Help wanted: failing towel racks!

January 8, 2018 2:00 PM

I have two towel racks in my bathroom that were there when I bought my condo. They are beginning to fall away from the wall. One of them is perilously close to falling into the toilet. Please help!

Here is a picture of the problem.
Here is a picture of how it looks on the wall.
Here is a broader view.

Normally I would pay someone to fix this, but I'm away from my condo during normal working hours. Normally I can screw things that are coming apart back together, but as you can see, there's no access to the screws from outside the rack. I tried applying some Gorilla Glue to the edge of the fixture, but it doesn't seem to come quite close enough to the wall to bind.

Any simple ideas? Please nothing elaborate or requiring genuine carpentry skills. I don't think I have any tools beyond hammers and screwdrivers, but buying something is not out of the question for an assured win. Thanks in advance.

posted by ubiquity to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Step one, disassemble and prevent further damage.
Get a small jeweler's screwdriver. Look underneath the rack, at the bottom edge where the mounts meet the wall. There will be small set screw on each mount. Back out the set screw on both bases. That will disconnect the main part of the rack, leaving the internal parts of the base on the wall. From there, you can access the screw heads. How you repair the damage depends on how badly the drywall anchors are stripped out.
posted by cosmicbandito at 2:10 PM on January 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Look underneath the round bit that should be against the wall. Often there's a teeny tiny little set screw there. If there is, undo it (you'll need something like an eyeglass repair screwdriver). That'll separate the business part of the rack from the part that's supposed to hold it into the wall. Use two new plastic anchors, bigger than the ones you have now, with an aggressive thread. (You may have to remove the other one too, just to give you good access.) Dunno if you have Cobra where you are, that's one brand. Put your new anchors in, reposition the rod and do up the set screw(s). If there's no set screw though, I got nuthin'.
posted by kate4914 at 2:12 PM on January 8, 2018

Ok, there’s a hanging bracket that screws into the wall and the rod attaches to the bracket. If you google ‘towel rod hanging instructions’ the very first YouTube video shows how this works. Essentially, you must remove the rod completely, repair the wall and then re-hang the rod. Watch some videos on how to use scrap drywall to patch a wall- you need a good solid repair in order to re-hang that rod so that it’s useful.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:15 PM on January 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Here's a video showing how to remove the towel bar. Sorry, I can't help you with the drywall repair.
posted by sarajane at 2:17 PM on January 8, 2018

And, I must say, those are pretty dinky anchors. When you rehang, get some good, solid self-tapping drywall anchors. They’ll make all the difference.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 2:17 PM on January 8, 2018 [4 favorites]

It looks like the rack was mounted on sheet rock without being properly anchored to wood studs. The plastic screw anchors are failing and the towel rack is pulling out because sheet rock isn't nearly strong enough to hold something like this up. If you don't have some handyman skills, you should probably hire someone to fix this properly. The original install is dubious. Something as heavy as a loaded double-bar towel rack would never be held up properly and securely with this type of mounting. If you own this unit, I'd hire someone to properly fix these. Ideally, open a hole in the sheetrock, install 2x4 pieces between the studs where you're mounting the rods, repair then sheet rock & paint and then properly mount the towel racks and anchor the mounting screw into wood. That way, they'll never pull out again even after years of holding up multiple damp towels.
posted by quince at 2:19 PM on January 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Yes, you have a problem. The ideal solution is to screw your rack mounting into the wooden studs. You may be lucky enough to be able to do this. Can you find the studs? Knock on the wall in a horizontal line until is goes from hollow to solid sounding. You found one, and can mark it will a small pencil mark. Keep knocking until you find a second and third one. Are the distances between them about equal to the length of the towel rack? If yes, you got lucky and can mount it firmly at both ends. If no, you can mount one end into a stud, and use a molly bolt to do the other end. Buy a molly bolt that can be hammered into the wall, instead of needing to be drilled.

When you remount your rack double check that the spacing of the anchors is correct, and that they form a level line.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:32 PM on January 8, 2018

I just fixed the same problem at my house this weekend!

Here's the video I watched, set to the 2:12 minute mark. In both of our cases the entire hardware system, normally composed of a bracket mounted to the wall and the bar hardware itself, has come out of the wall. I needed to take apart the failing hardware and then reinstall it correctly, and watching the video was helpful in showing me how all the pieces worked together.

