Built a shelf for my garage and it collapsed 2 hours later

Loaded up a shelf I built in my Seattle garage with maybe 40 lbs of paint cans. Woke up to a crash at 2am and found the brackets ripped clean out of the drywall. Anyone else forget to anchor into studs on their first build?

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2 Comments

oscarmurphy5mo ago

Why not just screw into the studs?

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stellas565mo ago

My first house had metal studs in the basement too, and I learned that trick the hard way... regular screws just strip right out or bend. You gotta use self-tapping sheet metal screws, like #8 or #10 size, or else even the strongest drill will leave you cursing at the wall. Those metal studs are thin gauge and standard wood screws won't hold at all, they'll just spin and chew up the drywall. Also pre-drilling with a smaller bit helps a ton if you're going into a thicker gauge stud, saves you a lot of frustration. So yeah, wood screws are a waste of time here, you need the right fastener for the job.

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