Our weekend shelf build turned into a family debate on wall anchors

Last Saturday, my sister and I decided to put up some floating shelves in the den. We argued for an hour about whether to use toggle bolts or molly bolts (I was team toggle, she swore by mollies). In the end, we used both in different spots, and now the walls look a bit uneven. Has anyone else had a family DIY project where the technical details caused more drama than the actual building?

3 comments

3 Comments

simoncarter1mo ago

Last big fight was over whether to paint or patch first, nearly came to blows over that one.

vera_wilson561mo ago

Oh man, that debate is the worst. My husband and I had a standoff in the hallway for a solid twenty minutes arguing the exact same thing when we did our living room. I was team patch-first, he insisted on painting over the cracks to "see if they came back." We finally compromised, but I'm still finding drywall dust in weird places. What did you guys end up doing?

caleba451mo ago

Actually, patching first always saves time in the long run. I learned that the hard way when I painted over a hairline crack and it reappeared in two weeks. Had to sand everything down and start over, which was a mess. Now I use joint compound, let it dry fully, then sand smooth before any paint goes on. That way the surface is solid and the paint job lasts. Trust me, a little extra work up front prevents bigger headaches later.