into the plywood.

Patch/spackle a/r. sand paint. W/o a solid anchor surface you'll just be fixing it again.

X2

 

[4xdog]

Oh, you meant to use Command to hold up the whole thing. Good luck with that much weight. Command falls of the wall moments after I stop looking at it.

It was meant more to challenge thinking than any real practical expectation, but I've had surprisingly good results with 3M Command Strips. Much better than I expected.

 

[Shiftless]

This is a fine example of what I suggested a while back.

 

[mm08822]

Exactly....sometimes all doesn't go as planned ....

 

[kbuhagiar]

I like this style.

Same here, WAY better than the old plastic anchor pull-em-outs.

 

[bwringer]

I'm always amazed at the high levels of torque and force people are putting through toilet paper holders. They're loose or broken in damn near every hotel room I've ever been in, plain or fancy.

Maybe people are rappelling off them, or using them to stand up, or using toilet paper holders as bungee anchor points for unspeakable activities. I really don't know.

So no, I don't think overkill is possible here.

Or, just remove them. When I remodeled our master bath, the toilet paper holder went in the trash, and the TP sits in a nice little freestanding holder on the counter. For whatever reason, the TP holder was placed below the towel rack, right where the end of the towel usually hung, meaning that the TP was eternally slightly damp. So we never used the durn thing anyway.

 

[larry4406]

I guess death grip leverage while ejecting….

 

[PCustoms]

I guess death grip leverage while ejecting….

Support as you lean over to complete the paperwork?

 

[larry4406]

I guess death grip leverage while ejecting….

Support as you lean over to complete the paperwork?

I think that’s the heave-ho maneuver. But yes.

 

[67King]

Spring loaded butterfly nut.

This is the answer. As much as I hate the things, when the mounts for toilet paper holders or towel rods get messed up, it is either cut out a large section, or use one of these. New house, the guy installing ours overtorqued the snot out of the large anchor, which caused the drywall to fail, so I had to use one of these in one of the loctions.

What kind of anchor was it?

Can you use one like this in the same hole:

Normally, those are the only kind I will use; however, in this case, the drywall has failed where anchors were already placed, and you can't make one of these work. It needs the butterfly ones so it grabs a larger section behind the drywall, which I suppose puts the drywall in a compression mode, rather than shear.

 

[Shiftless]

Be careful when fixing things in up the bathroom. 20 years ago I went to replace the toilet shut off valve. Leaning against the adjacent wall, I felt a softness. I broke out a bit of the drywall and found that it had become a “wet wall”. The 1950’s vintage tile shower was adjacent and the plumbing had a slight leak which damaged the wall big time. I ended up gutting the entire bathroom back to the studs… walls, ceiling and floor and installing all new pipes and wiring. Even some of the floor joists were affected and I had to sister in new 2x10s.
That‘s another reason to have at least 2 bathrooms in any house you own.

 

[545_days]

A one bath home puts an extreme urgency on all repairs if you are married.

 

[wolfhawk73]

I'll add to post #2. When I install new towel bars, hand towel hangers, or TP holders, I always use a 1/8" spring-loaded wing toggle on the top bracket hole and the manufacturer-supplied plastic anchor on the lower hole. The toggle is for strength, and the anchor is to keep the bracket from rotating. I've probably installed a couple dozen this way over the past 20 years and never had a failure. It looks like the bottom hole is the good one for a plastic anchor, so I'd repair yours the same way.

 

[OzarkMan]

Toggle bolts as in post 2 and be done with it for good. Anything in drywall gets toggle bolts in my house without any questions. I have never had a failure using those.

 

[TheClaw]

Yup, toggle bolt did the trick.

 

[rust in the eye]

"Togglers" are my answer. Better for me than plain toggles because the "wing" is held in place rather hearing the toggle fall inside the wall cavity when the screw is removed. So much neater then masking or cutting in around stuff when time to repaint.

 

[jkuro]

Remove old holder and patch holes.

Get a new holder like this and anchor to a stud.

Franklin Brass Maxted Matte Black Toilet Paper Holder with Towel Bar - MAX50-FB | Buy Now with Express International Delivery | GoSupps.com https://share.google/48zJ2V6tdcl1hI7Wb

 

[Lynden]

Install a different type of holder, one that covers the holes or one that doesn't put the outward force on the supports that a spring-loaded holder does.

 

[PCustoms]

Install a different type of holder, one that covers the holes or one that doesn't put the outward force on the supports that a spring-loaded holder does.

I can't believe you're the first person to suggest that!

 

[Crazyjake8493]

We have to replace tons of plastic drywall anchors at work when people rip toilet paper or paper towel dispensers off the walls - both the tap-in kind and the screw-in type.

We always replace them with toggle bolts.

 

[carlaisle]

Install the drywall anchor at the same time you fix the hole. Fix the hole with plaster.