Help I unscrewed ceiling vent to clean but it had anchor screws??

[gbbi_977]

Hello,

I have the afternoon off and 'clean ceiling vents' had been on our DIY list (just bought a condo). So I figured I would surprise DH and get started while he's at work.

It never occurred to me that the screws were drywall anchor screws (I think that's what they are - when I took them out, whit plastic things came with them) and now I have a shiny clean vent but don't know how to screw it back onto the ceiling. Will it work to go to Ace and get new drywall screws? How do I know what size to get?

Hoping to fix this before DH gets home so as not to add stress to his day!

[waffle]

You can either go get some new plastic inserts for the screws or glue/nail some strips of thin wood on the sides of the vent to screw into in the future. That would be my approach , but I'm sure there are others.

[CowboyAndIndian]

If it was a butterfly toggle anchor, you could have re-used it.

So, it most probably was the one which has a spring which opens up after putting in the hole (mushroom head, I think).

Replace with the  butterfly toggle anchor  (http://www.yucando.com/en/p/43-toggle_anchors.html). These should be available in any home improvement store.

[paddedhat]

The anchors are simple plastic plugs. They spun when you removed the screws, and are no longer effective, since they no longer grip the soft interior of the drywall.  Try coating them with white glue and reinserting them in the holes. Just push them flush with the surface, by hand, or lightly tap with a hammer, if needed. Wait a day and reinstall the grill. If this fails, take a screw to Lowes and find the anchor display. You are looking for a white plastic anchor that looks like curly pasta. Find the ones that match you screw size. These are installed with a phillips head screwdriver and just get screwed into the existing holes by hand. A common brand is "E-Z Anchor"  Good luck, you will successfully conquer this one.

[CmFtns]

These type of things are probably what is in there... You just need to go grab a variety pack of these plastic drywall anchors and find one that fits snugly in the hole.



The way they work is you put it into a snug hole and then you screw a normal screw into it. When the screw goes it it causes it to expand so it cant come back out of the wall.