Fixing Celotex to walls

[MrCheerful]

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If you have a chuck that you tighten onto the drill, then you do not have an sds drill. SDS drills and bits are a godsend to any serious diy or building work, they have a special chuck that holds the drill bit with two sliding pieces on the sides, a hammer goes in and out to physically smash the floating drill bit into the wall. There is never a problem with retightening drill bits, there is only a few moments of actually drilling, the drills never get blunt or wear out (in practical terms)

Screwfix have a very nice offer on an erbaur sds drill at the moment:

86109 £79.99 you will need the appropriate bits too.

You will never regret buying an sds drill, I am certain.

MrCheerful

[Stephen Gilkes]

Thanks for all the info.

It seems that the bricks used to build the shed are (according to a friend) cheap bricks that are absolute nightmare to drill into. They're much more hard than usual housebricks. Hopefully an SDS drill will do the business.

So I cant just fix into the pug joints?

[PoP]

Unless for his first job he offers it up to a wall made of soft materials in order to drill a little hole for a rawlplug. Then two seconds later he's got a new doorway to walk through ;)

PoP

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[Stephen Gilkes]

Would this SDS drill be OK? - Its £93.98 from B&Q

Bosch PBH 240 RE Rotary Hammer and Chiselling Machine Power Input: 600W Chuck size: SDS 13mm (1/2") Keyless No Load Speed: 0-800rpm Drilling capacity: in concrete 22mm, in masonry 50mm with a core Electro pneumatic hammer produces a massive 2.2 Joule impact force For drilling in concrete & chiselling in masonry Up to 4600 powerful hammer blows per minute Bosch Electronic Speed Control: Variable speed pre-selection & smooth acceleration form 0 to max Forward & reverse action Carrying case, SDS chuck, SDS chisel & 1 x 5, 6 & 8mm SDS drill bits

[MrCheerful]

That would be fine.

[Christian McArdle]

Definitely. However, if you aren't expecting to do much work with it, I have the (now) 29.99 NuTool. It isn't particularly known for reliability, but mine still works without any problems at all. It even comes with a load of cheap bits and chisels and has easily given me enough value to justify the price even if it explodes tomorrow.

BTW, when drilling rawlplug holes with it, I find it best to drill the first

0.5cm - 1cm without hammer.

Christian.

[Stephen Gilkes]

I am loathe to spend any more money than I have to.

Do I really need to avoid fixing the battens to the mortar?

[Christian McArdle]

It's up to you. I've never had much success with fixing to mortar. I would be cautious in attaching anything heavy to it. Perhaps a friend has an SDS drill you can borrow?

Christian.

[PoP]

One important statistic not shown in that list is the weight of the SDS drill. Most of the cheap ones are about 5Kg in weight - okay for short jobs but you'd soon know about it if you had to hold it up all day long. I've got one of these - it's quite acceptable because my drilling tends to be either low down, or at a higher level just the occasional use.

For the average DIYer I would expect the heavier drill to be perfectly okay. But for professionals it most likely wouldn't be.

I understand the more expensive ones are in the region of 2Kg.

PoP

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[Stephen Gilkes]

Hi Christian

I just went out and did test on the mortar. Its pretty sandy and crumbly so I'm going the SDS way.

Stephen

[T i m]

As suggested I'd go with a cheap SDS and drill where it's suitable rather than trying to pick up the joints.

Plugging into the mortar will be ok as long as it's good and sound.

You could also use Gripfill (green tube) to 'glue' the battens to the wall? I think the stuff is brilliant and for me the test for how well something is likely to stick is how easy it is to clean off yer fingers / tools! They also do a white version that's a bit more like 'No more nails'. It's not as 'sticky' but is low (no) odour and surplus can be wiped off with a damp rag. I wouldn't use it for this job though.

Forget 'no more nails' .. should have been called 'you still need to use nails' !

Cut the batten to length and cut some spare lengths of batten to reach across the shed to (gently) wedge the batten against the wall whilst it's gluing.

Run a bead of Gripfill up the batten and put into place (you have time for adjustment but it's neater to be pretty close first go). Press the batten against the wall to spread the Gripfill and then pop in yer 'props'. 20 mins later you can remove the props to use them for the next batch.

Stealth batten fixing . ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

[T] Ah, that makes more sense as if my eaves are 8' 6" ( ~ 2.5m) already without the roof pitch?

I thought I remember something about flat roofs having a lower limit than pitched?

All the best ..

T i m

[Stephen Gilkes]

I went ahead and bought the Bosch SDS drill. It was reduced to £49.99 in B&Q.

Absolutely brilliant. Goes through the brick really easily.

Thank you

[PoP]

Welcome to the world of very happy SDS drill owners!

PoP

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apologise for the additional effort, however the level of unsolicited email I receive makes it impossible to advertise my real email address!

[IMM]

Dig a trench around the garage and insert foam insulation against the garage walls and then back fill. This will prevent the cold earth acting as a large heat sink extracting heat from the garage walls and floor. This is also a very good idea with the main house too.

[IMM]

Rigid foam insulation could have been between the floor and the wood framing. Rawlbolts can go through the foam and into the wood. A nut and washer on a rawlbolt thread either side of the framing sole plate will support the timber.

[IMM]

It is possible to have foam insulation directly against the walls and plaster directly over. This type of foam was shown in the Grand Designs prog on the house with the V roof.

[Andy Hall]

That would take a hell of a lot of those cans though, wouldn't it?

The heat would still travel downwards though. Plus I'd have to dig up the drive, and that would not be cost effective.

Exposing the foundations and putting foam round them..... Hmm.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[IMM]

In winter the frost line is about 2 for deep. The foundation walls will be deeper than that. The earth directly beneath the garage will be warmer than earth at the surface.

Common in the USA.

In Sweden and the USA what is becoming common, is to have an "umbrella" of foam insulation around the house, starting just below the surface at the walls and slanting away from the house up to 30 foot away. Rain runs off this and away from the house protecting the foundations, and the earth under the umbrella will be cool in summer and warm in winter. If you have a basement the benefits are even greater. All you need is to rent a Bobcat.