Screws not supporting brackets

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Mads911

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8 Mar 2021
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Durham
I am a very new DIY'er and recently starting an alcove cupboard in my bedroom. I drilled the holes and put the wood supports in and some brackets to hold shelves and a clothes rail. All was good until the next day when the clothes rail and brackets fell down. The drilled holes seemed to have become bigger and the weight of the clothes (which was not that heavy) loosened the plugs and screws resulting in the crash! The walls are the walls inbetween us and next door so are brick and stone. Any suggestions why this happened and how i can rectify it? I tried moving the shelving brackets along but the holes just became miles bigger than the drill bit i used then the plugs would not go in despite the hole being long enough. I was totally baffled and the air was blue! Help!!!
 
are the wall lathe and battern....plaster got horse hair in it .....?
OR
are they plater board walls...
both types have simiar problems with fixings.......
look on Screwfix etc for plater board or hollow wall fixings.....soon sorted.....
 
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Dont think the plaster has horse hair in it, its a 1940's build and as for lather and battern? Thats just forgeign to me:ROFLMAO: We went to but plugs got plaster boards but like i say, the plugs would not go in despite the drilled holes being deep enough. Ill have a look on screwfix but i gave up on the job which im gutted about
 
The holes shouldn't enlarge no matter what you're drilling unless you're hitting something very hard buried in something soft. What drill and bits are you using?
Im using a Triton SDS drill with masonary drill bits. The bit seems to vibrate when im using the drill which is resulting in the 6mm drill bit mving and the hole becoming larger. Ive wondered if the drill is faulty, ive just bought it so i might have to pop into screwfix and ask their advice
 
Did you use sds drill bits and not normal masonry drill bits?

The plug say a brown one should be completely in the wall and not partially in the wood.

Cheers James
 
How thick were the wooden supports you used & how long were the screws you fixed them with?
How thick were the wooden supports you used & how long were the screws you fixed them with?
4.8mm and the screws we tried varied in size. Like i say we even went and bought plasterboard plugs which would not go in despite the drilled hole being big enough
 
The raw plug should be knocked behind the plaster line well into the brick/stone prior to fitting the batten, if your batten was 25mm thick then you need at least a 75mm long screw but that will depend on the thickness of the plaster.
 
Did you use sds drill bits and not normal masonry drill bits?

The plug say a brown one should be completely in the wall and not partially in the wood.

Cheers James
Yeah we were trying to get the plugs into the wall before putting the wood up
 
Is your wall a brick wall with plaster directly on it like a thick layer rather than plasterboard with a gap then brickwork? Thats what i would expect on a 40s house. If its anything like my place the cupboards will be really thick layers because they just threw it on. If your plug is mainly bedded in the plaster the will make the hoke bigger.

If it is you will need plugs that are long enough to go all the way through the plaster and mainly be in the underlying brick work thats quite a long plug. Personally i find rawl plugs a bit useless for this type of wall and fischer plugs worked alot better and they are better at gripping.

The drill should vibrate thats how it gets through the masonry. If its thick plaster i set it to rotary only until i feel it dig into the brick then get the hammer action on. If I don't the hole can end up anywhere in a 50mm radius as i send plaster dust EVERYWHERE!
 
Thanks Joshvegas, thank you everybody for your help. I really want to get started but im reluctant now due to the hassle i had over the weekend
 
Yeah we were trying to get the plugs into the wall before putting the wood up
Sounds like your doing the right thing.

You just need to make sure the plugs go into solid masonry so perhaps longer plugs. I've used 100x8mm frame fixing which are cheap but quite solid fixings.

Cheers James
 
I really want to get started but im reluctant now due to the hassle i had over the weekend

This is how we learn pal. Keep at it!

Edit. This is the plastering i'm talking about. Notice no paper, hard smooth skim then a rougher base layer before you get to brick. Its a really gritty dust.

Note those holes have blow out which is what i suspect has happened to you the plug expands and weakens the plaster.
 
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Keep with it Mads, were all green when we started diy, its very easy to get flustered when you start something needing a completley new skillset. In your case familierising yourself with the function of the drill, the material your drilling into, not to mention the vast array of screws, plugs and other fixings available!

I ll be the first to admit there are plenty of jobs I feel out of my depth, thats where communities such as this are invaluable. :)
 
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