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Having trouble anchoring baby gate into plasterboard/gyprock wall

I have been having problems anchoring the baby gate to the gyprock wall we have. Unfortunately at the height of the gate anchors, there's no studs I can use. So I had to rely on using plasterboard anchors. But they keep tearing off the wall everytime I tried. This is happening in 2 places where I had installed the gate at.

The gate I have is https://www.babybunting.com.au/product/dreambaby-retractable-gate-xtra-tall-white-121383. It's a retractable one so it has that pressure to pull back which may be contributing for the anchor to get pulled out of the wall. Add to that when the kid pushes the gate, it may put additional pressure and that may be causing the gate to come off the wall.

Initially I tried using the anchor that came with the set. It lasted for maybe 3 months before it came off the wall.

Then I bought https://www.bunnings.com.au/ramset-nylon-wallmate-plasterboard-anchor-10-pack_p2260973 anchor. It didn't last for long. Came off within a few days.

I came and asked the bunnings staff at the store for advice. They suggested I use a stronger anchor. They suggested https://www.bunnings.com.au/ramset-8-x-50mm-universal-anchor-4-pack_p2260443. This lasted maybe a few weeks before it came off again. Problem on this one is that it wasn't expanding inside the wall. Couldn't bite into the wall. Because the anchors are close to each other in the bracket, the hole in the wall was split open easily.

By then I had run out of space in that wall area with all the holes. I had to use https://www.bunnings.com.au/selleys-180g-spakfilla-rapid-gap-filler_p1231864 to fill the wall holes.

Came back to the store and spoke to another staff. He said the plastic ones are not good enough. Suggested I use the metal one which is stronger and more durable. With their recommendation, I bought https://www.bunnings.com.au/ramset-m5-x-9mm-plasterboard-hollow-wall-anchor-4-pack_p2260148. The problem with this one is that while the anchor has 2 holes to use the screws in, it's too close to use 2 metal ones. But they said it should be ok as it can handle a heavy weight and should be durable for the purpose.

But alas, it also came off the wall after a couple of weeks. And because of how wide it spreads inside the wall, it damaged the wall pretty badly. You can see the patchwork from before next to the new hole.

hole in wall

Now I'm left with either getting a new gate or find a different solution to anchoring the wall brackets.

Anyone have any advice on this matter? I don't want to have to spend $400 on new gates if I can anchor the brackets somehow.

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Accepted answers

EricL

Hello @plague

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about anchoring your baby gate to your wall.

I can see what has happened and it appears that your baby gate is anchored to two points which takes all the force of the gate. In order to resolve this issue, the force from the gate must be spread out. I suggest trying this method. I propose using 42 x 19mm 1.2m DAR Pine Standard in combination with Selleys 350g Liquid Nails Heavy Duty. I recommend using Ramset Super Wallmate Toggle Anchor - 10 Pack to anchor the timber to the plaster wall.

The general steps are to place a mark on the pine timber starting 50mm from the bottom of the wood. Place a succeeding mark every 200mm until you have five equally distant marks on the timber piece. Place the timber piece to the wall where the baby gate will be anchored to. Mark the position of the timber piece on the wall with a pencil.

Drill pilot holes in the timber piece where you placed your marks. Make sure to drill all the way through to the plasterboard so that it is marked as well. Pre-drill the plasterboard with a larger drill bit where you've marked it earlier. Once the holes are drilled place the toggle anchors into the plaster board wall. Put a bead of liquid nails on the pine timber piece and push it to the wall and screw it on with the screws that came with the toggle anchors.

Repeat the same process for the other side of the wall and give the timber pieces 24 hours to cure. Once the adhesive has cured you can now screw the baby gate to the timber pieces using standard timber screws. When your gate is pulled the force of the pull is now spread out through the timber and the five anchors. I've placed a sample image below to give you an idea of how it can be done.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

All comments

EricL

Hello @plague

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about anchoring your baby gate to your wall.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

plague

Thank you Eric for the reply. Initially that was my intention and I asked about the pine wood (the one I showed them was a thin one and not a thick block). I was asking if I should go that way. They suggested the other plasterboard anchors which is when I went the other way.

Would this stick out on the wall because I can't judge how thick this is. Can I get it in white so it matches the wall colour and won't stick out as a sore thumb?

MitchellMc

Hi @plague,

I have that same gate and a toddler that climbs on it. Mine is screwed directly into timber, and my child still almost rips it out, so I can see why you've had issues with mounting it to plaster. I like Eric's idea, and you'd only need to use a piece of timber similar to 64 x 19mm 1.8m DAR Pine Premium. You can pick up a sample pot of paint to paint it white.

The timber is only 19mm thick, so it shouldn't stick out of the wall very far.

Mitchell

plague

Apologies for the delay. Took some time for me to get around to doing this. The viral cough/cold that is spreading around from daycare to work didn't help and had everyone sick at home.

