Warning: My homemade shelf fell off the wall with just a few books

I built a simple shelf for my living room. Went with pine boards and basic brackets. It seemed fine at first. But when I placed a few books on it, the whole thing came crashing down. The wall anchors pulled out and left big holes. What wall anchors work best for drywall? How can I fix this and make it strong next time?

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3 Comments

masonw437mo ago

Man, the whole thing coming crashing down is a rite of passage lol. I used those plastic expansion anchors for a coat rack once and it looked like a cartoon hole when it let go. For books, you gotta find the studs with a finder or use toggle bolts in the drywall. I only trust those butterfly toggle things now after my own shelf fail.

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carr.casey7mo ago

You mentioned butterfly toggle things, what makes them work so well for you?

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bethdavis7mo ago

Yeah, @masonw43, we've all learned that lesson the hard way.

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