My condo is in a high rise apartment building with metal studs. In the bath, the medicine cabinet has two mirrored doors, one slides, one is a dummy. The top and bottom track are 54″ long and are screwed to the metal studs. Whenever there is a plumbing issue, the first thing maintenance does is pull the medicine cab to look inside the wall. The holes in the metal studs have stripped from repeated R&R and now the top and bottom track will not mount securely to the wall. The wall is doubled 5/8 drywall. I considered some type of molly, but I think it would start to expand before the screw reached the stud. Can anyone suggest a way to tighten up the holes in the studs. I cannot change the spot I am screwing to. The screws used to mount the tracks are cabinet screws, but due to the thickness of the wall and the flange on the track the unthreaded portion of the screw doesn’t reach the stud. Thanks in advance for your help.
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Replies
can you screw a piece of scrap wood to inside the stud.
I think there are some pretty long mollys that would work.
See if you can get an EZ anchor to work.
Tim
I do not have access to the studs to sister up some wood. I guess I will look into some long mollies. Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is an EZ anchor? Is that a brand name? Again, thanks for your help.
Butterfly anchor..........
On a hill by the harbour
Perhaps it is as simple as using a thicker screw.
If you had a #8, go to a #10 or 12 with sheet metal threads.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
If an anchor is used, I would use a toggle bolt. Do a google image search and buy a long one. You will need to predrill.
I still thnk the bigger screw will work though.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Use a conventional toggle bolt.
Construction adhesive some plywood into the metal stud to act as a substrate for the screw to grab. Or simply hammer and dolly the steel stud a little to shrink the hole size a bit si the screw bites.
But if this is a constant issue I'd look into the threaded inserts that are used with machine screws = they are typical autobody fodder, if you cant find them local Eastwood has them. Drill the stud, set the insert, and replace the cabinet screws with nice 1/4 20 machine screws.
Lightly sand the backside of the stud where the hole penetrates, epoxy strip of steel similar in thickness as the stud, once epoxy cures drill a new hole. Done.
Happy Holidays!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
You can use an anchor called a "toggler". It will easily mount trough the double rock and will give you a permanent threaded anchor point for a machine screw.
All you need to do is drill a 1/2" hole where each screw goes, then install the toggler.
Being a machine screw they can take it in and out as often as need be.
Home depot, Lowes, or a good hardware store will have them.
Buic
You're right, the "Toggler" is the perfect fastener for this problem. Made by Hilti, available at HD.Just for clarification, toggle bolts also use machine screws, but you can't remove the screw without losing the toggle behind the wall. Toggler uses a sort of plastic sleeve that holds the toggle in place when you remove the screw.BruceT
Those are great wall anchors, but the names can be a little confusing. There's the "toggler bolt" by Hilti:
View Image
And then there's the "snaptoggle toggle bolts" by Toggler:
View Image
I'm sure the Hilti toggler is just as good, but I've only used the snaptoggle. It works well.
Edited 12/23/2006 5:19 am ET by DonCanDo
Edited 12/23/2006 5:19 am ET by DonCanDo
Maybe I am misreading your problem but if maintenance keeps removing this thing then a toggle will fall into the wall every time they come through. It sounds like the stud is not readily available and covered by two layers of drywall.
If that is the case I would use some of the drywall anchors that look lie a big screw. You can get them in metal or plastic. If in fact you have two layers of 5/8 dw then one of the short plastic ones would do you if they have not buggerted the dw too much. If you want to drill about a 1/4 inch hole and put a longer metal one in it would be even better, as it should go through the stud and dw.
As for the poster who recommended the EZ anchor I would suggest a Festool anchor. (;-) ( an inside joke, nothing to do with your problem)
Edited 12/22/2006 10:50 pm ET by rasconc