I had bought all the stuff earlier but only had the time to do it today. Went mostly well so far. I drilled in the holes and anchored the nails to the plasterboard. Only minor issue I had was that for some reason, the plasterboard screw refused to go in completely when pushed through the pine wood. It went in fine when I put it directly and installed the anchor to the wall. I felt the anchor expanding inside as well when I unscrewed it. But when I tried to anchor it through the wood, it left a gap. I couldn't figure out why. I tied to hammer the wood in closer to the wall, thinking it was the gap between the screw and the nail that was causing it. But that didn't seem to be the case. One of the anchors came off the wall at which point I decided it wasn't worth risking it and left it with the gap between the wall and the wood. The liquid nail wouldn't be much help in this case.

Just wanted to share how it turned out and wanted to get confimation that the gap won't cause any issue in handling the load/pressure from the gate anchors.

J-P

Trying unscrewing all the screws to the flush level of pine. Have somebody push the pine flat to the wall. Start pushing the screws one by one but half tigthen them. Start with the bottom then go to top and then middle. Once all are half tightened, repeat in same order to full tight them. This might reduce the gap

MitchellMc

Hi @plague,

I think @J-P is on the money here. I'd have another go. Remove the timber, cut off the now dry adhesive, and start again. It looks like the timber wasn't pushed hard enough against the wall when you began putting the screws in. The top of the heads bottomed out on the Pine timber before that could draw the timber hard against the wall. Once you have the timber fixed hard against the wall with a couple of screws, the rest should go in fine.

You might want to pre-drill the holes in the timber slightly larger than the threads of the screws. This will help prevent the gap issue.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

plague

Yes. That was the issue. I screwed 70% in so I had the screw edge on the other side of the timber for me to align it with the anchors properly and that is when I screwed it. Which is what has caused the gap.

I tried unscrewing it. But like I mentioned, one of those anchors (bottom last) came off the wall when I tried to hammer the timber in on the first attempt. So now it is not unscrewing (rotates inside the wall) and if I try to pull/pry it out, it is pulling the wall as well. I have pushed the timber as far as I can with the rest of the anchors except for that one and it is the best that can happen it seems. Overall, 90% success and hopefully the anchors will hold the gate now.

Appreciate all the help. You guys are great.

Jason

Let us know if you need any further assistance @plague.

Jason

plague

So my journey into securing the baby gate is still ongoing.

After all the advices I got here, I was able to secure two gates. They seem to hold sturdy to all the attempts by my toddler and he tried all kinds of tricks. I waited to confirm it worked before I went to the other one.

The third one I had was at the bottom of the staircase. I bought all the parts as instructed and started anchoring Ramset to the wall. Halfway in, the anchor refused to go in. Tried to push it in but it encountered heavy resistence. I checked for wood inside using Stud Finder but it didn't detect anything. Then I tried to drill using my drill bit and that cracked in half. Tried the anchor again and that snapped in half. Tried another and that also snapped.

That's when my brain realized I wasn't facing a wood inside. It was brick. The staircase is connected to the garage on the other side. I assumed it was gyprock between both but it seems there's brick inbetween.

I tried my masonry drill bit to put a hole inside the wall. But it didn't work. I don't know why. I thought impact drill is the same as hammer drill. I was using https://amzn.asia/d/hs8iG5C drill to attempt my drilling. The drillbit I used was STAHL Masonry Kit 8mm Drill With 50mm Blue Wall Plugs. I had them around to drill a floating shelf in the garage that I used on this.

Any advice would be appreciated. Do I need a different driller? I saw the video on How to drill into bricks and it seemed so easy. I tried for 10 minutes with no progress and all I was left with was a hot drill bit and my palm sore from pushing the impact drill into the wall. And a big hole in the wall as well.

Looking forward to any advice I can get on my journey.

JacobZ

Hi @plague,

I'm sorry to hear that your baby gate journey is still on going.

While not familiar with the brand of hammer drill you have linked to, it is similar to the majority of others I've come across in that there is a rotating mode selection on the back side of the chuck. You will need to ensure that this is set to the hammer function. I have circled this below in red.

When set in the hammer mode, a hammering action is applied in conjunction with the rotation of the bit that helps to chip away at the material. You should ensure that the drill is set to this function while attempting to drill into brick.

You may need to replace the masonry bit you were provided in this kit as it's likely that it has been compromised. I suggest the Kango 8mm x 100mm Masonry Drill Bit.

If you find that this particular drill is not up to the task, I suggest looking at the Ryobi 800W 13mm Corded Hammer Drill. This style of hammer drill is more specific to the task of drilling into masonry and will make light work of this task.

Let me know if you require further assistance.

