Any way to straighten a towel rail?

[OasisFan79]

Hello all,

I put up a towel rail at the weekend and whilst everything seemed straight and level according to the spirit level, alas when it was all screwed in and attached to the wall the right side has ended up a bit lower than the left.

I was wondering if there was anything I could do to the bracket on the right hand side to make it so I could adjust its position on the wall without having to start over and fill the holes etc.

Sometimes on these sort of fixings you get a bit of adjustment where instead of just being a screw hole it’s more of a pill shape so you get some up and down adjustment.

The brackets with this rail just have the screw holes and aren’t pill shaped unfortunately.

I’ve added a stock image of the rail/bracket.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Burnerman]

I think you'd have to drill that one considerably oversize to get any sort of adjustment, unfortunately - I'd see about drilling the wall again if possible.
John

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

As above, how much out is it?

 

[foxhole]

Tap a sliver of wood into the wall plugs on one end which will allow you to place the screws back in a few mm up or down as required.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Tap a sliver of wood into the wall plugs on one end which will allow you to place the screws back in a few mm up or down as required.

If it is only a few mm ......

 

[OasisFan79]

Thanks for the replies. I’ll check tonight on how much it’s out. My guess is it’s about a centimetre.

It’s only myself that’s bothered about it. The mrs said it’s fine and leave it as it is

 

[foxhole]

If it is only a few mm ......

Would be from description, if he used a level correctly , but reading last post it’s way out so would need redriiling.

 

[OasisFan79]

I want to try and figure out where I went wrong if possible.

I drilled one of the left holes first, put a plug and screw in and tightened it up. Then checked it was level and marked one of the holes on the right hand side. Checked it was level again.

Then drilled one right hand hole, put a plug and screw in and tightened it up. Put the level in and that’s when I noticed it was out.

It’s only bugging me because I notice it. On balance it’s probably not worth filling all the holes and re-drilling it as new holes would be very close to the filled holes.

Is there anything I could do differently next time? It seems that with this sort of DIY job you only get one chance to do it right.

 

[Burnerman]

Check your level is good by using it once then turning it, get help to hold the object then drill with a smaller drill to start with.....this is called a pilot drill.
John

 

[OasisFan79]

Thanks John. Did the job myself so getting the extra pair of hands next time will be the thing to do.

cheers

 

[Burnerman]

The tip regarding the level is always relevant....I have a quality fatmax one, never been dropped and it's a bit out. Not adjustable either!
Good luck with your project, maybe you can cover one of the dud holes with the bracket, and you don't always need both screws. Best if you do though!
John

 

[lostinthelight]

Maybe there's a slight bump in the wall so when you tighten the bracket it pulls the rail out of level
If it looks like by redrilling you'll have a hole to fill, look to leave that side alone and redrill the other side if it covers the old hole.

 

[foxhole]

You should have drawn a level line then measured between holes and marked and then drilled.

 

[cdbe]

You should level the item, not the holes - especially with all the cheaply made crap around these days.

 

[Lower]

You may find that if you loosen your fixing slightly you can tap the high end down a bit and the low end up and then retighten.