Coat Rack on-going disaster....

[VorTechS]

Hi, this is my first visit here, and my first post.

I'm here out of sheer frustration as the rest of the post should demonstrate. So sorry for coming here and starting off with a rant!
I must point out my D.I.Y. skills are not exactly good. In fact, ask the WAF, and she'll use phrases such as 'useless', 'not very good' etc etc.

Anyway, let me tell you about my current DIY nightmare....

It sounds simple enough.... buy a 6 hook metal coat rack from one of the nations favourite retail stores, fix it to the wall... and hang stuff of it, and job should be done right?

Nuh-uh.

This piece of white painted metal, with its 6 coat hooks - is now driving me to despair!

On 4 separate occasions now, this - (gah, I can't even think of a non-expletive word to use for it) - has been fixed to the wall using various methods and every single time the 'thing' has come off the wall after any given time.

(And if the designer of hollow plasterboard ever lurks here ... seriously, stay well away from me .....!)

Attempt 1: 2 x Medium size metal cavity anchor - contents dumped within a few days of fixing, leaving some nice small holes and a bit of broken plasterbaord. Subsequently filled, and smoothed.

Attempt 2: 2 x Medium size metal spring toggles - lasted considerably longer (a few weeks), although the resultant wall damage was somewhat more disastrous than the previous attempt

Attempt 3: 2 x Large size metal spring toggles - I have no idea what my rationale was behind this. It lasted only as long as the previous attempt, but caused considerably larger holes.

Attempt 4: (By a DIY. expert - the WAF's dad) - 4-6 x Smaller plastic plasterboard fixings (various) with the coat rack secured on a batton of an appropriate thickness so that it doesn't protrude too much further than the adjacent door frame. Now this lasted months, probably about 4-6 months, but yesterday decided to give up the ghost.

So, I'll open up the floor to any discussion by coining the phrase quoted every single time this 'abomination' has dumped its contents on the floor:

It can't be that difficult to put up a coat rack, and no-one else has this problem... so why can't you do it?

 

[plugwash]

Afaict plasterboard fixings suck and all but the lightest of items should really be fixed to the studwork.

 

[dannyboi2003]

Is this an external wall with blockwork/brick behind the plasterboard? If so then buy some long masonary screws/wall plugs and a long drill bit and drill all the way through into the brick, job done! Did this at home for a shelf i fixed on a wall that had been boarded and insulated following some damp proof work, shelfs still there with a fairly heavy load on it and it doesnt move

 

[wotan]

Are you hanging up your jacket with your wallet in the inside pocket?

Solution remove wallet...fixed

 

[ladylola]

Mark a line approximately where you want the coat hooks, and then using a nail or drill make a series of holes until you hit something solid and note this point. After you have at least three and preferably more points fix a piece of ply to the wall using large screws and plugs. For belt and braces coat the back of the ply in adhesive, something like "sticks like * ".
Decorate and fix your coat hooks.

And if that still doesn't work chuck the smegging thing in the bin and buy this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Coatstand-Str...den_Decorative_Accents_LE&hash=item4aa5fa0a06

 

[electronicsuk]

Would have been a good idea if you'd fixed a batten behind the plasterboard before you patched up those holes

 

[Ricardus]

There is something about coat-hooks that makes them pull off the wall easier than anything else.
At my last place for one coat-hook I resorted to a 10mm hole in the cinderblock, vacuuming the dust out then squidging No-More-Nails into the hole before squeezing in a rawlpug then using 2x12 screws.
It still worked loose, but I moved out before it fell off again.

Attempt 3: 2 x Large size metal spring toggles - I have no idea what my rationale was behind this. It lasted only as long as the previous attempt, but caused considerably larger holes.

When I demolished the plasterboard partition wall between my kitchen & diner, I discovered (to my disbelief and horror) that both the radiator brackets were held to the wall with two large metal spring toggles each. It held a 500x2000 radiator.

 

[Robert9999]

There is something about coat-hooks that makes them pull off the wall easier than anything else.

This is because of the formula
Weight on hook x Distance of hook from wall = height of bracket x force on the wall

Coat hook brackets are usually quite short so the force on the wall is quite considerable.

 

[libby lou lou]

There is something about coat-hooks that makes them pull off the wall easier than anything else.

This is because of the formula
Weight on hook x Distance of hook from wall = height of bracket x force on the wall

Coat hook brackets are usually quite short so the force on the wall is quite considerable.

edit,why should the height matter? coat touching floor, less weight?

 

[plugwash]

It's not actually the height of the bracket that matters it's the distance from the bottom of the bracket to the fixing holding the bracket to the wall.

To analyse this we need to make some assumptions, these assumptions aren't perfect but they give a good first approximation.

1: the bracket and wall are flat and rigid.
2: The force that causes a problem is the tension trying to pull the fixing out of the wall (rather than the shear load trying to break the fixing in two)

The result is the bracket acting as a lever with the bottom of the bracket as the fulcrum. The further the fixing is away from that fulcrum. the less the force on it.

 

[Robert9999]

It's not actually the height of the bracket that matters it's the distance from the bottom of the bracket to the fixing holding the bracket to the wall.

That's exactly what I meant by "height of the bracket" not its height from the floor. Perhaps I should have used a different term to make it clearer. However, I thought that my last line would have made the meaning obvious.

 

[tufty]

Buy a free standing hat and coat stand.........see......simples......tsk !