Drilling into Real Plaster Wall
I am trying to affix a bookshelf to a real plaster wall. The toggle screws will not stay in. The plaster crumbles. At one point, I hit some kind of wood, which also crumbled. My neighbor suggested nailing the whole kit and caboodle to the window frames with a piece of wood (bookcase is between…
I am trying to affix a bookshelf to a real plaster wall. The toggle screws will not stay in. The plaster crumbles. At one point, I hit some kind of wood, which also crumbled. My neighbor suggested nailing the whole kit and caboodle to the window frames with a piece of wood (bookcase is between two windows). I would really, really like to avoid doing that. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am very grateful, I am new to all this stuff. Thank you very much.
No need for super long anchors. Drill the hole in the plaster one drill bit size larger than you need for the anchor. Thread the tip of the screw only into the anchor and gently tap the anchor into the hole in the brick. Remove the screw and you’ve got a countersunk anchor in the brick.
I’ve successfully used lead anchors, drilled into the brick, to hold shelves on the party walls of my house, where the plaster is applied directly to the brick. The shelves fell on my first attempt because the anchors I used were too short and only penetrated the plaster. Longer lead anchors did the trick. If you’re going to use anchors on exterior walls they’ll have to be VERY long to penetrate the plaster and lath, go through the narrow air space, and penetrate the brick. I wonder if anchors like that are available?
Between two windows = exterior wall, therefore most likely no studs, possibly 3/4″ furring strips and lath. In situations like this there is often not enough room between the back of the lath and the masonry for a toggle. I don’t like the idea of hanging shelves full of books and other heavy objects off of plaster, no matter what kind of anchor you get in there. If the weight of the shelves doesn’t pull the anchors out, you could end up with cracks constantly appearing around the anchor holes as the wood lath flexes under the load.
My solution when this happens is generally to drill through the plaster and into the masonry. Sink an anchor into the masonry, and use that as my support.
Perhaps there isn’t enough space behind the wall for the toggles to open? There may be a stud blocking them from opening fully.
You can drill into the studd, but that may not keep the bookcase flush to the wall.
Maybe move four inches to the left or right of where you drilled, put down some tape to hold the wall, and drill through the tape. Stick a new toggle in to see it it will open and hold. Maybe use a few toggles to open distribute the weight more evenly.
What Rick said. Also, you can epoxy some wall anchors or lag shields in (give them ample time to dry). I find this works well when you can’t align with a stud.
And use at least a 2″ or 2 1/2″ screw if you go the stud route as above.
I don’t use toggle bolts unless i have to. I would tend to use plastic mollys. On occasion I’ve had to work in crumbling plaster and I have drilled my holes, if the plaster will not hold the mollys, I would set an epoxy in the hole and then push the mollys into the epoxy. I know it sounds like a pain in the neck, but it works and with fast drying epoxy, you will not add too much time to the task.
Steve
You need to find a wood stud that you can screw into . What you’re hitting is plaster and wood lath. Use a drill and a small bit. Drill into the plaster and make a few pilot holes to find a wood stud. They should be close to the window molding and 16 to 18″ from that location.