Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Attaching towel bars in old plaster
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : Attaching towel bars in old plaster
anntherese
09-20-07, 07:57 AM
HI, all:
I've been trying to do what I thought would be a simple task: attaching new towel bars (there were none before) in my New/OLD (built in 1948) house's bathroom.
A Home Depot staffer told me to use concrete screws in the plaster (the walls are not covered in sheetrock or greenboard). Those screws did go in and hold, but they're too long, and he said that the size (1 and 3/4") was the shortest they make. Can I cut off the tips so they can be screwed flush with the wall? Should I realize that the reason there were no towel bars was because you just can't attach them to these walls?
ANy suggestions?
Many thanks.
I've been trying to do what I thought would be a simple task: attaching new towel bars (there were none before) in my New/OLD (built in 1948) house's bathroom.
A Home Depot staffer told me to use concrete screws in the plaster (the walls are not covered in sheetrock or greenboard). Those screws did go in and hold, but they're too long, and he said that the size (1 and 3/4") was the shortest they make. Can I cut off the tips so they can be screwed flush with the wall? Should I realize that the reason there were no towel bars was because you just can't attach them to these walls?
ANy suggestions?
Many thanks.
HeresJohnny
09-20-07, 12:07 PM
It would be best if you could locate the studs and screw into them, but that doesnt always work out. Any reason why you cant use toggle bolts. You probably have wood lathe behind the plaster and the toggle bolt wings should grab the lathe just fine. Just dont let the kids do chin ups on them.:D
brewcityc
09-22-07, 02:23 AM
Haha, here's a bit of advice... Don't ask hardware store employees for advice. It seems like more often than not, they don't know what the're talking about.