How do I use injection resin to stabilise stairgate in crumbly wall

[jgkgolf]

I put up a stairgate at the top of our stairs but the rawl plugs keep getting loose and then the stairgate comes out of its fixings. I've tried those wetfix things to no avail and am planning to try using injection resin, ie

having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use it. I assume I use the applicator with a sealant gun to fill the existing hole. Do I then just stick a rawl plug immediately into the wet resin and leave to cure or do I leave to cure and then drill a new hole?

[The Medway Handyman]

Despite having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use

Not sure its a job for resin, Chances are the fixings aren't right. What type of wall are you fixing to?

[jgkgolf]

It's just bricks and mortar but it's an Edwardian house 1903 ish so it's fairly ancient bricks and mortar!

[Malcolm Race]

Despite having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use

Resin fixings are meant to have a piece of appropriate size stud (about

2mm les than the size of the hole) pushed into the resin filled hole. Gate is then fixed to the stud with a washer & nut. (Awning fixed to wall using this method).

Malcolm

[jgkgolf]

hmmm!

I guess the other option is to fix a baton to the wall using longer screws etc and attach the gate to the baton. I'm limited in the screwsize i can use at the moment as the slot in the stairgate for the screw head is relatively small. What size screws would you advise using this method? (assuming you think this approach would work!).

[Tanner-hop]

Despite having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use

Just a thought,

Are you using either:

1 Too big a drill for the rawl plugs?

2 Too small a screw for the plugs?

3 Drilling into the joints rather than the brick?

4 Is the gate hingebound? I.E. is the hanging side of the gate touching either the skirting or wall (or other point) before fully opening or closing? This 'levering' the screw and plug out of the wall over a period of time?

I have never tried the product in question, but if none of the above apply and the problem is down to crumbling brickwork - then give it a try.

I would suggest that you leave the stuff to dry for the recommended time (or at least 24 hours) and the drill and plug the wall - remembering to use the correct size drill, plugs and screws for the job.

Tanner-hop

[John Stumbles]

If your fixings are actually trying to get a grip in the mortar and it's crumbly then you're on a hiding to nothing. You might get away with opening up the hole and digging away the mortar a bit either side of the hole and filling with something like one-coat plaster or thickly mixed tetrion, leaving to set and drilling and plugging into that.

[Andy Hall]

You could take that approach.

The important thing for resin fixings would be for them to go into brick and not ancient mortar. The holes must be cleaned well and then you use threaded studs into the resin, not screws.

Fitting a batten that way and then screwing the gate to that would be reasonable. Use the size and length recommended by the manufacturer of the gate

[The Medway Handyman]

I reckon you need to achieve a much deeper fixing - 75mm screws at least. Drill out the holes in the gate if you need to.

[Jim Alexander]

Well, if the screw hole is too small for a screw into a baton its unlikely you have used a long enough screw into a wall plug which is still your main problem anyway in fixing the baton. Possibly you have fixed mostly into plaster. If the brick is poor you need a rimless nylon plug set below the plaster (about 18mm probably) and not near the edge of the brick, then a screw which will finish about the length of the plug. Trouble is you can't see the brick and the joints can be wide so its hit and miss and being constrained by the holes in the stairgate is unlikely to work hence the need for a baton. So you now need screws the length the wall plug +18mm + the baton thickness. In my opinion forget the resin and other hard expanding fixings. Gate to baton just needs to be baton thickness, No8 will probably suffice but use the size recommended.

What size screws would you advise

[Cicero]

================================== An alternative method is to cut pieces of wood about 4" square and just thicker than a mortar joint. Hammer two or three of these into raked out mortar joints and then screw your stairgate direct to these.

Cic.

[John]

> Despite having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use

If it really is getting a problem you could consider changing the stairgate to one that has pads that open out to trap it into a gap between two walls - no fixing required. My daughter used one for about 5 years and it had the advantage that if her son stayed with us she could bring it to our house.

[James Salisbury]

Despite having read a few old posts I'm not sure exactly how to use

Hi, Can you use an expanding stair gate? You can get some that are designed to fit like a plug in the gap and have threaded arms.

[Stuart Noble]

Sounds like a classic case of "the hole has to be right here, but not this big". Time for the car body filler. Fill whatever cavity you have and drill a new hole 10 minutes later