DON'T USE DRYWALL ANCHORS! Try This Instead! (MOUNTING PLATES--Stud In The Wrong Place)

so I'm not really a big fan of wall anchors they have their time in place but I think people use them too often and it's situations where they're not really that effective they try to hang heavy things from them or use them to mount fixtures they get touched and jostled a lot so wall anchors either fail or they pull out of the wall and even Molly and toggle bolts can get hung up on things hidden in the wall like insulation or wiring so they're not always convenient as a carpenter I like to fasten into a stud as much as possible but there's not always a stud in the right place and you may want to add a row of hardware like hooks or clips and keep them well supported but wall anchors really aren't the solution here so how do you do it I've got a simple very affordable option that you might want to consider that's coming up next on the honest carpenter show so if I do want to attach certain things to a stud but there's no stud in the right place I'll often incorporate something called a mounting plate this is the second piece of wood attached to the wall that bridges two studs thereby making a continuous mounting surface you've seen this before numerous times often in the form of coat racks they tend to just be long skinny fixtures with hooks on them the rack mounts the studs and hardware can then run the length of the rack it's so simple but you might not have realized how adaptable this concept is you can do this anywhere in the house for numerous purposes garages are a great place like this one because we're always trying to match my space in here by getting things up off the floor and organized so I'll demonstrate in this corner how foolproof this concept is I can take any old hunk of wood so long as it's about 3/4 thick maybe at least 2 inches wide and long enough to jump over two studs so more than say about 16 to 18 inches I then find a couple studs in the area I want if you need some quick tips on how to do that check out my stud finding video there's a magnet trick that will make your life easier forever I'm mark my stud locations when I find them then I hold my piece of wood of the wall level it drill a couple of holes at my stud locations and drive three inch screws which are long enough to go through the mounting plate the drywall and still get plenty of screw into the stud now I can drill holes for my hardware fasten them into the mounting plate and hang my various tools up and if I want to hang a greater variety of tools I just put another one above it or up these sign it somewhere like that I've doubled my space for hanging things that's it took like five minutes and the wood is all scrapped and I didn't have to layout storage locations based on stud locations I just made a bridge over several studs and created a really strong continuous mounting surface which gives you tons of options for how to use it and sure rough plywood doesn't look that nice it's fine for a garage but you can step this process up to include nicer lumber like clear pine or hardwoods you can very easily route oh geez and round overs onto your mounting plate paint it and you have a fixture that wouldn't look bad in a mudroom or a hallway it's just another trim feature so coat rats tool racks hat racks all very easy to make this way but really there's unlimited versatility to this concept because you can apply it to so many different things in the house my French cleat lumber rack was built off the exact same idea just has a bevel top that mates with the brackets and cabinets all cabinets work exactly the same way they have back panels so carpenters can position the cabinet where they need it to go locate studs and fastened through the panel to create tremendous strength and pretty much every built in I've ever done has incorporated this concept as well I just run small mounting plates he needs shelves and tops and this practice does numerous things at once it stiffens the shelf above it helps keep the unit square by introducing more 90-degree corners and it gives me surface area to screw through firmly fastening the unit to the wall the center of this utility closet built in pretty much floats off the ground thanks to a mounting plate at the top and this custom core below same concept and this whole custom desk in a closet is resting on a system of mounting plates and cleats and it's very strong I'm showing all these things because once you understand this idea your DIY projects will become way more flexible you'll be able to create strength and a whole lot of attachable surface area just by incorporating mounting plates into your projects and I know this doesn't totally replace wall anchors these things are more versatile because they can go pretty much anywhere I don't hate anchors and at some point I'm probably gonna do a whole video on them because there's so many of them out there and they are good for light duty mounting but I see clients overly relying on them and getting frustrated when they don't produce the support or strength that they need so if you find yourself in this situation and you're to drastically amplify your wall hanging space consider using mounting plates it just opens up a whole world of options what do you think that helpful have you incorporated mounting plates in your home storage let me hear about it down in the comments also be sure to check us out at be honest carpenter comm where we consult with homeowners nationwide on a range of serious issues from contracting situations to inspection reports and even DIY questions we do it all by phone and video chat and offer a very affordable price and our second YouTube channel explains more of our consulting work as well as always thanks for watching be sure to check back in for more videos coming out weekly and please consider subscribing and hitting that little bell button beside the subscribe button to turn on notifications that way you'll know the moment we throw is something I'm Ethan James with the honest carpenter comm I'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: The Honest Carpenter

Views: 801,960

Rating: 4.8516679 out of 5

Keywords: wall anchors for drywall, wall anchors for shelves, wall anchor repair, wall anchor pulled out of drywall, garage storage racks, garage storage diy, garage storage ideas diy, garage storage hacks, molly bolts vs toggle bolts, molly bolts to hang tv, wall anchors for wood, drywall anchors for heavy items, drywall anchors, drywall anchor bolts, the honest carpenter, garage storage diy wood, garage storage systems diy, garage tool storage hacks, mounting plate

Id: gmArQG7tdwo

Length: 5min 20sec (320 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 18 2020