I keep seeing people use the wrong screws for drywall anchors

So last weekend I was helping my buddy hang some shelves in his garage, and he pulls out these little plastic anchors with screws that are way too thick for them. He just hammered them in anyway and wondered why they stripped out. I had to stop and show him how you gotta match the screw to the anchor hole size, not just cram whatever fits. It's like people think all drywall anchors are the same, but I've learned the hard way after fixing 4 shelves in my own house that collapsed. The trick is to test the screw before you even start, if it feels tight going through the anchor, grab a thinner one. Why does every hardware store sell those combo packs that mix up sizes so bad? Has anyone else dealt with a shelf that fell because of this?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnson.jesse27d ago

Ugh, that's exactly what happened with my bedroom curtain rod last year. I tried forcing a slightly too-thick screw into one of those little blue anchors, and the whole thing just spun in the wall, leaving a hole I had to spackle. I finally learned to just keep a set of spare screws in different gauges and test them before driving anything in. It's crazy how many anchor kits come with screws that are basically useless, like they know most people will just hammer them in anyway.

hart.mark27d ago

Spare screws? That's a whole system for a curtain rod. I just eyeball it. If the anchor spins, give it a smack with the hammer. It'll hold. Spackle is cheap anyway. People act like a tiny hole in drywall is a structural failure. It's not that deep.