How to Hang Heavy Items on Walls

A question that Ron is frequently asked is "how do I hang heavy objects on the walls of my house without worrying that they will fall down?" In today's workshop, Ron showed four different pieces of hardware that are used for just this. Ron demonstrated all of these different hanging systems and told us the advantages of each.

1. Overview

• Nearly all homes built or remodeled after about 1950 have walls made of wallboard. All of the hanging systems that Ron showed us were designed to be attached to this type of wall.

• The first of the four hangers Ron demonstrated was an ordinary picture hanger that is attached to the wall with very small nails.

• Next, Ron showed how to attach plastic anchors with screws.

• The hollow wall fasteners also known as Molly bolts were next.

• Finally, Ron brought out the big guys, the ones that could handle almost any hanging job…the toggle bolts.

2. Picture hangers

• Ron set up a couple of demonstration walls to work with and he began with the picture hangers, which are ideal for small, medium and even large sized pictures. He began by driving the small nail into the wall.

• Next, Ron hung a twenty-five pound barbell directly over the hook just to show how strong these hangers really are.

• Ron also demonstrated a different version of the same hanger, which attached to the wall with two nails instead of one and is rated to support fifty pounds.

Note: Ron does not advocate pushing these hangers to the limit like he did in his demonstration, but he did want to point out that these hangers are a lot stronger than they look.

3. Plastic anchors

• Ron moved next to the plastic anchors. A lot of accessories that are designed to hang on the wall, like a towel bar, for example, come packaged with these.

• To attach the plastic anchor to the wall, Ron selected a drill bit that was the same diameter as the plastic anchor and then bored a hole through the wallboard.

• He inserted the plastic anchors into the holes.

• Now the anchors were ready to attach any type of bracket. For the towel bar, Ron attached the screws right through the holes in the bracket and into the plastic sleeves.

• As Ron drove the screw into the anchor, the screw actually cut a thread into the plastic insert, which forced it open, jamming it into the hole.

• The towel bar Ron attached felt solid but if someone were to put a lot of pressure downward on the bar, like a child might do when trying to climb up, then the anchors might rip out of the wall. The reason the plastic anchors don't always work for a towel bar or even a shelving bracket, is that they are sometimes under pressure that is both downward and outward at the same time.