DIY Thread

Greg · Dec 1, 2005

I'm a big time Do It Yourself type homeowner (just ask Charlie about all the whacky electrical questions I ask him). I thought this might make for an interesting thread. Feel free to use it to discuss your DIY projects or ask questions.

I'll start. What type of wall anchors have you found the most effective when hanging heavier items (large pictures, mirrors, etc.) when you need to position it in an area without a stud? I plan to use molly bolts like these:

Has anyone else found anything better? I think anything made of plastic basically sucks.

SkiDog · Dec 1, 2005

Greg said:
I'm a big time Do It Yourself type homeowner (just ask Charlie about all the whacky electrical questions I ask him). I thought this might make for an interesting thread. Feel free to use it to discuss your DIY projects or ask questions.

I'll start. What type of wall anchors have you found the most effective when hanging heavier items (large pictures, mirrors, etc.) when you need to position it in an area without a stud? I plan to use molly bolts like these:

That is EXACTLY what I would use for that application. I don't think there really is any other viable solution.

M

Has anyone else found anything better? I think anything made of plastic basically sucks.

HughK · Dec 1, 2005

There are two other types of fasteners that might work. One is like the molly pictured except there are a pair of spring wings on the nut. It will give you a greater surface of the wall to hold hanger on. You and also more easily use on thicker walls- plaster plus lathe. Unlike your pictured fasterners the "winged" ones cannot be unscrewed and reused. The "wings" fall behind the wall. Also you will need to pre drill a hole the wideth of the wings. These are good for very heavy pictures or hanging shelves.

The second is made specifically for going into sheetrock. It screws in with a philips screwdriver then you can but a screw into the fasterner. It comes weight tested and is beefier than the little plastic inserts you get with say the picture frame kit.

With the ones you pictured make sure the depth of your wall matches the shank portion of the fastener between the screwhead and start of the collapsing portion. If it is short it won't hold. :blink:

My wife and I own a 150 year old farmhouse, our lives are a DIY. Got go Home Depot is bringing in more sheetrock.
Hugh.

BeanoNYC · Dec 1, 2005

I like the self tapping ones Hugh spoke about. It has a phillips head slot on top and you use your screw gun to set it in the wall. No more drilling and hammering.

hammer · Dec 1, 2005

HughK said:
There are two other types of fasteners that might work. One is like the molly pictured except there are a pair of spring wings on the nut. It will give you a greater surface of the wall to hold hanger on. You and also more easily use on thicker walls- plaster plus lathe. Unlike your pictured fasterners the "winged" ones cannot be unscrewed and reused. The "wings" fall behind the wall. Also you will need to pre drill a hole the wideth of the wings. These are good for very heavy pictures or hanging shelves.

How are these different from toggle bolts?

Toggle bolts are strong -- I've hung a towel bar and closet shelves using them -- but since you have to drill a 1/2" hole in the wall, you need to make sure that whatever you mount onto the wall covers a hole that size.

The main advice I can give on the molly bolts (which I think Greg has already said) is to make sure they are all metal. The ones that are all plastic except for the screw are really tough to attach, and they can chew up your wall. :angry:

bvibert · Dec 1, 2005

hammer said:
How are these different from toggle bolts?

I think thats what he's talkig about.

hammer said:
Toggle bolts are strong -- I've hung a towel bar and closet shelves using them -- but since you have to drill a 1/2" hole in the wall, you need to make sure that whatever you mount onto the wall covers a hole that size.

Thats the only problem I have with them, the huge hole you need to drill...

ctenidae · Dec 2, 2005

The plastic screw-in jobbies are pretty good- the weight rating on them seems to be pretty accurate.
DON'T use them on a plaster wall, though- first, they have trouble punching through the top layer (usually breaking off the drillbit piece), and then they can crack the wall. I've had lots of failures woth those on plaster. Toggles are much better for that.

