Dado rail - fixing suggestions

Dec 12, 2011 9 Replies

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larkim 14 years ago

(Ignoring the aesthetic of such rails...)

I need to fix a new dado to the hall and wall up the stairs. Wall is new plaster on 1905 brickwork, with wallpaper on top.

I understand the logic that would discount gripfill / no more nails on the basis that they would only be as strong as the wallpaper paste holding up the paper (albeit spread over a larger area etc etc), so some form of hard fixing is required, probably in addition to some adhesive.

My quandry is that, once presented to the wall, how to I match any holes in the dado into holes in the wall to put fixings through? Would I drill both in-situ, or do I have to do some very careful marking up. If drilling through, what is the neatest way to hide the holes created?

All help gratefully received!

Matt

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Reentrant 14 years ago

Masonry nails might work. Sink below the wood surface with a punch then hide the hole if neccesary with filler. Is the rail being painted or varnished?

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Paul D Smith 14 years ago

I've taken this route, although I also used no-more-nails (why did you wallpaper first???). A tip though, punch the nails in further than you expect as I found it difficult to then fill over the heads. You might also want to pre-drill to avoid splitting the dado rail.

Paul DS.

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John Rumm 14 years ago

2" obo masonry nails... punched in and fill over if painting. If varnishing, then part drill with 10mm lip'n'spur drill then through drill with 5mm bit. Mark the wall through the holes (Bosch multimaterial bits are good for going through the wood and into the plaster), then drill and plug. Finally put a 10mm wood plug into the hole (you can buy them pre cut, or make your own with a plug cutter in a drill press), and plane it off level.

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Jonathan 14 years ago

Drill holes through rail and then hold it to the wall and drill into the plaster surface to mark the holes. The use a masonry drill to fit plugs and screw through from the fron tof the rail. if you countersink the screws you can cover them with filler before painting.

Jonathan

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larkim 14 years ago

Wallpaper was pre-existing so not my choice...

Why nails and not screws?

Matt

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stuart noble 14 years ago

If the dado sits reasonably flat against the wall you may not need fixings with Gripfil. Possibly a couple of pins underneath to stop it sliding or parallel with the moulding to stop it lifting at the ends.

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John Rumm 14 years ago

Quick, easy, secure enough, no need to drill, align etc.

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Harry Bloomfield 14 years ago

It will look a bit of a mess when you do need to re-paper or paint it.

Gripfill is really all you need, onto the bare plaster surface, along with a few pins just to hold it into position whilst it sets.

Test it first, before applying the gripfill, just to see if any sections might need to be pulled into the wall. Then either mark and drill them or pre-arrange something to push those parts tight into the wall whilst it sets.

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TMC 14 years ago

Not a fan of the masonary nails my preference is for the method described by John for varnished wood

I normally use 5.5 hole through the rail with 8mm part depth for the wooden blanking plugs cut with a plug cutter

fixing is 5.5mm masonary drill, plug and 2"no 8 screw With this I can drill straight through the predrilled hole and tap the plug through with the rail in place

Regards

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