9mm -mutter, grumble....

[The Medway Handyman]

Fixed a Wickes rad to a wall for a customer yesterday.

Rule One of fixing things to walls - throw away screws & fixings supplied & use your own.

But these looked a bit good. Huge meaty plugs & coach screws.

I broke Rule One & tried to use them.

No size marked on plug as usual. Read instructions; "Using a 9mm masonry bit, drill holes for the plugs".

9mm???

Check extensive stock of drill bits. 8mm & 10mm - no 9mm. Check in Wickes book. No 9mm. Check in SF, TS, ITS catalogues - no 9mm.

Tried 8mm, plug wouldn't go in, tried 10mm, plug spun.

Applied Rule One & binned the bloody things.

Why would anyone make a plug that doesn't use a standard size hole?

[charles]

There's a 9mm in my collection -no idea how long I've had it, perhaps it was to fit radiators ;-)

plenty on google.

[Tim Watts]

Have a look at the various Fischer offerings. I've found their plugs extremely good (better than stock stuff like Unos), particulrly for difficult substrates.

$MART-HK-$MKAT-HK-$MPG-G1-$MZG-F1&ekat=$EKAT-HK-ENSX are very good for "cheeseblock" heavy loads as they bite along their whole length and you can get extra long ones (also good for heavy loads into brick with known thick plaster)

$MART-HK-$MKAT-HK-$MPG-G1-$MZG-F451&ekat=$EKAT-HK-ENUX Plug

For hollow block/bricks with holes (not used these as I don't have the evil substrates mentioned)

$MART-HK-$MKAT-HK-$MPG-G1-$MZG-F4&ekat=$EKAT-HK-EN#hyperlinktecdataheadS Plug - more of a basic fixing for dense block/brick - but I find their performance beats Unos for higher loads like curtain rails and shelves.

Cheers

Tim

[Bill]

In message , " [e-mail]" writes

My thoughts when I saw the subject line, may cause a bit of blowout on the other side of the wall in modern houses though.

[NT]

Drill 10mm, put a bit of packing in, tap plugs in.

NT

[Howard Neil]

To sell some unusual sized drill bits that they happen to have?

[Unbeliever]

Or revert to the well tested and tried plan B: Drill the 10mm hole, cut a square piece of wood slightly bigger than depth and diameter of hole, cut a small lead-in taper on the end, bang timber plug into wall, cut off to length with a chisel and then insert screw (pre-drilling hole in plugs as necessary).

Far too old-fashioned for TMH to use - or maybe even a too difficult a solution for him to think of!

And for the purists here who may 'bang on' about sticking a screw in to end grain - remember the method was around for many years before rawlplugs etc were invented.

[tinnews]

Why would anyone use such a *huge* plug for fixing a radiator to the wall?

5mm would be the biggest I'd consider for such a thing.

I.e. red plastic plugs in 5/5.5mm hole and 5x50 screws.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Drill 9mm, let drill wander about a bit..

[ARWadsworth]

AKA "The oval bit".

[stuart noble]

Sounds like a lot of needless pissing about to me

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It might be a standard size in other countries. The US, for example, still uses imperial sizes.

[NT]

It works but is slow. Also you need to add another step: after the screw is in, remove it, pack the hole with more wood, then you get a good solid fix.

NT

[NT]

I find that tends to take too long, as 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th wanderings are never right.

NT

[NT]

No... that would seem to suggest they know what theyre doing

NT

[Andy Champ]

While I have used such a solution in the past (usually with a bradawl not a drill into the wood), as an amateur my time is not money. Chucking the plugs out and using a more standard size is probably the best bet.

Andy

[dennis]

It used to be quite common. I even used old pencils as plugs. I have seen wooden wedges used for frame fixings for doors and windows too.

[Roger Mills]

I've got a set of universal drill bits which are supposed to drill anything - from cheese to tungsten - including masonry. I'm pretty sure there's a 9mm bit in the set (but I'm not going out to the garage now to check!). I'd drill an 8mm hole with a normal masonry (or more likely, SDS if in hard brick) bit, and then open it out with a universal bit.

Don't you find, anyway, that the same plugs require a variety of hole sizes, depending on the hardness and crumbliness of the material you're drilling?

[Unbeliever]

No worse than "pissing about" with bits of packing, stuffing the hole with god knows what in the way of filler etc, etc, etc. AND .Far cheaper than spending all that cash on fuel for the van to go hunting for couple of plugs - and of course, the other advantages are that there is always a bit of scrap wood in the van, and you can make the thing to fit the hole if a 'soft spot' is hit or you are working on a No-Fine [1] constructed property where you will never get a 'standard purchased' rawlplug to fit (nor even rawl anchors and suchlike). Try replacing a door frame in one and the original built-in anchors/brackets have rusted away.

Just how do you think they fitted door and window frames, handrails, wallplates et al before someone invented the 'patent plug'? Bloody hell, they even used lead as plugs on some fittings!

[1] For your information, this is a property built from the early 1950s on - with the single-skin walls constructed only of cement and 3/4 inch gravel (NO sand in the mix. The method was developed by McAlpines or Wimpeys IIRC [but I stand to be corrected]).

Ah well.

[charles]

you aren't considering the weight of the beast when filled with water.