Can I safely hang a towel bar on this door?

Submitted by ocwings t3_1247o8a in DIY

Bathroom with zero wall space, in dire need of a towel bar.

I bought this towel bar, and discovered that anchors are longer than the thickness of the door, and the screws are just shorter. This kicked off some research for me, which yielded the possibility of using "hollow door anchors" which appear to just be shorter versions of what came with the towel bar. I also came across several comments of people saying that mounting a towel bar on a door will result in needing to buy a new door in the not-so-distant future.

I am not sure how much of my door is hollow core. The center is a pane of translucent plastic-like material. I've attached photos showing the door, approximately where I was planning to hang the towel bar, and the inside of one edge where the latch is mounted. <pictures removed for privacy>

Any idea what I'm dealing with here and whether it's safe to mount this bar? If so, what sort of screws/anchors should I be looking for? Let me know if there's anything non-destructive I can do to gather more info about the structure of the door.

EDIT: successfully mounted the bar, thanks for the help

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Comments

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ItamiOzanare t1_jdy8bk5 wrote

The whole edges are probably solid.

Hollow-core doors have solid edges that are about the same size.

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Pulaski540 t1_jdyvix4 wrote

Most cheap-ass hollow doors have a lot less structural timber than that door - 1½" max top and bottom, about the same on each side, and a block where the handle goes. ... Try picking one up - they're shockingly light.

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Past_Bumblebee_856 t1_jdzih7f wrote

I wouldn’t.. just get an over the door top hanger if you must put it in that spot. I wouldn’t attempt to mount anything on a hollow door.

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LeatherDonkey140 t1_jdydflj wrote

Door is not hollow, the stiles and rails will be mid, just use 1” drywall screws….what is going on with the door latch?

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tastygluecakes t1_jdy59my wrote

Is the door hollow? I would be surprised with a glass panel in the middle of the sides aren’t solid wood. That would be really shitty, tbh, haha.

Assuming they are hardwood, then yes you can hang it. There is more than enough strength in there with the proper screws to hold two towels.

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ocwings OP t1_jdy5jpd wrote

Is there some way I can test if the door is hollow without drilling a hole into it? We moved in recently so I don't have any context info about the door.

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tastygluecakes t1_jdy6qr7 wrote

I mean…knock on it. Does it feel and sound like a solid piece of wood? Or does it feel like a veneer over foam?

I can almost guarantee it’s solid wood. Even hollow core doors have a solid frame. It’s need to have structural integrity. And glass is heavy.

The exception would be if your door is hollow/foam core and METAL. Again, that will be obvious from sound and feel.

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allangee t1_jdy732i wrote

Drill a hole from the top edge down -- no one will ever see it. Drill down the same distance the screws will be from the edge, since they likely used the same dimensions all around. And if it's solid wood, don't bother with the anchors... they won't work.

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New_Engine_7237 t1_jdyf5wy wrote

Tap a small finishing nail at the bottom of the vertical side rails but above the horizontal section, you will tell right away if it hollow or not. The 2 small holes will be low and out of sight until you can fill with wood putty. You can always use the college dorm trick and fill the holes with white toothpaste.

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ynoT313 t1_jdykhze wrote

Perfectly fine as long as you kids arent doing pull ups on it

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appendixgallop t1_jdyq07z wrote

I solved the issue with a small heated towel rack/stand.

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