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Anchors I used didn't work. What kind of anchors do I need?

4 years ago

Hi, all!

I'm installing a new curtain rod in my bathroom and I thought both walls were drywall and tried to use this anchros (similar to these in Amazon). They worked in the previous apartment when installing a coat hanger, so I thought they would work for these walls too.

Well, they didn't.

The result was this: left wall and right wall. Pretty bad and I'm super frustrated.

Not sure, but the sound for each wall is different (video here), this makes me thing they are different.

Any anchors recommendations for the walls?

Can I simply buy the correct anchors and use the pre-existing holes or I need to use new holes?

I believe each one of the walls is different. Can you tell me what kind of anchors do I need for each one of them?

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Comments (7)

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Allie Reed
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Most likely you have lath & plaster walls, not drywall--they don't accept plastic anchors. These anchors should work.

Other possibilities:

- It could be a corner bead if you're drilling near a corner (Corner beads)

-They could've used steel studs instead of timber

- It could be a concrete or brick wall under the drywall
DavidR
4 years ago
Most likely you have lath & plaster walls, not drywall--they don't accept plastic anchors.

Interesting. Your experience is very different from mine. I've used plastic anchors in plaster walls for years. They're not too great for heavy loads but for me, they've worked just fine for towel bars, TP holders, and similar relatively light items.
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kudzu9
4 years ago
Did you pre-drill for the anchors, or did you just try to drive them in? If the wall was hard, like plaster, and you didn't make pilot holes, that would explain why the anchors didn't cut threads and why they look broken.
ci_lantro
4 years ago
The walls are definitely drywall, Allie. The walls are not lath & plaster.

Since this is a curtain rod that you are trying to hang, I suspect that the anchors hit solid wood, the studs or a header. Take an ice pick or something similarly long & pointy and tap it into the hole w/ a hammer. If it 'sticks' then you know that you have hit solid wood (hopefully not metal framing or a large framing nail!) and all you need to do is patch the holes, drill new pilot holes and use longer screws, long enough to go thru the drywall and a half inch or so into the wood.

If you have a cordless screwdriver or drill, dial the torque setting down & skip the pilot holes. (Use a little bar soap to lube the threads on the screws.)
toxcrusadr
4 years ago
Pics do look different. The left wall pic shows the paper layer of sheetrock clearly. Hitting a stud behind that sounds very plausible. The right wall pics look more like plaster to me.
Izzy Mn
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Like said above you are probably hitting wood. Above windows would be a header board, i think are typically 10 iinches all along the top of windows, plus there is the wall framing. It wood I just use wood screws, I've even used deck screws. It's to mark on the wall where the screws need to go, drill a pilot hole, with drill bit smaller than the wood screw (it will make it easier to drill in wood screw) change but to Phillips head, place curtain bracket on wall and screw in wood screw.

You will need a drill.
kudzu9
4 years ago
Whatever happened, it illustrates the utility of drilling pilot holes first when placing anchors.

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