Found a cheap way to fix those loose wall plates that never stay tight

I was on a job over on Elm Street last month and the homeowner was complaining about a coax wall plate that kept falling off. I figured it was just a worn out anchor or something, but when I pulled it off the drywall hole was totally stripped out. I tried the old toothpick trick with a screw, but that only held for about a day. Then I remembered I had a pack of 3/8 inch toggle bolts in my van from a previous install. Drilled the hole out a bit, popped that toggle in, and the plate has been rock solid for three weeks now. I used to buy those fancy drywall anchors from the hardware store, but toggles are like 2 bucks for a ten pack. Has anyone else found a weird fix like this that works better than the standard stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

danielr9413d ago

Took me way too long to figure out that toothpicks are just drywall lies in disguise. I had a light switch plate that kept spinning like a ceiling fan every time I plugged something in. Ended up shoving a wooden chopstick in the hole and snapping it off flush, then drove the screw right in. That thing has held for two years now and honestly I'm more proud of it than most of my actual plumbing work.

mark36113d ago

That's the kind of hack that makes you question why we overcomplicate stuff, @danielr94.