Wall Anchors & Screws: How to Hang Things So They Hold

There's a special kind of frustration in watching a shelf, a curtain rod, or a nice mirror tear out of the wall and take a chunk of drywall with it. It almost always comes down to one thing: whatever was holding it wasn't anchored to something strong enough. Get the anchor right and it holds for years. Here's how to hang things so they stay.

The first move: find a stud

Drywall by itself won't hold much weight. Behind it, spaced every 16 or 24 inches, are the wooden studs that frame the wall, and that's what you want to hit for anything heavy. Run a stud finder across the wall and mark the edges of the stud with a pencil. A screw driven into a stud is far stronger than any drywall anchor. When you can land your fastener in a stud, do it, and you may not need an anchor at all.

Match the anchor to the job

• Light stuff (a few pounds) — plastic expansion anchors. The common ribbed plastic sleeves. Fine for a small picture, a smoke detector, a light hook. Drill the hole, tap the anchor in flush, drive the screw and it expands to grip.
• Medium loads — self-drilling (threaded) anchors. These plastic or metal anchors screw straight into the drywall with a driver, no separate hole needed. Good for a small shelf, a curtain rod, a coat hook.
• Heavy loads — toggle bolts. For a floating shelf, a heavy mirror, a grab-adjacent item, or a TV bracket that isn't landing on studs. The spring-loaded wings open behind the drywall and spread the load wide. They hold far more than any plastic anchor.

Every anchor package lists a weight rating, read it, and give yourself margin. If a shelf will hold books, rate for a lot more than the empty shelf weighs.

How to set an anchor that holds

1. Mark and level first. Hold the item where you want it, use a torpedo level, and mark your holes with a pencil. Nothing is more annoying than a crooked shelf you have to re-drill.
2. Check for a stud. Run the stud finder over your marks. If a stud is there, screw straight into it and skip the anchor. If not, proceed with the right anchor for the weight.
3. Drill the correct hole size. Match the drill bit to the anchor's listed size, too big and it won't grip, too small and you'll split it. Self-drilling anchors skip this step.
4. Set the anchor. Tap expansion anchors flush with a hammer, drive threaded anchors in with a screwdriver until seated, or push a folded toggle through the hole and let the wings snap open behind the wall.
5. Drive the screw and hang. Snug the screw until the fixture is tight to the wall, but don't overdrive it and strip the anchor. Then load it gradually and make sure it holds before you trust it with anything valuable.

Know when to call a pro

Hanging shelves and mirrors is great DIY. A couple of things are worth a second thought:

• Anything safety-related that must not fail — a heavy TV over a seating area, a wall-mounted cabinet loaded with weight, or grab bars in a bathroom (those have real code and blocking requirements and are worth doing right).
• Plaster-and-lath walls in older Columbus homes behave differently than drywall and can crack, they sometimes need different anchors and a gentler touch.
• If you're drilling where wiring or plumbing might run — near switches, outlets, or above and below fixtures — stop and be sure before you drill. When in doubt, ask.

If it's something you can't afford to have come down, or you're just not sure the wall will hold it, we're glad to handle it or take a look first.