ORLANDO, Fla. – If you have a project you’d like Erik von Ancken to tackle, send an email to GettingResultsAtHome@wkmg.com. Just think, Erik might just show up at your door.
Donna needed help after her closet shelves in her new home fell and dumped her clothes all over the floor. We discovered the wire racks were not mounted to the studs of her walls — only into the drywall — so we put them in the studs, and that’s what you should do, too.
We purchased:
- wire shelf C-clamps Rubbermaid 8.6 in. H X 7 in. W X .5 in. L Plastic C Clamp - Ace Hardware
- self-tapping metal screws
We brought with us:
- screwdriver
Find more DIY guides on YouTube:
Step 1
Remove the old wire shelf hardware. Many wire racks are installed with drywall anchors and nails that push through the anchors and spread out the anchors inside the drywall. That usually holds the rack on the wall under most circumstances, but not if you hang heavy clothing from the rack. We pulled the anchors and nails out of the wall.
Step 2
Find your studs. A studfinder works great for this. Run the studfinder along the wall until it beeps. Mark the area where the stud begins and ends based on the beeping.
Step 3
Install new hardware into the studs. Donna has metal studs so we used self-tapping metal screws — that means we didn’t have to first drill holes into the studs. We used our electric screwdriver to drive the screws straight into the studs — through the new C-clamps, of course. The C-clamp needs two screws, one on top and one on bottom. We put the bottom screw in first, placed the wire rack behind the C-clamp, and then drove in the second screw.
Step 4
Install braces. Don’t skip this step! The 45-degree-angled braces will give your wire rack shelves support in the middle, where there are no walls to offer support. Make sure to drive the screw that attaches to the brace ALSO into a stud.
That’s it. You just got results at home!