Oh the many anchors for things…Which one to use? Well I have a few tips on the right anchors to use when hanging various things around the house, and to the floor or wherever…Using the right anchor the first time can save you time and money.

– The most common type of anchor is the plug type hollow wall anchor. These anchors are good for light duty jobs 20 – 30 lbs such as toilet paper holders, light fixtures, mail boxes, etc…In sheetrock and masonry.

- The easiest and slightly better anchor is the Screw type hollow wall anchor. This can support weights from 30 – 70 lbs and is easily installed with a #2 phillips screwdriver. These anchors are good for light to medium loads like towel racks, pictures, wall decorations…

- You will see this next anchor in the store and think that it may be stronger than it really is…this is the plastic toggle anchor. It is good for only light weight stuff like the hollow wall plug anchor.

- To follow up the last anchor I will introduce the toggle bolt anchor. This anchor is the ugliest, but the strongest anchor in my opinion…It requires a rather large hole in the sheet rock to be installed and is a little more work than the others. I use this anchor in places I think I will have an above normal strain on the wall for example: I use this anchor on my towel racks because I know my kids will hang on them at some time. The toggle bolt keeps the towel rack on the wall despite the extra weight It was not made for. Toggle bolts can be used on any kind of hollow wall including cement block.

- Sometimes I use a new kind of toggle bolt called a screw toggle bolt. This is a slightly weaker version of the toggle bolt. The advantage is the ease of which it is installed. You can put this one in with a #2 screwdriver. Several different manufacturers have caught on to this trend so you can find them at just about any hardware store.

- Another strong type of anchor is the expanding metal anchor. I do not use these anchors as often as the rest but none the less they are a good anchor for hanging heavier items on the wall. I usually see this anchor in service holding up heavy pictures and artwork. They are easy to install and need to be purchased with the wall thickness in mind (usually 1/8″ wall to 1″).

Ok, now that is quite a few anchors. This post only skims the surface of anchoring, many new fangled anchors have come into the hardware store in the past 10 years. If you are utterly confused just go to a good hardware store with knowledgeable associates and ask one of them about your particular job (I recommend Ace or True Value). This post is mostly about drywall anchors, I will have a later post on concrete specifically.

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