I don't know if I'm tackling the job in completely the wrong way but I've always found screwing a batten accurately to a wall (e.g. for a shelf support) very tedious. It seems to me that the best way to get it positioned correctly is to drill through pre-drilled holes in the batten. But many of these universal plastic wall plugs need a much bigger hole than is required to clear the screw. So I end up drilling pilot holes in the wall and then opening them out to fit the plug. I usually fix one end loosely, level it up, and then drill another hole. I seem to spend a lot of time changing drill bits and fixing and removing the batten. Where am I going wrong? TIA Nick.
Drill hole (of same diameter) though batten and in the wall.
Insert fixing ('screw' and plug together).
Hit with hammer till home.
Notes.
You can just drill though the batten into the wall in one go - a masonry drill, esp. in an SDS will go though the batten with brute force, but I often drill the timber first, then put the masonry drill though the hole.
Depending on fixing/timber the countersunk bit may counter sink to vary degrees, if it matters I countersink the hole first.
Ignore the screwhead, this is for removing the fixing if necessary.
Don't know you are going wrong as such... you may not be doing things in the most efficient order.
Personally I would drill the batten, level it up, mark through the holes (pencil, nail, handy pointy object, unloved screwdriver), remove batten and drill all the holes and fit plugs in one hit.
If you are desperate for a quick fix, then SDS straight through wood and wall with 7mm bit, screw the screw partially into brown plug then use the screw to drive the plug through the batten and into the wall. Once at about right depth switch to screwdriver. Can be handy when adding a fixing point to an already fixed batten.
First put a hole through your batten and then mark the first hole through this onto the wall. Dill hole (for most things unless very light or heavy, use a 6mm sds bit and red plug). Insert plug in hole, screw batten through this one hole nice and tight. You can either do this in the middle of the batten or at one end. I usually put it in at the end but it's up to you. The batten is now held onto the wall (albeit rather tenuously) and you can now level it up. Once it's level, draw a pencil line along the top (or bottom if you're working from below) of it. This is so when you're drilling your other holes, you'll know the batten hasn't moved. Drill through the batten and into the wall (sds will have no problem with this). When you have your second hole drilled, put the plug into the wood and tap it in until it's level with the face of the wood, then put the screw into the plug and tap this until you feel a refusal. This is pushing the plug further into the hold and, to a degree, the screw into the plug too. Tighten up screw. You should still be able to make slight adjustments to level or plumb even at this stage but as you put more screws in using this method, the batten will be exactly where you want it and tight as a ducks. One batten, five minutes :)
p.s. use decent woodscrews such as turbogold. You'll save yourself so much time you won't know what to do with it all, and use a dril driver too.
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