[davestirling]

Hi everyone,

I have a fairly heavy sliding door hanging from a metal rail, similar to the picture. The rail is affixed to a 1" thick header mounted over the drywall by three 5" x 5/16" lag bolts. The reason for the long bolts is because there are 1 3/8" plastic spacers between the header board and rail for so the door sits out from the wall.

The middle lag bolt has come loose, and upon inspection it's not mounted to studs behind the header but was fastened to the header and drywall underneath, and now will not bite. The door is sticking a little as it drags on the plate at the bottom but still moves. I would like to secure the middle section of the rail and hopefully bring the door up a bit so it doesn't stick.

My question is, what sort of toggle bolt or other product might work best to secure this rail, going through the plastic spacer, the 1-inch header and ultimately the drywall? Is there a toggle bolt that will tighten over a 3-inch depth? (1/8" rail + 1 3/8" spacer + 1" header + 1/2" drywall). Or is there a better solution I'm overlooking? The other two lags on either side are solid but I don't want to take the whole door down if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!

Dave

 

[Windows on Wash]

Why not just up the lag bolt size slightly?

If not, you could install a bit of wood inside the hole to tighten the threads up.

 

[davestirling]

Good ideas, thank you for posting so quickly. Can you share a little more about putting wood inside the hole? I'm not clear on how that works. Using the same lag would be a quicker job because I could use the same spacer, although I could use a block of wood or something instead of the plastic spacer if I needed a wider hole.

Thank you!

Dave

 

[Windows on Wash]

Do you have any shims? Wood matches?

 

[davestirling]

Yes, both shims and matches.

 

[Bondo]

Yes, both shims and matches.

Ayuh,..... So pack the 1" board with wood, 'n glue, let it dry, then run in a lag that only goes that deep,......

The real problem is the lack of a stud, behind the drywall,....

 

[davestirling]

Thank you. I took another look at this afternoon and realized I had a 5/16 bit to drill through the rail to get to the stud about six inches over. I propped up the rail and drilled a new hole, moved the lag over and now the door clears without sticking.

I'll file the matchstick and glue tip for future reference. I appreciate the response!

 

[davestirling]

...And why the builder never put it in the stud in the first place is the real mystery of the universe.

 

[huesmann]

Your pic is crappy so I can't see any detail, but if that was me, I'd be finding the nearest stud and drilling a new hole in the rail at that location.