bathroombathroom-fixturesdrywall-anchor
I want to install a towel bar in my bathrooms – and I went to Home Depot to get one – but all of their towel bars were 24 inch…
This to me is weird.
Do all people just mount their towel bars to a drywall using drywall anchors? That just seems so hackish and unreliable.
Guys – could someone confirm what's the right way of installing a towel bar?
Toggles and other heavy weight drywall anchors can be suitable for TV mounts when the mount is flush. Or toggles in to metal studs. Since the load is mostly shear and not pull-out, this is fairly safe. (Provided the drywall is thick enough, the anchors are installed correctly, the wall is properly supported, and lots of other considerations too numerous to go in to here.)
However, adjustable, articulating or arm mounts should never be used on just drywall or metal studs. No matter what anchor you use, drywall and metal studs can not handle the pull out force applied when a TV is extended or tilted away from the wall.
So either get a flush mount, or open the drywall and install appropriate wooden studs.
It's not unusual for the wall between tenants to be made with an extra layer of drywall. The Snaptoggle will work in those walls:
It will easily handle the thickness you're dealing with, and it's easier to work with than regular old fashioned toggles.
Best Answer
You will find many many installations of towel bars that are simply the crappy drywall anchors on each end. These will work as long as the towel bar is treated with kid gloves. Anything more and eventually the towel bar will end up loose at the wall mounts.
If there is not a framed in set of backing behind the towel bar location then your next best bet is to try to mount the towel bar with one end attached to a stud and the other end secured into the drywall. There is the unfortunate situation however that the stud locations may be sub-optimal for the aesthetic and usable placement of the towel bar.
Many towel bars are the bar itself that then fits into the end brackets. It is often practical to cut off the bar thus shortening it to the stud spacing at hand. This would permit both ends of the towel bar to be secure at the inconvenience of hanging towels on a nonstandard width bar.