mounting on tiles

All, I want to mount a towel rail on my sloping tiled wall - that way the towels will fall away from the the slop and be bale to dry / air nicely. I intend to use B&Q chromed copper pipe (or brushed nickel) and appropriate end mounts. Anyway, how should I go about screwing into the tile, and what type of rawl plug should I be using ?? The tiles are fixed onto plasterboard (walls sound hollow when tapped). Should I use the same plasterboard plugs as I would for normal things, or does the tile being there make a difference ? Also, what's the best type of drill bit t drill through the combination ?

Reply to
Neil Catley
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You will need a very sharp pointed masonry dril, or a proper tile drill bit. Mark and measure where the brackets go, roughly, and on that area, put some masking tape or insulating tape, or even sellotape, and measure and mark on the tape where the holes have to be drilled. The tape should stop the drill bit slipping around to much off the marks and then slowly begin to drill the holes you need. Going to close to the edge of a tiles is asking for trouble, so try to keep the holes away from edges.

Ordinary rawlplugs of the correct size for the drill holes should be enough for the job, bit try to knock them in to just below the surface of the tile if possilbe. This way, when the screw begins to open out the plug, the surface of the tile will not be stressed and pop off around it.

Good luck with, and take your time. Go slowly and you'll be OK.

Reply to
BigWallop

I use a very small bit first, with hammer action, then go up top correct size with no hammer action. You need to use plastic plugs and screws with short plan sections as teh grip is all around the tile.

A gob of car body filler injected into teh hole before the plug helps in plasterboard situations - goves more grip to the plug.

You won't get a huge amunt of grip on a sloping surface. If you can near it, maybe epoxying a wooden plate over the tiles and screwing to that is better..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by 'grip' ?? Are you thinking that the rawlplug might slip out of the hole over time ? If so, how's about i put a little loktite on it before tapping it in place ?

Reply to
Neil Catley

Something like that, yes. I have ahd problems with both the plug pulling out, and th screw pulling out of teh plug, and indeed, tiles pulling off teh wall.

The ratinale is something like this.

IF teh tiles are laid not on a breeze block or brik or solid patser wll, but on a sloping pasterboard celing, then ultimately *unless you use wood up to the studs*, the best strenght achievable will be the plasterboard strength itself.

Having a tile glued to it spreads the load and stops the plasterboard tearing at the hole. Thats GOOD. Unless its badly glued.

Howver, there remaisn the problem of teh plug pulling out. Typically tehg plasterboard is TOTASLLY useless at retainging a plug. at best some of teh huge and ugly varieties of plasterboard fixing spread the shear load over a slightly wider area. So you are essentyially relying on teh til eitself to spread the load. The uissue then cbecomes top fix securely to a 3mm or os thick tile.

Needless to stay this is not what a 10mm rawlplug does best. ideally you want it to be a damn tiught fir to start with, and to ballon out to fill the hole and if possible swell markedly behind the hole. Ijn prtactice hwat happens is that the screw foes indeed swell the plug, and it splits into a Y after the hole

This is again a two edged sword. The splitting into teh Y makes it unlikley the plug will fall out, but completely removes any contact between the screw shank and the plug apart from teh bit inside the tile itself.

IF you use a screw with a plain shank near teh head, that means there is no screw thread at all imn the usaeble sectin of the plug. Those screws go round and round, never tighten and pull out easily.

The two cures suiggested - crews threaded up to teh head, and a gob of car body filler in teh hile before plug isnertion, cover the two p[roblems - the fully threaded screw qill =griip the plug at teh tile, and teh gob ovf body filler should stop teh plug expanding waty from teh screw behund the tile.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

How about using the rawlplug that are designed for plasterboard - the ones with the bits that stick out the side as the screw works through, holding the plug tight against the inside of the wall ? (screwfix part 58219) Still have the problem of the screw coming out the plug...

Reply to
Neil Catley

I found they usually need a bigger hole, and don't work that well.

To be honest, these days, if I want a solid job, I cut out a section of plasterboard, let in a noggin behind it, then stick the plasterboard back, skim and paint.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Treat it just like fitting to a plain plasterboard wall, as long as your fitting (rawlplug, whatever) is set in from the tile surface, and therefore grips the board rather than stressing the tile. If you are worried about the load pulling the fitting out, then try a more exotic fitting than a plain rawlplug. I've had good success with the metal fittings that open out 'wings' to grip the plasterboard from the back, holding up heavy items like cooker hoods etc.

Reply to
MarkM

Thanks for the advice. I doubt the load will be too high so I shoudl be OK with the standard plastic plasterboard plugs. Anyway, I'll give it a shot and see how I get one.

Reply to
Neil Catley

I was sceptical about tile bits, but I couldn't get a masonary bit to even bite into my bathroom tiles, so I bought one (lot of money from a shed, but quite cheap as a set from screwfix). Worked very well, and I had neat holes in my tiles in no time, using only my Bosch 7.2V cordless drill.

A definite case of "the right tool"

-- Colin Swan

Reply to
Colin Swan

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