Change screw in plug afterwards?

[FunkishJonny]

Hello!

I recently bought a stylish coat rack from the 50s/60s, and now that we've had the painters over, the old one is gone and the new one needs to go up - preferably before the in-laws come for Christmas.

However, I've now realized a bit late that the period-appropriate screws that came with it are too short for me to properly anchor into the concrete wall in the hallway. It seems difficult to find new ones in the right style at the nearest hardware store.

So, to my amateur question: Can I use modern screws and plugs and then replace the screws afterward when I find nicer ones, or are the plugs used up when I've unscrewed the old screw?

Thanks in advance for your response!

 

[RoTe]

The plugs are not consumed by changing a screw once.

 

[FunkishJonny]

The plugs are not consumed by changing the screw once.

Thanks! Amateur follow-up question, I have nail plugs at home, I found out. Is it still okay to screw them in later?

 

[Höghus]

Thanks! Amateur follow-up question, I found out I have spikplugg at home. Is it still okay to screw in screws later?

I needed to remove a sink that was attached with spikplugg to the wall. Impossible to unscrew, I had to use the crowbar and pull until the nail broke inside the wall.
Of course, it depends on the wall material, in my case, it was concrete.

/Höghus

 

[neo11]

Thank you! Amateur follow-up question, I found nail plugs at home. Is it still okay to screw in screws afterwards?

Depends on which nail plug it is, I would probably say no.
Don't you have any regular plugs and screws?

 

[datja]

Thanks! Amateur follow-up question, I found I have nail plugs at home. Can I still use screws then?

Nail plugs should be considered one-time use items (and something I personally would never trust to bear the load of a coat rack).

Our coat rack is attached with large wood screws in massive plugs. In these cases, I like redundancy.

I have an acquaintance whose daughter was seriously burned when a fan cabinet held up by nail plugs fell off the wall over the stove and spilled the contents of a pot over her.

I can use nail plugs for moldings in a plaster wall.

 

[Fotografen]

Thanks! Amateur follow-up question, I found nail plugs at home. Is it still okay to screw them in later?

No!
Be careful with drilling and plugs, you have one chance when hanging things on concrete. If the hole/holes are wrong, you'll need to move them a couple of cm-a dm depending on how heavy the item to be hung is.

 

[FunkishJonny]

Thank you! I had my suspicions about wall plugs, but I thought I'd ask since I have them at home from simpler hanging projects before.

What dimensions of plugs should I use for a hat rack? I've tried googling but can't really make sense of it. There are 6 attachment points (3 at the top, 3 at the bottom), spread across a 120 cm long hat rack.

 

[FunkishJonny]

I also have universal plugs of 6 x 45 with appropriate screws at home. A plug should support 30 kg in concrete, but I suspect the math here isn't 30 x 6, but maybe at least 30 x 3 plus a little extra for the lower row of attachments?

In that case, I could hang myself from the hat shelf, and the little guy too if he gets any silly ideas when he grows older. And if he gets so big that the shelf doesn't hold, he should know better by then (I should too, of course, but well...).

Shouldn't that be enough?

 

[datja]

I also have universal plugs at 6 x 45 with appropriate screws at home. A plug should handle 30 kg in concrete. I suspect the math here isn't 30 x 6, but maybe at least 30 x 3 plus a bit extra for the lower row of fixings?

In that case, I could hang myself on the hat rack, and the little guy too if he gets any silly ideas when he grows up. And if he gets so big that the shelf can't hold him, he should know better by then (I should too, of course).

Wouldn't that be enough?

Go to a place with a good selection of screws and plugs. I like Hornbach. For instance, there’s a really good plug with protruding flaps for crappy walls (slag walls) like I have here and there. If you have hard concrete, normal plugs will suffice. Ask in the store.

 

[Peter787]

No!
Be careful with drilling holes and using plugs, you have one chance to hang things in concrete. If the hole/holes are wrong, you'll have to move a few cm-a dm depending on how heavy the thing is that needs to be hung.

Well, you can always remove the plug and use chemical anchor mass in the same hole.
Just clean the hole so there's no loose gravel.
Threaded rod and a dome nut work great for hat racks.