Fixings for hollow doors?

[Nanako]

Hi all, i'm trying to mount coatracks on the inside of interior doors in my house, it is going badly!

The doors are the hollow-ish type,mostly a wooden frame with panels on every surface. But mine are older, more sturdily built versions of this design, heavier than the doors in any new-ish house ive visited. I'm trying to use plugs and screws to mount stuff on them

I've just finished my first test with these things

Amazon.co.uk

They are not good, do not recommend. These plugs rely exclusively on widening the part just inside the hole, since the door is all hollow inside. But:
1. It doesn't widen very much, so even ideally seated with full screw penetration, they don't have a ton of gripping power and can just be yanked out
2. I cant get them ideally seated most of the time, because the plugs start rotating in the screwholes, preventing the screw from going in any farther. Very rarely does the screwhole provide enough friction to match the escalating force of turning of a screw inside

i got the one that comes with a special drill bit, made the holes perfectly, i ended up making a second set with more precision just to be sure, but these damn things are hard to install right, underwhelming even if you do. I'm ready to try something else

Can anyone recommend alternative plugs (and the appropriate width and length of a corresponding screw) for screwing things into hollow doors

 

[Wayners]

Coat hooks kill the door hinges. Also the door will pull away from hinges as not much wood down the sides. Fit at least 3 decent hinges to take the weight and see how you go.

To answer. Get some CT1 or any polymer and a couple of screws.
Fix the coat hooks to some timber or MDF and stick on the door with a couple of screws just to hold until dry.
Won't go anywhere. Door might

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Can anyone recommend alternative plugs (and the appropriate width and length of a corresponding screw) for screwing things into hollow doors

I ban such hangers, on doors in my house, but....

You can buy hangers made for such doors, with a bracket which hangs over the top of the door. If you must fix with screws to the door panel, then toggle-bolts are what you need, or another way is to add a piece of timber batten as wide as the door, so the timber spans the vertical side timbers of the door, then screw to those, add your hangers to the timber.

I found a good solution for hanging dressing gowns, in the bedroom - You can buy a chrome peg, with a screw thread on the opposite end. I drilled and fixed one at either side of the chimney breast, using a single rawlplug for each.

 

[Nanako]

Coat hooks kill the door hinges. Also the door will pull away from hinges as not much wood down the sides. Fit at least 3 decent hinges to take the weight and see how you go.

To answer. Get some CT1 or any polymer and a couple of screws.
Fix the coat hooks to some timber or MDF and stick on the door with a couple of screws just to hold until dry.
Won't go anywhere. Door might

you're advocating just gluing it on, essentially? That seems sketchy
presumably i'd need to sand down to the wood on all connected parts to get a firm hold? Otherwise i could see that just coming off with a bunch of paint-coated glue

extra hinges is a good idea! I can definitely do that

 

[Wayners]

Hi. You didn't say what was on the door. Paint can be well stuck on and polymer really sticks.
Yeah, good idea to dig through to wood.
This heavy mirror is stuck on our cupboard door at home. Been there for 15 years. Hinges are holding although I can see them showing signs of stress

 

[Nanako]

Hi. You didn't say what was on the door. Paint can be well stuck on and polymer really sticks.
Yeah, good idea to dig through to wood.
This heavy mirror is stuck on our cupboard door at home. Been there for 15 years. Hinges are holding although I can see them showing signs of stress
View attachment 383637

how many hinges? and could you hazard a guess about the weight of the mirror?

if i had to replace the hinges in 15 years due to the extra strain from having some towels and dressing gowns hanging behind the dooor....
i think i could accomodate that expense

 

[Nanako]

oh also on the subject, would it perhaps be a good idea to replace my existing hinges?
This door, (every door in the house i think) has these pretty standard things. Four screws on each side, five interlocking sections with a central rod.
one of these near the top and the bottom

Surely there are Better Hinges that can handle the extra weight more comfortably. Like different shapes or designs

It is also worth noting that on this particular door everything is inverted. Because my bathroom is tiny and the door opened inwards, i desperately needed to make better use of that space, so i paid a carpenter to rebuild the doorframe, flip my door upside down and reattach it so it opens outwards. This was of course in the dark days when i was blind to the wonders of construction, now i could possibly do that myself

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Surely there are Better Hinges that can handle the extra weight more comfortably. Like different shapes or designs

A handy design when decorating, is the type of hinge which includes a removable hinge pin. It makes it much quicker to just knock the pin out, to take the door off, than unscrewing the hinges.

 

[Wayners]

Eclipse Grade 7 stainless steel ball bearing hinge I have

 

[Old Salt]

You can get over door hangers. Hollow doors are tough to get stuff to stay on with screws. Keep it to a dressing gown is okay but youngsters will hang all sorts off a hook. Just fixed grandaughters wardrobe lower shelf as she used it for a step ‍ its chipboard sitting on a 6 mm peg!

 

[foxhole]

Plugs are a no no on hollow doors, large thread screws should hold but not to single hooks. Never needed glue .Screw hooks to timber then timber to doors, my heavily loaded bedroom door is just fine with this method.

 

[Nanako]

Well i got it working in the end with those damn hollow door plugs

The trick, it seems, is to NOT follow the instructions on the pack, and instead to use a significantly thicker and longer screw. got some 60mm ones that almost (but not quite) poke through the far side, They definitely do poke through the central support panel of the door and i think that is providing a lot more grip too
and now my bathroom door has a real neat hanger

i'm thinking in time, i will repeat the process for a towel rack farther down, and do the third hinge as wayners advised above