Help with shelving

[emilyg2010]

I have new build plasterboard walls and got a handyman in to change the position of a shelf. The shelf was moved higher by around 15 cm using the same size wall plugs and the same load was placed on the shelf. Initially the shelf held tight against the wall but then after a few weeks started 'drooping' and looking like it was going to fall. On investigation the plugs (and hence the brackets in them) are loose. How has this happened and how can it be remedied please? The handyman said to use filler around the plugs but this seems to have only made things worse.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

It may be that the first screws were into part of the frame of a stud partition wall.
Alternatively, the wrong size hole were drilled for the size of plugs used.
Take the plugs out and see how far you can push a thin screwdriver into the hole, to determine if there's anything behind the plasterboard

 

[emilyg2010]

Thanks for the response. I got it wrong - the plugs used are screw type ones. I tried to push a screwdriver in and got full plasterboard for 2 inches the length of the screwdriver. What I did notice though was that the hole for the plug goes at an angle.

 

[He who knows]

I have new build plasterboard walls

Works of the devil, and you are always going to have problems like these for anything other than very light loads if you cant screw into studs or noggins.

A long-term solution (worth doing if you're going to be staying a while) is, on walls where you might want to fix shelves or cupboards, to remove the plasterboard, infill between the studs and noggins with 36-50mm thickness of plywood sheets, and then fix new plasterboard, skim, and redecorate.