Sagging towel ring

[foxhole]

Spring toggles don't have screws that will fit you specific bracket.
A slim piece of timber glued to the back of the hole will allow secure fixing with the current screws.The timber will need to be fed up into the hole , a bit of a fiddle but will give a very secure fix.

 

[Chud]

Spring toggles don't have screws that will fit you specific bracket.
A slim piece of timber glued to the back of the hole will allow secure fixing with the current screws.The timber will need to be fed up into the hole , a bit of a fiddle but will give a very secure fix.

They might fit but yeah that's a good point.

This will be fiddly but I reckon we can advise on the best way to do it - I'll take a first stab at it...

1) select a piece of wood that you can feed through the hole (staple a bit of string/wire to one end of it so you don't drop it completely in the hole as you are testing this)
2) hold your bracket against it and mark up where your screws will go - pilot drill the holes
3) put a blob of grab adhesive on the bottom bit of your wood, feed your piece of wood into the hole.
(If you can it'd be an idea to put a screw into one of the pilot holes to aid in positioning the wood before inserting it and again tying a bit of wire or string round the screw)
4)once it is all in add a blob of adhesive to the upper part of the wood and use your screw(s) in the wood to position it so the grab adhesive holds it to the back of the plasterboard. (you could allow this to dry at this point)
5) very carefully screw on your bracket so that you don't push the wood off the plasterboard.

 

[stealthwolf]

Well I went to B&Q and bought some spring toggles but also bought these plastic ones:

@foxhole is correct in that the machine screw won't fit the bracket - too large. I tried the plastic ones and they're great except they're slightly too large and there's around 5mm gap between the wall and the bracket. Did fit very snug though. I was going to look at getting a smaller plastic fixing but the timber idea sounds more promising, if only more complex.

 

[foxhole]

Piece of 6mm ply or mdf is ideal, ordinary timber small enough is likely to split when you try and get a screw in it.

 

[stealthwolf]

Okay so a few weeks on and the bracket is loose again. Unsurprising I guess. Plastic is just too weak for this kind of weight. Especially as the towel can be wet after use.

I originally thought about a long thin strip of wood, inserted into the hole and glued horizontally to the plasterboard. But I wonder if it's better to use a larger chunk of wood but glue to the second plasterboard and flush/just slightly recessed with the front plasterboard. Would this be a stupid idea?

 

[Burnerman]

With mine, I fixed a disc of varnished hardwood to the wall with hollow wall anchors, and then fixed the towel rail to that.....the hardwood is on display but at least the rail is solid enough.
John

 

[Doggit]

Have a look at the Gripit plasterboard fixings.

 

[foxhole]

Okay so a few weeks on and the bracket is loose again. Unsurprising I guess. Plastic is just too weak for this kind of weight. Especially as the towel can be wet after use.

I originally thought about a long thin strip of wood, inserted into the hole and glued horizontally to the plasterboard. But I wonder if it's better to use a larger chunk of wood but glue to the second plasterboard and flush/just slightly recessed with the front plasterboard. Would this be a stupid idea?

Yes that's as I suggested.

 

[stealthwolf]

Right, I finally got round to tackling this. I've stuck in a piece of wood 15x25x76mm. Glued it in with gorilla glue. Should I use anything to seal in around the gaps?

I realised after I'd done this that I could have squared the hole using a hacksaw blade from a hacksaw I bought recently.

 

[stealthwolf]

So the gorilla glue had dried and the wood appeared fixed in place. Drilled some pilot holes and screwed in the bracket. Very slightly wonky but once the rail was put back on, not obvious. It does feel very strong now.

Thanks to @foxhole @Chud and everyone else for the advice.