The plastic one sare pretty good on drywall, and there are metal ones available, too, but I think that's overkill. When you screw them in to drywall, make sure you just barely countersink them (too far and they strip out and leave a huge hole) because if you try to back them out, they don't do so well, and if they're just flush, it's impossible to spackle over them.

That's an awful lot about a simple anchor, isn't it? I think I need a beer now...

HughK · Dec 2, 2005

How they used to do it.

Toggle Bolts - Thanks, I couldn't get the words out of my brain to the keyboard. Regarding the large holes they create I have had some luck filling them with spackling compound.

If you have old horsehair plaster walls that maybe too fragile to drill into, one solution is to run a molding, with an 1 1/2 to 2" profile, around the perimeter of the room about 3/4" below the ceiling. Attaching the molding to the wall studs. Paintings and mirrors can be hung on long wires from this molding. They make "S" hooks, usually in brass that the wires hang from. There is also decorative roping available to use for hanging.

Hugh.

Greg · Dec 2, 2005

Re: plaster vs. sheetrock. Our first house had all plaster walls and hanging anything was a nightmare. We're in a new construction now and working with sheetrock, from hanging something using anchors, to finding studs, to installing a new work electrical box, is truly a pleasure.

Toggle bolts are the anchors that are spring loaded behind the shoeetrock and are good when you need to screw something tightly flush. I needed to use the molly-type anchors which has a sleeve that compresses tight to the back of the wall because it allows you to back out the screw a bit which I needed to do to hang the mirror on the hook. It turns out that the mirror lined up so I only needed one molly and for the other side I was able to set a screw into a stud.

This was a bathroom project that I thought was going to take a few hours to change out the light and hang the mirror. It ended up taking several days as when I went to install the electrical box for the light (the contractor just poked Romex through the wall and hung a cheap light bar), it fell right on a stud. In my quest to assure the light was centered over the sink, I needed to use a reciprocating saw to notch out the 2x6 stud to make room for the box. I then needed a few days for wall compound and paint to dry. Why do project always seem to take about 6X longer than you expect? I also thought buying a new house would eliminate some of the DIY, but there actually seems to be about the same amount of stuff that needs to be done as our older home did.

Next winter projects - floor the attic and continue refinishing the basement.

smitty77 · Dec 9, 2005

Greg said:
Why do project always seem to take about 6X longer than you expect? I also thought buying a new house would eliminate some of the DIY, but there actually seems to be about the same amount of stuff that needs to be done as our older home did.

I'm in the same boat, Greg. I figured my DIY days we basically over when we bought the new house. :roll: My next project is a drop ceiling for the basement.
As for time estimates on projects... My wife has learned to completely disregard any estimate I give her before the project has started. "Sweetie, it should only take me a half hour." The response is always :roll:
I would say the molly is the best for your application. BTW, toggle bolts can be removed intact if you're very careful. You just back the screw out slowly until the toggle is only a few threads from the end. Stick a probe (hee hee, probe) or small screwdriver into the hole and pivot the whole toggle until it is parallel with the bolt, and then pull the whole assembly out. If the toggle won't pivot, back the screw out another half turn and try again. Eventually it will pivot or just fall into the wall. It takes some practice and doesn't work every time or with every toggle bolt, but it can be done.

Smitty

Marc · Dec 9, 2005

Ah, just sink a screw into the drywall and see what happnes.

Where's your sense of adventure, Greg? :dunce:

ctenidae · Dec 9, 2005

If the first one falls out, use two the next time. Eventually the hole will be big enough you can nail in a brace between the studs, and hang from that.

Paul · Dec 9, 2005

Greg and Smitty, I feel your pain...

My first house was 17 yrs old and we bought it from the folks who built it. The owner was a DIY guy, but a pretty poor one. When we built the house we're in now, 4 yrs ago, I thought the same, no more going around and re-working everything the previous owner did. Instead, I've been going around righting all of the things the subs did poorly. Seriously,I've worked harder on the new house over the last 4 yrs, than I did on the first one in the same time period.

