My floating shelf became a falling shelf after 3 days

Last week I put up a big oak shelf in my living room using those cheap plastic anchors from the hardware store. It looked great for exactly 72 hours, then my cat jumped on it and the whole thing ripped out of the drywall. The shelf landed on my coffee table and cracked my favorite mug, and the cat just stared at me like I was the dumb one. I should have used toggle bolts instead of guessing the weight rating. Has anyone else trusted plastic anchors and paid the price, or am I the only one who learned this the hard way?

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sullivan.abby2mo ago

Oh boy, don't even get me started on plastic anchors. I once hung a mirror in my hallway with those things and it came down at 2 AM, scared the life out of me and my dog. The worst part is I had the toggle bolts sitting in my toolbox the whole time, I just didn't feel like doing the extra work. Now I put a little sticker on every anchor pack that says "remember the cat test" because that's the real world, right? Your cat is a better weight tester than any label on the package. I'm just glad the mug got it and not the cat, they would have never let you live that down.

6

the_wyatt2mo ago

Heard this exact thing happen to my buddy Dave with a TV mount in his basement. He used the same plastic anchors and the whole thing came down during a movie night, barely missed his soundbar. I mean, the drywall looked fine until the weight hit it, then it just gave up completely. Toggle bolts are a pain to install but they're the only thing I trust now, even for light stuff.

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