We just moved into our house and tried hanging up my wife's winter clothes. Once we had both sides of the racks filled up the whole thing fell down. We had a handy man come out, and we figured out there isn't a stud where the middle bracket is. He tried to repair the piece to wall (originally supported with 15+ nails) however it would not support it. He was able to get it up back up with two silver anchors that you can see in the picture stating not to hang heavy stuff anymore.
Today we tried just hanging up lighter clothes today (athletic wear) and the anchors came out of the wall. I am frustrated now because we want to hang up our cloths on the top racks because of the ample amount of space, but we are unable to do so due to the fear of it collapsing. Does anyone know of a way to possibly fix this?
Best Answer
Jack is right. Take down the old mounting piece. Buy a new longer piece of plywood that will extend over to the nearest studs. You can take the old wood piece into the store to use for color matching a pint of paint. You could paint it outside before attaching it to the wall.
Then center the new piece along the wall for aesthetics and use heavy screws to screw it into the studs. This would hide the old torn out drywall holes. You can then mount the old hardware with L brackets.
Alternatively, you could try to mount a taller piece of wood that extends up to the ceiling and screw diagonally up to the wall's frame.
Just a thought... You might be able to see the studs from above. I see the attic access right there.