How to Install Eye Bolts Into a Wall

Anchor bolt ,Carriage bolts

Eye bolts are threaded screws with a loop at one end. They are used to hang things from. For example, picture wire is often attached to the back of picture frames using an eye bolt or eye screw on each of the vertical strips. Eye bolts either have machine screw threading or wood screw threading. Eye bolts with wood screw threading are the easiest of the eye bolts to install in a wall. Choose the size of the eye bolt based on the load the eye bolt is rated to hold.


    Wood Screw

  1. 1

    Use a stud finder to locate the vertical stud in the wall. A stud finder is a handheld magnetic tool that will tell you when it's near a nail that's been pounded into a stud to hold the wallboard or paneling in place. The wood screw eye bolt must be screwed into a wood stud.

  2. 2

    Pound a thin nail into the wall to verify that a wood wall stud is there. Once the nail makes contact with the stud, pull it back out. Pound the nail at the position the eye bolt is to be installed.

  3. 3

    Pre-drill a hole through the wall covering and into the wood stud using an electric drill and drill bit. Place the tip of the drill bit in the nail hole. The drill bit should be slightly smaller in diameter than that of the threaded screw shank of the eye bolt. Hold the drill bit perpendicular to the wall while drilling the hole. Drill the hole to a minimum depth of 1 1/2 times the diameter of the threaded shank.

  4. 4

    Place the tip of the eye bolt in the drilled hole and start turning it in. Make sure to keep the threaded shank perpendicular to the wall. When it becomes too difficult to turn the eye bolt with the fingers alone, insert a screwdriver through the hole, grab on to it with both hands and twist the screwdriver until the the base of the eye is seated against the wall.

    Machine Screw

  5. 1

    Install a machine thread eye bolt where it's impossible to screw into a wall stud. Drill a hole into the wall large enough in diameter to insert an eye bolt with a winged toggle screwed on to the shaft. A winged toggle is a nut with wings that fold up when inserted through the hole of a hollow surface such as a wall or ceiling. Once the toggle is pushed through the hole, the wings expand outwards. A winged toggle provides the greatest strength of the expansion-type anchors.

  6. 2

    Turn the eye bolt clockwise while pulling outward so the winged toggle is braced against the back of the wall surface. This offers the machine threads on the eye bolt traction for pulling itself through the toggle.

  7. 3

    Screw the eye bolt in until the base of the ring or the shoulder presses against the face of the wall.

  8. 4

    Insert a molly expansion anchor when maximum strength is not required. Molly anchors come in 1/8 and 1/4-inch diameters. After the hole is drilled in the wall, insert the molly anchor into the hole until it sits flush with the face of the wall. Put the tip of the eye bolt in the hole of the expansion anchor and start turning it clockwise until the base of the eye sits firmly against the face of the wall.

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