How do you remove drywall s***w anchors from the wall?

Question

We used heavy duty drywall s***w anchors and when you instert them in the wall they spread open like the 2 clips on a manilla folder (they spread apart) to stay put.

how do I get them out without ripping a hole in the wall?

Answer 1

i know what you are talking about and you cant get into the wall to compress the 'pins' of the anchor. so, get yourself a BIG Phillips screwdriver and a hammer. you get the idea, hammer them into the wall cavity and patch with drywall mud...

Answer 2

Normally during my remodels if it doesn't come out easily I simply push them into the wall and patch the hole and start new.

One pop with a s***w driver  and its inside the wall and a lot smaller hole that trying to remove it.  It just has to go less than flush if it doesn't fall into the wall.

Answer 3

leave them in. if you try to pry them out it will only make a mess and make the hole bigger. i would push them in and spackle/caulk the hole and just leave the anchors in the wall.-blurey

Answer 4

I know what you are talking about.....You can try to unscrew the s***w, pull the s***w toward you and unscrew the s***w, but the wing part will fall into the wall....Or you can use a mini bolt cutter to cut the s***w off, or a mini hack saw.....

Answer 5

I think you are talking about a toggle bolt where the 2 clips are spring loaded and spread when inserted into a hole and the empty space on the inside wall allows it to spread. There are two ways to remove the s***w. First one is to unscrew the bolt while applying pressure toward you on the s***w like using a pair of diagnal cutters. This puts pressure on the toggle nut against the inside wall, thus allowing you to unscrew the bolt.

If this fails, grind the s***w head flat, center punch the center of the s***w head and drill off the head of the s***w. Use a drill size slightly larger than the shank of the s***w. Once the head is drilled off, just push in the s***w into the wall.

Answer 6

I have used the flat edge of a s***w driver to pry with and a few have popped out. When it comes to the ones that wont come out, if they are plastic you can sheer the head off with a sharp putty knife and push the rest through so it falls behind the wall.. Sometimes you can knock them further back and just spackle over.

Answer 7

Unfortunately with toggle bolts, the design for them is that when you remove the s***w the anchor will fall between the two layers of drywall. There isn't a way to retrieve the anchor unless you make a huge hole in the wall.

If it is a molly bolt, remove the s***w, then take a screwdriver and hammer and gently hammer the anchor through the wall.

Take a look at my source, there's pictures of all the different types of drywall anchors, and the ways to take them out.

Answer 8

there not meant to come back out of the wall....if your trying to remove them then just push them into the wall and patch the hole

Answer 9

it all depends what kind of fixings they are if they are the kind that anchor behind the plaster then unscrew it and the back of the fixing will fall into the wall cavity, or the other kind just unscrew with a big Phillips head screwdriver, hope ive helped.