Jacob

plague

Hi @JacobZ,

Thank you for your reply. I did attempt with the Impact Drill mode as you highlighted. I'm wondering if I had the wrong torque settings. Should the torque be higher or lower? I was doing it at 9.

Also, I wonder if it is brick or steel inside. I can't see it without making the hole bigger which I didn't want to do. But I wonder if the masonry drill bit didn't work if it was a steel.

I will check out the Ryobi one next time I'm at bunnings. I didn't want to spend much for a few holes but maybe it's better than breaking the drill I already have and need to replace it.

JacobZ

Hi @plague,

The torque or clutch setting shouldn't have too much effect in this situation. What this does is determine under how much torque load, the motor will cut out to prevent failure or injury to the operator. If you found that when you were trying to drill, the motor was cutting out, I would advise moving it to a higher torque setting, however I suspect this wasn't the issue.

If there was brick behind the plaster, regardless of how tough it was, you would see some kind of brick dust or powdery residue on the head of the drill bit. If you didn't see brick dust, then maybe it is steel that you were hitting. To determine whether this is correct or not, you can use a Deta Powerful Magnet to determine if there is indeed steel behind the wall.

You should look at the Kango 10 - Piece Multi-Max Multi-Material Drill Bit Set as an option as it is capable of drilling through both steel and masonry.

It may also be worth considering hiring the services of a local handyman as they will have more trade-quality tools that will make light work of this job.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any further questions.

Jacob

JoeAzza

Hi @plague , if you are still have problems with fixing the gate to plaster wall, m y suggestion would be to locate the timber studs behind the plaster wall , then cut out the plaster between the stud and insert noggin studs between the verticals studs, then re install your cut out plaster and patch the area, just timber to mark the position of the new studs, then you can mount the gate to the new studs.

plague

I managed to find the place in my wall where there was space behind the gyprock wall for the final gate. Thought I was settled. Had hope it will last long.

My little one took it as a challenge to get the gate unblocked. He attempted many ways.

Seems his attempts worked because one day I saw the anchored screws coming out of the anchor. The anchor itself is in the wall. But the screw somehow came loose from the anchor. I thought since it was one screw, it won't matter. Little by little, he managed to get them all out. Current state is this.

I pushed the wood back against the wall. But the screws seem to be loose. And the anchors are dug inside for me to replace with another.

I thought these screws are supposed to take the pressure and won't give in. Not sure how they came out of the anchors. My son should be a product tester for these things.

Any suggestion? I don't want to dig a hole to get the anchors out and then drill more holes for new anchors. Wall will look damaged in the end.

JacobZ

Hi @plague,

That little one of yours has done a great job testing the strength of those anchors.

Can you advise what type of anchors you ended up using? Did you find that there was brick behind the plasterboard, or did you end up using a plasterboard anchor?

I ask because while plasterboard anchors are good, they will not hold up to repeated shaking and stresses that I imagine your little one has been putting on the anchors.

The best way to anchor the baby gate will still be to a stud or brickwork underneath the plaster. I am certain, due to the fact there is an external corner, that there is some kind of structure behind the plasterboard.

If you can investigate what is behind that plasterboard in the corner, I am happy to offer further assistance.

Jacob

plague

I couldn't get through the inside of the brick (it was brick cause wood drillls didn't penetrate it) near the corner. You can see the holes I have there where I tried and the drill bit breaking.

The place where I got the wood anchored is hollow inside. So I used the plasterboard anchors Ramset Super Wallmate Toggle Anchor - 10 Pack recommended originally. It seems to hold on the other walls so I hoped it would work in this as well.

What was strange is that the anchor itself didn't come loose. It's the screws that seemed to have come out of the anchor. I thought the screws are supposed to be gripped by the anchor internally. Not sure if the anchor is bent inside when it came loose.

I guess I need to hire a handy man to do the drilling then on the brick side of the wall.

JacobZ

Hi @plague,

It's possible that the anchors have failed to rotate inside the wall. This type of anchor, while very strong, can struggle to rotate fully within the wall when things like insulation are present. This would allow the screw to work its way out over time.

For your little one's security, and your own peace of mind, it might be time for that handy man. They'll be able to get good attachment into the brick where even the biggest of toddler tantrums can't pull it off the wall.

Let me know if you have anything else I can help with.

Jacob

plague

Thank you Jacob.

Do you know of any handy man who can help me at Doonside? I don't want to pay an arm and leg to get this done. Would appreciate any recommendation.

Also, would I need to buy a new wood and anchor or do they usually have stuff they can use?

JacobZ

Hi @plague,

I don't know of any handymen in your area, but you could try things like Hipages or Airtasker to find someone who could assist.

The timber should be fine to reuse, but you would need to use a different style of anchor in the brick. I would suggest that your handyman should supply screws and anchors, you should definitely mention this when speaking to them, so you are on the same page.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

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