That time my garage shelf collapsed and took out half my tools

Last month I hung a heavy duty shelf in my garage with drywall anchors instead of finding studs. Woke up to a crash at 2am and found my circular saw with a bent blade and a cracked drill case on the concrete. Anyone else learn the hard way that anchors just don't cut it for tool storage?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason_lopez26d ago

Woke up to that 2am symphony of destruction, huh? Guess those anchors just wanted to test your reaction time along with your tools.

luna_wright26d ago

My first garage setup had a shelf come down on a miter saw, bent the fence and chipped the blade guard. Stud finder is worth its weight in gold for tool storage, even if you have to rent one for five bucks. @mason_lopez nailed it with that 2am symphony comment, mine sounded like a full band crashing through the ceiling. Drilling into a stud with a 3 inch screw holds like concrete, anchors are just for picture frames and lightweight boxes. I switched to a wall mounted rack system after that night, bolted straight into the framing. Trust me, spend the extra twenty minutes finding studs and save yourself a hundred dollar tool replacement.

vera_robinson3626d ago

I saw a video from a contractor on YouTube who tested drywall anchors against stud screws with a pull test, and the stud screws held over 200 pounds while the anchors failed at like 30. That really stuck with me after I lost a box of vintage wrenches to a shelf crash last spring. My neighbor swears by those toggle bolts for heavy loads but I just stick to finding studs now, it takes maybe five extra minutes with a $15 stud finder from Home Depot. The bent blade on my skill saw was the real kicker, cost me $40 to replace and I still get annoyed every time I see that scratch on the concrete floor.