I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve

It's a reasonable but not infallible assumption that the provided
anchors are sufficient to support the weight of the item with which they
were supplied -- unless the anchors were intended for use in a brick or
block wall, in which case you probably need to substitute anchors
intended for use in sheetrock.

But if you can locate the studs to which the sheetrock is attached, you
can use the screws without the plastic anchors.

Perce


On 11/05/05 11:16 am tossed the following ingredients
into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

should be fine

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve

It would be nice if the holes lined up with the studs, but I doubt that
will be the case. No instructions of course. I was thinking that I
might get some stronger mollys.

wrote in message
oups.com...
It would be nice if the holes lined up with the studs, but I doubt that
will be the case. No instructions of course. I was thinking that I
might get some stronger mollys.

Molly's are not going to be much better. The wings give slightly more
surface area.

One side of the cabinet should be able to be aligned to a stud, or add
framing until it does.
One side into the structure and the other with dry wall anchors your ready
for almost anything.

wrote:
I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve


The sheetrock will easily hold it with the correct
anchors. The plastic thingys that are a lousy
choice and will likely just pull out. You need
the metal kind that you install in a hole and
tighten the screw which makes the long center
strips bend tightly against the back side of the
wall board. (Called molly bolts). Most of the
force will be directly down, but some will be out
and will pull the plastic thingys out of the wall.

Throw the 6 plastic thinks away and get four molly
bolts sized for 1/2 sheet rock with a #10 screws.
It will never come loose even when someone does
something stupid.

SQLit wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

It would be nice if the holes lined up with the studs, but I doubt that
will be the case. No instructions of course. I was thinking that I
might get some stronger mollys.


Molly's are not going to be much better. The wings give slightly more
surface area.

One side of the cabinet should be able to be aligned to a stud, or add
framing until it does.
One side into the structure and the other with dry wall anchors your ready
for almost anything.



Have you used molly and the plastic thingys? It
doesn't take much effort to pull the plastic
things out of the wall. If you pull a molly out
you will take a 3-4 inch chunk of wall. There is
no comparison of mollys with the plastic thingys
for holding power.

I have an approximately 2 foot square cabinet I
built of 3/4 maple plywood with three shelves in
my bathroom. The top holds a mess of bottles,
alcohol, peroxides etc. in addition to soap bars
and other stuff. Yeah I know it is a mess, but
most is my wife mess. Don't know how much it
weighs but the cabinet itself probably weight
15-20 pounds. Studs were just not in the right
place. #10 screw mollys hold it very securely and
it has been removed twice for painting. You do
have to drill the holes the correct size for the
molly (and don't use the stupid pointed type meant
to be drive in) and tighten the screw carefully to
get the correct tension so that the bolt is tight
but the paper layers on the wallboard are not
pierced and center isn't crushed.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve


The company I buy my supplies from rates hollow wall fasters on the
following 1-10 scale:
plastic plugs 1-2
drill plugs 3 (those really coarse threaded things)
mollies 7-8
toggles 9-10

And of course a screw into a stud would be about a 15-20.

Based on 20+ years of experience with these products I would agree with the
above.


Colbyt

George E. Cawthon wrote:
wrote:
I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve


The sheetrock will easily hold it with the correct
anchors. The plastic thingys that are a lousy
choice and will likely just pull out. You need
the metal kind that you install in a hole and
tighten the screw which makes the long center
strips bend tightly against the back side of the
wall board. (Called molly bolts). Most of the
force will be directly down, but some will be out
and will pull the plastic thingys out of the wall.

Throw the 6 plastic thinks away and get four molly
bolts sized for 1/2 sheet rock with a #10 screws.
It will never come loose even when someone does
something stupid.

By "something stupid", you mean like actually put something into the
cabinet?

wrote:
George E. Cawthon wrote:

wrote:

I have a wall cabinet for my bathroom that came with 6 plastic anchors.
But the thing weighs like 40 lbs. Are anchors in sheetrock going to be
able to support it?

Steve


The sheetrock will easily hold it with the correct
anchors. The plastic thingys that are a lousy
choice and will likely just pull out. You need
the metal kind that you install in a hole and
tighten the screw which makes the long center
strips bend tightly against the back side of the
wall board. (Called molly bolts). Most of the
force will be directly down, but some will be out
and will pull the plastic thingys out of the wall.

Throw the 6 plastic thinks away and get four molly
bolts sized for 1/2 sheet rock with a #10 screws.
It will never come loose even when someone does
something stupid.


By "something stupid", you mean like actually put something into the
cabinet?


No it means like having a 90 pound kid doing pull
ups or trying to climb up and lie on the top. I'm
not going to test mine for the maximum it will
support, but it know it will support a pull down
of an additional 40-50 pounds on just one end
without moving.