Fix Drywall Nail Pops
Re-seating the popped fastener, dishing the edges, then spackling, sanding, and priming so the pop doesn't return.
Remove a Molly Bolt Without Tearing a Crater in the Drywall
Prying a spent molly out takes a fist-sized chunk of board with it. Run the bolt back in part way and tap its head instead — that straightens the folded legs behind the wall so the whole anchor slides out of its own hole.
wall anchor stuck in drywall, metal anchor won't come out of the wall, take out old wall plugs, get an anchor out without wrecking the wall
The Problem
A molly bolt — the metal hollow-wall anchor with a slotted sleeve — grips by deforming. As you tighten the bolt, the sleeve's legs buckle outward and fold flat against the back of the drywall, spreading the load across a much wider area than the hole. That's why they hold shelves and cabinets where a plastic plug won't.
It's also why they're awful to take out. The legs are behind the board, folded wider than the hole they went through, so there's no direction to pull the anchor that doesn't drag them against the back face. Prying the flange with a screwdriver or pulling with pliers rips the legs through the gypsum, and a 6mm hole becomes a ragged crater 60mm across, in plasterboard that's now missing its paper on the back side too.
The Technique
Undo the deformation before you try to remove the anchor.
- Run the bolt back into the anchor, but only part way — a few turns, so it's engaged in the threads with plenty of shank still standing proud.
- Hold the head of the bolt square to the wall and tap it with a hammer. Firm taps, not a swing.
- Each tap drives the anchor body inward, pushing the folded legs back toward straight. Keep going until the resistance changes and the anchor feels loose in the hole.
- Back the bolt out, or leave it in as a handle, and pull the anchor straight out of the wall. With the legs straightened it comes back through the hole it originally went in through.
- You're left with the original hole — a bolt-sized hole to fill instead of a patch.
Pro tip: Leave enough bolt sticking out to take the hammer blows. Driving the head down flush means you're now hammering the anchor's flange into the wall surface, which dents the board around the hole and makes the flange harder to grip when you go to pull it.
Pro tip: The purpose-made tool for these is a pair of setting pliers, which draw the anchor up to fold the legs on installation. This is the method for when you don't own a pair — and for removal specifically, where the pliers don't help anyway.
Pro tip: If the anchor spins instead of coming loose, its flange teeth have lost their bite on the board face. Press a wide screwdriver blade against the flange to hold it still while you turn the bolt, or accept the crater on that one — a spinning anchor with legs still folded has nothing left to work against.
Safety note: Know what's behind the wall before you hammer anything into it. Anchors get put in above worktops and beside switches, and cables and pipes run in those same zones — a molly hole is big enough to look into with a torch first.
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