Help remove old wall anchors

You puch them into the wall, where they will stay forever, and patch over the holes.

Agree on punching them thru wall , e.g. w/ a 1/4 inch flat-ended punch. Helps to minimize size of hole to be patched if you carefully cut around anchor flange edge w/ utility knife, so that anchor punches thru cleanly.

: Agree on punching them thru wall , e.g. w/ a 1/4 inch flat-ended punch. : Helps to minimize size of hole to be patched if you carefully cut around : anchor flange edge w/ utility knife, so that anchor punches thru cleanly.

You can snip through the aluminum ring on the outside of the wall and bend flange and wiggle the remains back and forth until the ring breaks off. Then just push it through.

Use a 3/8" drill just enough to separate the flange from the anchor.

Leaves a much smaller hole.

You don't. Tap them slightly below the surface, then spackle. After

If you want to keep the holes small, detach the ring from the center by drilling out with a slightly oversize bit. You can then pry the ring loose and just push the core into the wall. If you don't have a drill, you can usually force the ring to break the paper layer and sink in by overtightening the screw. I punched them in, but you run the risk of making a BIG hole if you hit the drywall wrong with the hammer. I'd use a punch.

(This oughta be in a FAQ somewhere- I see this same question on here every couple of months...)

aem sends.... aem sends....

By design hollow wall anchors are made for the room side to snap off allowing for the in the wall part to be pushed through with the smallest hole possible. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to grasp the flange at one of the slots, use moderate pressure to peel it away.

Colbyt

I have had good results with drilling out the head of the anchor so that the flange comes off. Use a typical metal cutting drill bit somewhat larger than the diameter of the anchor. Remove an screw/bolt and then drill straight into he center of the anchor until the flange comes loose.

Then you can punch out just he body of the anchor - a much smaller hole.

ameijers wrote: I punched them in, but you run the risk of

A phillips screwdriver works just as good as a punch.

Don

Whenever I have that problem I get real drunk. Then I take my fist and smash the wall. When I sober up, I go to the hospital to get my broken hands fixed. Then I hire a contractor to replace the plaster in the whole house. Of course if I am renting, I just move to another house, so I got more walls to smash.

With regular plyers or needlenose plyers carefully bend/crush the edges of the metal ring toward you and away from the wall into the smallest size you can and push the anchor through the drywall into the stud cavity behind the wallboard.

That's a great idea.

Thanks

What I have done that works some of the time, is to unscrew the screw almost all the way out and then tap it back in with a hammer. It might just uncrimp the clamp, or snap it off, and then it can be pulled out from the front. Failing that, just punch the whole thing into the wall.

You can just remove the screw and run a 1/4" to 3/8" drill bit against the head until it severs it from the body, then just push the body through. Makes for a smaller hole to patch.

Jeff