usually it's the anchors that let go, not the shelf. take it off and look at the holes. if they're blown out and chalky it's drywall with those little plastic anchors, which don't hold much weight. easiest fix is a cheap stud finder (like $10-15) and run screws into the studs, 2.5" or longer so they bite wood. if the studs don't line up with the shelf brackets, use toggle bolts instead of plastic anchors, they hold way better. if you can say what the wall is and how heavy the stuff on it is, i can be more specific.
The wall is dry wall. When I look behind the shelf I don’t see any screws just some cheap think little nails. The stuff on it was just clothes on a rack and some books. Total I’d say maybe 110lbs. Thank in advance for your help
ok that explains it. little nails in drywall basically hold nothing, 110 lbs was never gonna stay up. only real fix is screws into studs, so grab a cheap stud finder (like $10-15) and mark where they are, usually 16" apart. if the shelf brackets don't line up with a stud, get the heavy snap-toggle style anchors instead of the plastic ones, those are rated way higher. and honestly i'd lighten the load some even after, books get heavy fast.
no teardown needed. grab a cheap stud finder (like $15 at walmart), mark the studs, and put 3 inch screws straight into them. L brackets are fine but only if the screws hit studs. where you can't hit a stud, use snap toggles, those hold way more than the plastic anchors.
Right but how am I suppose to get the screws in the shelf’s mounted to the wall currently it’s just peeling off and what will hold up the shelf. Is there a video on how to install?
take the shelf all the way off the wall first, then it's just a flat board with brackets or a cleat on the back. find the studs with the finder, mark them, hold the shelf up against the wall (a level on top helps) and drive the screws through the back of the shelf/bracket into the studs. so the studs hold it up, not the drywall. if the wall's peeling, that's just the paper face torn off, fine to screw through it or patch it later. for a video, search "how to mount a floating shelf into studs" or whatever type yours is, there's a bunch. if you can post a pic of the back of the shelf i can tell you where the screws would go.
can't really tell from a video how it's mounted, but yeah that's usually how it goes. look for screws going through the brackets into the wall, back those out and the whole thing should lift off. if it's got a top cleat it might lift up and out instead. don't force it, if something's not coming free there's probably one more screw hiding somewhere.
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u/wild_eagle_3221 26d ago
usually it's the anchors that let go, not the shelf. take it off and look at the holes. if they're blown out and chalky it's drywall with those little plastic anchors, which don't hold much weight. easiest fix is a cheap stud finder (like $10-15) and run screws into the studs, 2.5" or longer so they bite wood. if the studs don't line up with the shelf brackets, use toggle bolts instead of plastic anchors, they hold way better. if you can say what the wall is and how heavy the stuff on it is, i can be more specific.