Drywall – How to fix a towel bar drywall anchor getting loose

Sounds like you pulled out some butterfly anchors instead of unscrewing them, or even large molly type.

What I do in situations like this is to install a decorative BOARD behind the towel rack or toilet paper holder, on the surface of the drywall, which screws directly into studs. This can simply be a piece of 1X4 with routed or finished edges, or baseboard or crown molding in 3 inch or larger width, painted white or the wall color. If desired, continue around the room at a single height, making this look like a standard feature similar to the top of chair rail decoration.

Install this with screws long enough to reach into the studs behind the drywall, I typically use 3 inch long self drilling screws. If you don't want the screw heads to show, spackle over them or use caulk before painting. The baseboard or molding typically can be found in 3 inch or larger widths, cut to length as needed, providing enough room to install the racks or fixtures on it. The racks can then can screw into this. This eliminates any unsightly holes or bad patching that might be present, as the board goes right over them. Studs are typically 16 inches on center, use a stud finder to locate them. For the toilet paper holder, if the board is attached by screws into one stud firmly, and the other end is installed with butterfly anchors, it should never come off the wall.

The exception would be a block wall behind the drywall, which probably would have furring strips holding it up. You'd then be able to use a drill and concrete anchors with longer screws to hold up either the board, or the racks themselves.

If the anchor has been overtightened and is now loose in the wall, it cannot be salvaged. The plaster in the wall (or the drywall) has been pulverized and will not hold this anchor or any other.

You need to remove the anchor and the screw.

AMENDED ANSWER

Based on new information from the Original Poster, the anchor is a molly type that mushrooms behind the drywall. The best way to remove these is to push them in rather than pull them out.

Insert an awl or a very narrow screwdriver alongside the anchor, pushing toward the hollow in the wall. Do this repeatedly around the circumference. You are basically crushing the little bit of plaster that is hold the collar of the anchor on the surface of the wall. You shoUld then be able to gently push the anchor into the wall hollow where it will drop into the bottom if the cavity.

If you have not damaged the area too much, you may be able to replace the drywall anchor with a strap toggle type anchor.

The legs on this anchor slide to move the crossbar parallel to them. The crossbar is slid into the hole and the legs are then adjusted so that the crossbar is now perpendicular (but parallel to the inside surface of the wall. The front plate on the toggle is then slid tight to the wall and the extra legs are snapped off. The hanging item is then secured by a bolt that goes through the crossbar.

If the hole from the original anchor is much bigger than the toggle diameter, you probably need to patch the hole and move to a different, sound section of the wall and start again.

This answer discusses a range of mounting methods.

In general, I try to avoid molly type anchors because they are prone to the very problem you experienced.

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