Command Strips to hold Trombone Wall Mount?

[tonyycanolli]

Hey everyone. So I feel like in theory this is a great idea for the situation I’m in. I’m renting a apartment and there is a strict order from the landlord to not put anything in the walls such as screws or thumb tacs. The thing is however, I have 4 trombones and many other Instruments on stands but my room is small and I literally don’t have the floor space for 4 trombone stands as they are extremely wide as you all know. However I’ve seen wall mounts for trombones such as: [THIS](https://a.co/d/ibPMcid) and thought they’d be really helpful for that. The only issue is like I said I can’t drill holes in my walls. However I’ve discovered these things called “[Command Strips](https://a.co/d/3ZDbqAr)” which say they hold up to 16 pounds. Which is quite a bit. By logic, If I use two of these to hang up a trombone wall mount, shouldn’t it be more than strong enough to hold a horn? Or is there a completely safer/better way to go about getting my trombones off the floor and onto the wall with no drilling involved?

[tbonesullivan]

Those are very strong in one direction: side to side. The trombone mount will introduce rotational force that translates to pulling the strips apart, and your trombone falling down.

[DCIsky]

I had to use command strips at work. They're a fun tool for picture frames that needed to be swapped out regularly, but I would not trust my multi-thousand-dollar instruments to them. As much as it motivates you to practice when your horns are ready to go, I'd say you should probably pick and choose which ones to keep out for space reasons (I feel you on this one, I really miss having an apartment where I could keep the whole collection out!).

[WGWTR180]

Uhhhhhhh, no.

[Matt K]

Those clauses in the contract often go unsatisfied; at least in my experience. I’ve drilled holes before and have yet to had a landlord actually charge me for it or not return my security deposit. I also was very selective about holes and left less than 10 per apartment and was somewhat inconspicuous about it.

That said, it was also not for trombone stands. I built something custom out of some wireframe shelving and some 3x2s that I still use to this day. It takes up less space than four mounted stands and has space I can use under it too. I would probably recommend going that route and the added benefit is you can take it with when when you inevitably move again !

[hyperbolica]

I have been using Command hooks to hold slides for years, but they are flat against the wall and low to the ground. Anything holding a heavier and more expensive instrument should be screwed into studs.

[Posaunus]

I suggest that you put your instruments back into their cases after playing (and cleaning - especially the slide) them. The cases take up much less space than trombones on stands. When you need to play another instrument, open its case, lube the slide, and start playing.

[Kdanielsen]

Terrible idea.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

No, no and after thinking about it more…….NO!

I have had little or no success with those Command Strips holding things much lighter and less precious than a trombone. I do not think this is a good idea.

[harrisonreed]

Command strips are strong but only if the wall you put them on is very clean, and the room is low humidity. If the humidity rises, your trombones will be broken all over the floor one day.

[elmsandr]

If you insist on hanging them on the wall, just put a hole in the wall and learn how to properly repair a hole without it looking terrible.

Cheers,
Andy

[ghmerrill]

If you insist on hanging them on the wall, just put a hole in the wall and learn how to properly repair a hole without it looking terrible.

Exactly. Also, in case you happen to be ignorant about this ... Just screwing something into a wall in a random location is (on the basis of construction and probability) likely to result in a disaster since any weight is likely to pull the screw out of the sheetrock that (almost certainly) has been used for the wall material. And THIS is likely why there's the general prohibition against putting holes in walls: not because a few tiny holes are a problem when repainting a rental apartment, but because a bunch of larger ripped holes and stripped sheetrock are a much bigger and expensive problem to fix.

Otherwise, that trombone hanger will solve several other problems for you that I won't mention here.

I'm sorry if this sounds trivial and condescending to you, but I've learned over much time and experience that people who rent apartments and have never owned and maintained homes often have no clue about even the most mundane considerations like this. You can do it. But you've got to know what to do. YouTube may be your friend.

