Copies are never as good as the originals.Īs a handyman, a few years ago I was faced with the problem of just how to rectify a poor job by a tradesman who had failed to place noggins in the very places they were required to support heavy towel rails, toilet roll holders etc on a very unforgiving porcelain tile surface. I’m now trying to find somewhere that still sells these old E-Z Anchors. Each bolt had to be cut to exact size when the old plaster walls were bowed and inserting 8 or more toggle bolts into a single long standard where all the bolts must be short enough to allow for complete bolt opening – and you get ONE CHANCE to make the insertion properly the first time, etc…… It took me forever to line up shelves and standards when I used toggle bolts on plaster walls. They are simple to install, easy to line up multiple 6 ft verticle strip standards, and easy to line up all the shelves and brackets. I used 3 or 4 standards per rack of shelves and expected them to hold 500 to 1,000 pounds. I used the original metal 1.75″ long X 0.5″ wide (at the opening) E-Z Anchors to hang SOLID RED OAK shelves ~4 ft to 6 ft long and 6+ shelves on standards to 8 ft ceilings. You are mistaken, OR, you are using the “new” plastic E-Z Anchors, OR the new shorter ones. SnapToggle Heavy Duty Toggle Bolts (Toggler)
And I’ve got a ton of projects in the queue around the house, too, so I’m sure I’ll need some more before I’m done. We’re always looking for the best parts like this. But hey, if you like something else better, let us know in comments. (We’ve seen them online in 50-packs, too, so YMMV.) We paid around $22 for a 30-pack of 3/16″ anchors. Pricing varies based on size and quantity, but you should expect to find two-packs and 30-packs in your local big box.
Toggler offers these in a variety of bolt sizes ranging from 3/16″ (24 thread, rated to hold 238 pounds in 1/2″ drywall) up to 1/2″ (13 thread, rated for 275 pounds in 1/2″ drywall).
They install extremely fast, as well - it took me a minute or two to install 20 of them. Hell, if you really wanted to, you could even remove whatever you attached to the wall the first time and install something else in the same holes with different bolts.
The 2.5″ bolts that came with the kit weren’t going to work, so I picked up some 4″ bolts from the next aisle over and used them instead. For example, this week I was installing Hungarian-style shelves to hold media equipment, so I needed to attach some 2圆s to the wall. It’s also possible to easily install other bolts of the same thread pattern. Obviously, you can remove the bolt and re-install it, so you can easily remove whatever you attached to the wall without having to start over.
This offers a couple of advantages over the classic toggle. The cap and toggle stay in place, allowing you to install the bolt whenever you like. Finally, just break off the straps flush with the cap. Next, push the cap along the straps, zip-tie style, until the toggle lies flush behind the wall, and pull the toggle tight with the straps. To install, simply push the toggle long-wise through the hole you drilled (generally a half inch, or about what you use for a medium-to-large standard toggle), then line up the straps to flip the toggle 90 degrees. The straps can move up or down independently, see-sawing the anchor to form an “I” or a “T” as needed. While traditional toggle bolt anchors consist of a single bolt with “wings” at one end that pop open after being pushed through the wall, the SnapToggle’s two parallel plastic straps tee into a single bar-shaped anchor. They’re odd-looking, which probably explains why at Lowe’s I found a box opened and a few scattered around the wall anchor area. They’re much easier to install, and they stay in place when you unscrew the bolt. You know how regular toggle bolt wall anchors always require extra space behind the drywall, and to remove you unscrew them, dropping the toggle behind the wall? This week I found the best toggles I’ve ever used - SnapToggles, made by Toggler.