The next house will either be really old so I know I'm in for a restoration project one way or the other, or I'll be the GC, so I have more say over the construction.

Greg · Apr 26, 2006

Greg said:
Next winter projects - floor the attic and continue refinishing the basement.

Thought I'd bump this thread. I did get the attic floor down which resulted in about 280 square feet of storage (I have pics if anyone's interested). My basement is now just about empty and ready to be refinished. I'm in no rush on that project though so I'll just throw a wall up here and there as I get time. Now that the warmer weather is here, it's time to work on the outside. I already had another triaxle full of top soil dumped to smooth out some of the rough areas of the lawn seeding project from last fall. That's all spread and seeded; just waiting for germination. 18 yards of top soil is a lot of dirt to move with a wheelbarrow and a shovel! :blink: I thought the several inches of rain we had Sunday was going to kill it, but it all held up well. The next big project is a 44'x16' ground level deck off the back of the house and garage...

ChileMass · Apr 26, 2006

Are you going to build the deck yourself? That sounds like a BIG job.

I just paid a guy to re-shingle the backside of my barn. I suppose I could have done it myself, but a young contractor in my neighborhood needed some sidework and gave me a deal that was too good to pass up. So I didn't have to schlep 90-lb bags of shingles up onto a 30'x30' roof with a 45* pitch, which worked for me.

My 1840 farmhouse was a continuous 5-year project after I bought it in 1993, but most of it has been completed. The downstairs bathroom was my last major project back in 2001.

Next project for me is to get a dumptruck of fill for my back yard, so I'll be out there with the wheelbarrow and shovel soon, too.

Later this summer I may take on replacing the insulation in the back of my attic, which will be a serious pain. The back attic is accessed thru a hatch in my bathroom ceiling, has no other outlet, and all the old cellulose insulation has to come out before the new fiberglass batts go in. It's a dirty crawl space that's only about 5' tall, and is over 100*F every day in the summer. It has to be done sometime, but I'm sure not looking forward to it.......

Greg · Apr 26, 2006

ChileMass said:
Are you going to build the deck yourself? That sounds like a BIG job.

Yup. It's at ground level though so it'll be pretty straightforward. It's really just a 32'x14' section off the house and a 12'x16' section off the garage. The two outside corners will be 45'd to add a somewhat custom look. It'll likely take several weekends, but the overall design is pretty basic - just a lot of lumber to shlep around. But again, it's at ground level so no railings and no hauling lumber up. The builder put on a 14'x10' deck off the second level slider so we'll integrate the stairs that come down into the new deck which is off a walk-out basement in the back. Once the basement is refinished as a playroom/office, it will be a nice way to get onto it. It'll be a BIG deck, but this is the last house I plan to buy for many many years so I want a deck that I'm satisfied with. Can't wait to get started!

hammer · Apr 26, 2006

Greg said:
18 yards of top soil is a lot of dirt to move with a wheelbarrow and a shovel!:blink:

I'll say...I'm thinking of getting an attachment to my lawn tractor to move 4 yards of loam and 4 yards of mulch so I must be lazy.

Greg · Apr 26, 2006

hammer said:
I'll say...I'm thinking of getting an attachment to my lawn tractor to move 4 yards of loam and 4 yards of mulch so I must be lazy.

Ha! I think the neighbors probably thought I was nuts.

2knees · Apr 26, 2006

previous owner of my house was most definately a diy guy. Destroy it yourself. A drunk 6 year old could've done a better job with the wiring in my house. That and he obviously prescribed to the Close Enough school of carpentry. This weekend is finishing my fences. Need to put up gates across the driveway. My older one thinks going outside is a chance to run like hell straight for the road. JAILBREAK!!!

Greg · Apr 27, 2006

2knees said:
previous owner of my house was most definately a diy guy. Destroy it yourself. A drunk 6 year old could've done a better job with the wiring in my house. That and he obviously prescribed to the Close Enough school of carpentry.

Pretty funny post.

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