[CharlieB]

An ex-landlord putting in two cents here.........
Putting any kind of adhesive strips on drywall is not recommended.
Despite manufacturers' claims to the contrary, there is high risk that removing the strips will either pull the paint off of the drywall, or rip off the top layer of paper. (Been there) Holes from nails or screws are are much easier to repair.
But, you have rented the apartment agreeing that you would not damage the walls with screws or tacks. You need to keep your word. With the landlord's permission, I would stand a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" thick plywood vertically against the wall and secure the top with two screws. Attach the trombone brackets. All the weight transfers directly to the floor, and the screws only need to prevent tipping. At removal time, there are only two tiny screw holes to fill.

[PhilTrombone]

How about buying yourself a freestanding shelving unit to keep your stuff out of the way?

Here's a bunch:
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Storage-O ... yc1vZcksr

As a bonus, you can take it with your when you move somewhere else.

[ghmerrill]

I would stand a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" thick plywood vertically against the wall and secure the top with two screws. Attach the trombone brackets. All the weight transfers directly to the floor, and the screws only need to prevent tipping. At removal time, there are only two tiny screw holes to fill.

Nice idea. It may actually make things easier as well, and provide a larger surface for hanging other things (mutes, rods, small shelves ...).

[Matt K]

Something else I’ve done is build a friction fit solution. If you can dedicate a closet or area with a smallish width, you can put two pieces of plywood or other flat wood and keep them from falling inward with a board across the length. Something like this:


| |
————————
| |

(This would be a “top down” view.). You can use as many screws as you want then, since you only be screwing to itself. You just have to make sure you have padding or a super slider or something attached to the side touching the wall so it doesn’t damage the all by rubbing against it.

I’ve used this for lockers before. I worked at a place that had a wenger locker system and I got a “tuba” locker and was able to fit a bass, two tenors, and an alto plus all the cases and a desk I made using this method!! I’ll have to see if I have a picture I can dig up

[Matt K]

Found it! It was a little different than I remembered. They were separated and the cases were stored elsewhere. But still not bad for a box the size of a tuba!!

[ghmerrill]

Something else I’ve done is build a friction fit solution.

I had to do something similar when my wife and I had our first child and (in our rented apartment) wanted to keep her cats out of the baby's room. So I friction fit a 1x2 frame to the existing door frame and hung a light screen door (which I made) on it. Problem solved. A lot of these kinds of problems can be solved by "going bigger" than you originally think, but ending up with a solution that is actually easier, more effective, and sometimes less expensive.

[harrisonreed]

Speaking of cats, in one of my homes I've had over the years, we had a front door with a horizontal handle that, when turned up or down from inside, would automatically unlock the lock. Cool feature for about ten minutes of home rentership, until our cat figured out that he could now exit the house whenever he wanted just by pulling the handle down.

I solved it by putting a wide command strip hook beneath the handle, on the door. You could still operate the door by turning the handle upwards, but the cat could not pull it down in the other direction any more. He even knew what we had done, because after trying to leave again and pawing at the hook, he came over to us, blew air out of his nose at us in frustration, and then ran around the house meowing.

Command hooks ftw.

[GACMoose]

Frist a couple of caveats:

- I have not read all of the comments and I am a former 3M employee (not in that division, though)

Now, my opinion: Command strips are an excellent product - I use them frequently for a huge variety of applications. However, to be effective for anything substantial, you must make sure they fit the application (as others have mentioned - look at the angles at which the weight (in your case the trombone) hangs from the wall. The mounting plate is flush against the wall, but the mass will want to continually pull away from the wall, not down it. The latter is the application for which Command adhesives are designed. Also, extremely important is the preparation and wall type. I have found that if you don't follow the preparation instructions, you may have disastrous results when get near the limits of the product. However, when used with proper prep on suitable wall surfaces the results can be more than satisfactory.

Proper prep (again, these aren't necessarily required to hang your basic pictures, etc.) includes thorough cleaning of the surface. This would likely include a final wipe with alcohol But also look at the wall surface In my experience, most rentals have cheap paint on the wall, often somewhat powdery. The command adhesive may stick extremely well - but to the powder, etc. not the actual wall. Also, with sheetrock, it could easily put off the paper surface (don't know what it's called). and leave your bone a mess and the wall with much more repair required than a couple nail holes!

[whitbey]

Different way maybe

My Trombone stand
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12fkoe- ... share_link

Made with dowels and plungers.