Rawl plugs / wall plugs - what's the secret?

[Peter Hucker]

Whenever I use these blasted things, whatever I've hung up ends up falling down, pulling with it half a tonne of plaster. TIPS PLEASE!

[ben]

There's no secret.

however you should use the correct drill bit for the size of each different Rawl plug and try not to wobble the drill whilst going into the wall, if the hole becomes larger than the rawl plug then fill it with polyfilla and push the Rawl plug in and wait for the PF to harden before screwing a screw in.

the hole size needs to so tight that you have to use small hammer to tap the Rawl plug home. :-)

HTH

[Henry]

If the wall material is crumbly and you end up with an oversize hole a trick that I use is to vacuum out the dust from the hole, fill the hole with a quantity of hot melt glue, and then push the plug into that. Let the glue set and bingo - a very strong fixing.

Henry

[Rob Morley]

down, pulling with it half a tonne of plaster. TIPS PLEASE!

If the plaster's dodgy you need to screw into the masonry behind it. If it's plaster and lath you need to screw into the framing.

[<Barbara]

"ben" wrote

I understand that different coloured Rawlplugs are used with different screw sizes and different drill sizes, but I&#39;ve never found - even with a Google search - a table showing the relationships. Does anybody have one, please?

Barbara

[Gel]

Listed here

[john]

Amazing how many people wobble the drill!

[Ian White]

That sounds very dodgy, because HMG is soft and will creep under mechanical load. It might not happen if the screws are pulled up tight, so that friction prevents the bracket from sliding down the wall, but still...

Coming back to the OP&#39;s problem, the main possibilities seem to be:

1. You may be habitually using fixings that are too small or short for the load. Remember that the plug needs to go some way into brick or hard blockwork, and the screw needs to go far enough in to expand the plug and force it to grip. The plaster is no help at all - think of it as unwanted &#39;packing&#39;, that the screw and plug have to reach through before they can do their job.

1. There may be something drastically wrong with your drilling technique, eg you&#39;re letting the drill move around so that the holes are always conical. Alternatively, your hammer drill may be under-powered, which always tempts you towards problem 1.

2. Maybe you&#39;re habitually using a drill bit that is too large for the plug. As already pointed out, the plug should be a tight enough fit to need a light tap with the hammer to get it in. Then the screw expands the plug and makes it grip.

1. You&#39;re using those undersized, highly tapered plugs that come with things you&#39;ve bought. Don&#39;t - they&#39;re invariably useless!

If it&#39;s either of the last two, get your own red and brown plugs, and a set of the right-sized masonry bits. This information is moulded on the plastic tabs to which the plugs are attached. Note that each size of plug can need more than one size of bit, depending on the diameter of the screw.

[ben]

[snip]

I assume you mean studding? not very satisfactory if he&#39;s hanging something in the middle of a wall and there is studding either side of the center.

[Dave Liquorice]

The ones I have have the screw and drill sizes moulded into the plastic strip that you break an individual plug from... Indeed the hole(s) are a drill size guide as well.

[Dave Liquorice]

DON&#39;T SHOUT!

Make sure that a significant length of the plug is in the substrate not the plaster. Plaster does not have any strength. The plugs and screws generally supplied with stuff are not long enough. With 1/2" of plaster you need at least 1 1/4" screws/plugs.

[Rob Morley]

Same difference. Kinda.

What do you suggest?

[ben]

Smallest butterfly bolts he can find.

[David Lang]

Depends if your walls are plasterboard or solid brick/block. Solid brick/block you need rawlplugs and drill bit of the right size - roughly yellow for small loads 5mm drill, red for medium 6mm drill, brown for heavy

7mm drill. As mentioned, you should need to tap the plug in with a hammer - if not it ain&#39;t gonna hold!

Plasterboard needs a specific fixing - check you local DIY store. Wickes have multi purpose brick/plasterboard plugs - but I&#39;ve never tried them.

Dave

[Henry]

No actually it&#39;s not.

HTH

Henry

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They&#39;re marked on the &#39;frame&#39; the plugs come attached to. You use the correct sized drill for each colour of plug, and then each plug accepts a range of screw sizes.

[bigcat]

down, pulling with it half a tonne of plaster. TIPS PLEASE!

fixings that come with things are almost always far too small.

dno

NT

[P.R.Brady]

I always find Plasplugs good, everything else is a disaster.

Phil

[Keith Willcocks]

Agreed, they always seem to work where others have failed. The only other thing I used to like was Philplug. You drilled the hole, put a chunk of this white fluffy stuff in the palm of your hand, wetted it (uncouth types like me spat on it), mixed and rolled it into a cigar shape then stuffed it into the hole using the tool provided which also had a point at the other end to make a pilot hole. Followed up with the screw and it always held beautifully. I haven't seen it for years, I believe there was some asbestos in the mix which got it banned, although I would have thought that some other ingredient could have been found.

[john]

I think that the old fashioned wood screws were better as they were more tapered than the new super efficient ones. The new ones tend to cut a thread into the plug - the old screws used to force the plug apart to make it tighter.

Any observations on this theory?