You can do this! I just needed anchors (the white things in your picture), a hammer, and a big and little screwdriver.
posted by stellaluna at 2:43 PM on January 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Mounting directly to the studs and/or having mounting blocks installed behind the drywall is the best solution.

A second-best solution is to use heavy-duty self-drilling wall anchors (not the plastic ones in your first picture). They're much more robust than the plastic ones, and are actually good at handling load. I've mounted a decent-sized Ikea dishrack and shelf to a wall above a sink with them, and used the rack for years with lots of dishes without a problem. You absolutely want the metal ones (the plastic ones are OK, the metal ones are vastly better).
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 2:47 PM on January 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

While I'm normally a fan of those large thread anchors because your towel rack extends so far from the wall allowing for a large torque force I think you'll be better served with some variety of butterfly anchor. They spread pull out force over a much larger area greatly reducing the chances your repair will fail in the future.
posted by Mitheral at 4:06 PM on January 8, 2018 [6 favorites]

Instead of screws that hang on to wall board with threads, you want wall anchors that grip the wall board from the other side. A trip to a hardware store will reveal a multiple of types, as described here. The packages will give some guide for how much weight they are meant to hold.

I had the exact problem you have, and used what are called plastic hollow wall plug anchors at the link. No problems since. You do have to drill what seems to be huge hole in order to insert them. Maybe as big as 3/8".

The rack is probably designed with parts that fasten tightly to the wall, and decorative and useful part of the rack attaches to them. That keeps the sturdy hardware out of sight. Look for little set screws to take everything apart. May need an Allen wrench.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:51 PM on January 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

These are the best hollow wall anchors I have found. I won’t use anything else for drywall.
posted by The Deej at 5:58 PM on January 8, 2018 [4 favorites]

This is an easy fix that you can totally do. I've also looked around for a few videos that might help you. There is already some great advice in this thread but I love to pontificate, so, here we go!

1. Removing the old. The decorative outside is attached to a metal plate by a set screw, usually hidden away on the underside. These guys are teeny tiny. I have seen them as a flathead (think eyeglass screw) and as a hex head. If it isn't obviously a flathead, it's probably a hex and you will need a tiny hex wrench. Here is a video of someone working on a faucet handle to give you an idea of where to look for it and what it will look like. This will reveal the metal plate that is attached to the wall. You can unscrew this, it will come away from the wall, and reveal those sad, little drywall anchors that have let you down.

2. Deciding on new anchors. I would go with The Deej's suggestion. These are called zip-toggle anchors, I think, and are sold by several manufacturers. Here is a video of someone installing one. If in doubt, take the whole dang thing with you to the store in a baggie and tell them a newbie needs some guidance on picking up appropriate zip toggles.

3. Wall repair. You might be able to just grab the old wall anchors out of the wall with a pair of needle nosed pliers, drill out the holes a bit to fit the toggle bolts, and be done. If the wall behind is in bad shape, here is what I would do to repair it:

A. Get some all-purpose joint compound which should be sold in various-sized containers. This stuff is soft enough that it will sand pretty easy but strong enough that it won't fall to pieces like spackle. Get the smallest size and do not get the kind you have to mix yourself unless you know what you are doing.

B. Get a disposable putty knife and a flexible sanding block or fine sanding paper of some kind(I prefer the block)

C. Sand the surface a bit to file away any sticking out bits and then wipe clean with a rag. Apply some joint compound with the putty knife and smooth it. Wait for it to dry, then sand it smooth. Here is a video of a guy doing a very, uh, thorough job of it. I usually am not three-coats-of-compound serious about anything in my life but, hey, he probably has his shit together and I don't.

4. If you had to repair your holes, you should probably paint, makes it look nice. Then you drill out the new holes for your zip toggles, re-install the metal plate, and then attach the decorative outside with the set screw.

Good luck, you are totally up for this! You can always PM me if you want to tackle this issue in this manner but have more questions.
posted by Foam Pants at 9:06 PM on January 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

we had the same problem, and the cause was that the racks were not attached to the frame, just the drywall. the repairman solved this by running a 2x4 between the studs, attaching it, drywalling, and then attaching the racks to the beam. been fine for 8 years now. but yeah, you're gonna need a tradesman to do this probably.
posted by evilmonk at 8:48 AM on January 9, 2018