How can I cover up wall damage from a loose towel bar?

Okay, so this isn't exactly appliance-related, but I've got a towel bar in my bathroom, the bottom edge of which is digging into the drywall and its looking more and more awful all the time. I'm beginning to feel like I need to put something behind it to protect the wall from further damage, and/or hide the damage that has already occurred, but what?

The towel bar uses hidden mounting brackets that are screwed firmly into the wall, but there's a small amount of play between them and the ends that go over the top of them. They tighten onto the mounting brackets with Allen head set screws, but they don't seem to tighten enough, which creates the problem.

One would think there would be some sort of medallion one could put behind the brackets, but I haven't found anything like that. My other, admittedly weird, idea is to use light switch plates. They're cheap, flat, and would cover the existing gouges, while offering a measure of protection from further damage. The idea would be to re-mount the wall brackets on top of the switch plates, then put the towel bar back into place. It might look a bit odd, but it would be better than what's already there. If I do this, I might mount the plates horizontally to somewhat disguise what they are.

Any other ideas?


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Post# 473081 9/3/2024 at 12:10 by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes Okay, so this isn't exactly appliance-related, but I've got a towel bar in my bathroom, the bottom edge of which is digging into the drywall and its looking more and more awful all the time. I'm beginning to feel like I need to put something behind it to protect the wall from further damage, and/or hide the damage that has already occurred, but what? The towel bar uses hidden mounting brackets that are screwed firmly into the wall, but there's a small amount of play between them and the ends that go over the top of them. They tighten onto the mounting brackets with Allen head set screws, but they don't seem to tighten enough, which creates the problem. One would think there would be some sort of medallion one could put behind the brackets, but I haven't found anything like that. My other, admittedly weird, idea is to use light switch plates. They're cheap, flat, and would cover the existing gouges, while offering a measure of protection from further damage. The idea would be to re-mount the wall brackets on top of the switch plates, then put the towel bar back into place. It might look a bit odd, but it would be better than what's already there. If I do this, I might mount the plates horizontally to somewhat disguise what they are. Any other ideas?

Post# 473089 , Reply# 1 9/4/2024 at 12:50 by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes So, I took down that towel bar last evening and discovered a few things I had forgotten about since I first put the bar up a little more than a decade ago: 1. The brackets that hold the two bars (it's a double towel bar) don't tighten into place with set screws. The fixtures in the other bathroom do that. They just slide onto tabs on the mounting brackets. Those tabs had become bent outward a little too much on one of them. I'll definitely have to straighten them a little. 2. For one of the mounting brackets, I had, for reasons I don't rightly remember, used one of those really big dry wall anchors that you screw into place. Unfortunately, it had come loose. I guess I'm going to have to replace that with a lag bolt. I picked up a couple of light switch plates and marked one of them to drill holes for the mounting brackets. It's going to be do-able and won't look bad, once it's done, but it will be a pain to get everything lined up, especially with that lag bolt. Fortunately, in the interim, I can hang my towel on the grab bar at the end of the tub. I just have to move it during my shower.

Post# 473098 , Reply# 2 9/4/2024 at 19:53 by Centralvacs1928 (Chicagoland)
Checkrate/Likes I think you may want to get a different towel bar (or reuse current), mount it a little above or below where the current one is mounted using toggle bolts, then patch the old holes and paint. Otherwise, find or make wood or metal plates/discs larger than the towel bar mounting fixtures, matching the finish of the towel bar (brass? chrome? brushed nickel?) and sandwich them between the towel bar and the drywall, with toggle bolts through the mounting holes, which you would drill through your new "escutcheon" plates.