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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.
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.
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
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
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.
Hi @plague,
I think @jaiprak 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
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.
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