When you’re fortunate sufficient to have a landlord who enables you to drill holes within the partitions, there are a selection of the way to embellish your first residence by hanging issues up. Even if you happen to’re simply renting, it’s nonetheless necessary to maintain the partitions, so one of the best observe is to make use of drywall anchors to assist help any objects you cling. Which objects want drywall anchors? Learn on beneath to seek out out.

What sorts of drywall anchors are there?

Earlier than hanging something with a drywall anchor, you’ll must resolve which kind of anchor you wish to use. There are three main sorts of drywall anchors: easy anchors, self-drilling anchors, and toggle bolts.

Shelving

It’s at all times finest to make use of drywall anchors when hanging shelving, even if you happen to don’t anticipate storing something too heavy on the cabinets. When you resolve to reorganize later or go away the cabinets intact for a future tenant, a heavy merchandise positioned on a shelf with out drywall anchors can pull the shelf down and injury the wall.

When hanging shelving, the kind of drywall anchor it is best to use will depend upon how a lot weight you anticipate the shelf holding. For small cabinets that gained’t have the ability to maintain greater than 20 lbs, you need to use a easy plastic anchor. For 20 to 100 lbs in your shelf, use a easy metal anchor as a substitute. Lastly, for big heavy-duty cabinets that want to carry greater than 100 lbs, use a toggle bolt.

Photos and mirrors

For many footage and mirrors, particularly these with a heavy body, you’ll wish to use a plastic anchor to safe your screw into the wall. That is particularly necessary if you happen to’re hanging the merchandise with just one screw, because it’s tough for one small spot within the drywall to remain robust sufficient to carry a heavy merchandise.

Lighting

One often-underlooked manner to boost your first residence partitions is so as to add lighting fixtures comparable to string lights or mounted wall lights. Most mounted wall lights ought to use a drywall anchor, however string lights will typically be nice with out them. When you select to not use drywall anchors when hanging string lights, you should definitely cling extra screws or nails than you’ll in any other case to unfold out the burden.

When can I get away with not utilizing a drywall anchor?

Whereas drywall anchors are a useful gizmo when hanging issues in your first residence, they aren’t vital for each scenario. For some objects and circumstances, utilizing a drywall anchor may be extra work than it’s price for the duty.

You don’t want to make use of a drywall anchor if there’s a stud positioned immediately behind the place you wish to cling one thing. Studs are sometimes positioned each 16 to 24 inches, so discover {an electrical} outlet, which can often be connected to a stud, and measure from there. If you faucet on the wall in entrance of a stud, the wall ought to really feel stable as a substitute of hole.

You additionally don’t want to make use of drywall anchors for some very light-weight objects. When you’re hanging small image frames or decorations that hardly weigh something, you’ll often be okay with only a small nail and no anchor.