Mounting a power strip on the wall: from Sikaflex to cable-tie anchors

Mounting a power strip on the wall without ripping off the paint

The power strip came without screws. That's the starting point, and also the summary of a household problem that repeats in every home: the manufacturer saves four anchors and the buyer is left with a device wobbling on the table. The quickest solution that comes to mind is gluing it. The most durable one is screwing it. And in between, an assortment of remedies ranging from mounting adhesive to plumber's cable ties.

Mounting adhesive: from Sikaflex to silicone

Polyurethane adhesive like Sikaflex F11 comes across as the most powerful option. An orange and red metal tube which, as the story goes, takes a while to dry but once it does, "you'll tear down the wall before you get the power strip off." The problem is the price: almost 6 euros per tube, and it dries out in the tube over time. In a money-saving forum, spending on glue what the power strip costs is heresy.

Ordinary clear silicone works on non-porous surfaces and keeps better between uses. No-more-nails type mounting adhesive, on the other hand, doesn't grip well on smooth surfaces, and double-sided tape has defenders and detractors: some claim it withstands brutal cable yanks, others warn that unplugging can take the whole power strip with it.

Screwing without opening the power strip: anchors, cable ties and brackets

The second block of solutions involves the drill. The power strip comes with triangular screws, so opening it up to screw the base to the wall is no trivial matter. The alternative is to drill a vertical hole in the plastic, in an area free of components, and fix it with a wall plug and screw. Or use cable-tie anchors: four holes in the wall, two long white cable ties wrapped around the body of the power strip and job done. You can fill the holes in if you change your mind one day.

Some suggest screwing an L-shaped aluminium bracket to the wall, two parallel profiles, or even a piece of wood the size of the power strip. The power strip is glued or screwed to that base and the wall only suffers four holes. The two-bracket system, one at the top and one at the bottom, holds the power strip without opening it or gluing it.

The problem of rough walls and paint

Double-sided tape requires a clean, smooth surface. If the wall has textured paint or roughness, the adhesive doesn't set and the whole thing falls off with the first tug. What's more, peeling it off leaves glue residue that's hard to remove and pulls off paint. Holes, on the other hand, can be hidden with filler and a touch of paint.

The hot glue gun is ruled out for this use: it's for holding things while another adhesive dries, not for bearing weight. And 19-inch rack power strips or hardware-store ones designed for screwing are cited as the definitive solution if you're buying from scratch.

Conclusion: four holes and move on

With all this, the most likely outcome is that the power strip ends up screwed or held with cable ties. Glue works if the wall is smooth and you never plan to remove it. If there's textured paint, things get complicated. And if the tube of Sikaflex costs as much as the device, the economical decision is clear.