Hanging corbels with toggle bolts

[JHZR2]

As many know, I was refinishing the dining room, and got it all done for thanksgiving. I ran into some challenges thou with hanging my shelves.

Essentially I have corbels to hang shelves, like the ones in the picture from an online blog:

They came with dinky flat head screws and those little plastic sleeves that you knock into drywall, they were maybe 1/2" long.

The one on the left is what it came with, the right is the kind of thing I bought, photo from this old house.

I have plaster and lathe. Far thicker. I bought some hangars that claimed they were better than toggle and Molly bolts, and were good to 3/4" walls (above right side). My walls are a little too thick... So toggle it is.

Problem is that the corbels hang from their backside, using those "keyhole" type plates that you stick the screw head through and then push it down onto the shaft of the screw. They look something like this one I found in google:

So I can make toggle bolts with flat head screws that will work with these... But how do I get the toggles to where I want them? I'm guessing that besides the fairly sizable hole for the toggle itself, then I need to drill a slightly larger shallow hole (not all the way through) into the wall, and use a washer with a nut to snug the toggle in, right?

Once torqued tight, with the washer and nut allowing the toggle to firmly grip the wall, then I hang the cornel to it.

Correct? Anything else I should consider? Since the hole is so large to get the toggle through, should I repair the lathe with a dowel and glue, to help it support the toggle shaft better?

Thanks!

 

[Astro14]

Can you locate the corbels on the studs? A good self-drilling screw into the studs will both give better strength and be adjustable for depth on which to hang your keyhole plate.

 

[JHZR2]

That was my first intent, but for the shelf length we wanted and the placement, being 16" on center didnt help us...

 

[Pop_Rivit]

That's pretty simple. Just use your toggle bolts, but leave the heads of the bolts slightly loose. Then put your corbel bracket over it and press down, snapping the corbel/bracket into place. It should pull the toggle tight against the lathe. The hole in the mounting plate is slightly offset for that very reason-it pulls the corbel tight to the wall when pushed down onto the head of the bolt.

Drill a small pilot hole first, and then progressively larger holes until you reach the correct size for the toggle. This will reduce plaster cracking, and somewhat help reduce the number of plaster keys that break off the lathe behind the wall. If too many of the plaster keys break off you'll end up with a large weak spot in the plaster that will be detached from the lathe and start to bow.

And as a side note-I'd use a metal toggle, not the plastic one in your picture. The metal toggles are far stronger and will give a much better grip through plaster and lathe.

 

[JHZR2]

Thanks! Yes didn't want plastic, was just something I picked up to try. Was worried that centering of the toggle in the hole (since the hole is so much larger than the shaft of the screw), might make it impossible to get the corbels attached, or make them prone to sag.

Good point on the progressively larger holes. Don't want to harm my plaster!

Thanks!

 

[4D-56]

As a side note, what are the shelves made of, in particular, the mout brackets? If there are not real wood and are some kinda press board, Ive found that the small screws that hold the keyhole plate to the back of the bracket, will actually split the pressboard, hence not giving the small screws anything to really hold but two side of a split, if you can picture that.

Ive seen, as a result these shelves fall off the wall with barely any load. I had to pre-drill deeper holes and use longet screws to get to some 'virgin' pressboard.

 

[JHZR2]

No these are real wood. Probably a weaker wood than the oak that makes the shelf. Im not putting books on these, the oad isnt huge. Just want to do it right.