removing v. large wall plugs

Janet Tweedy · 2012-01-05T18:05:51+00:00

My husband had a wheelchair stair lift which had a very heavy large bar bolted at intervals to the wall. The wall plugs were very large and consisted of a very thick plastic outer edge and solid metal (what looks like brass) inner.When he died, the platform stair lift was taken out but it has left about 15 of these very large rawplugs where the bolts went into the wall. They are proud of the surface and to date several people have decided that they don't know how to get them out of the wall so i can redecorate. At least not without chopping VERY large holes around them and digging them out but they are VERY deep and they are 3 centimetres wide.Anyone know of a way of removing them please?Janet

Jan 05, 2012 32 Replies

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fred 14 years ago

In article , Janet Tweedy writes

Having looked at your pics and having done this many times before, the solution is (as a few have said) to drill the top part of the plastic off, leaving the remainder below the surface and then fill over.

As you can see from this example, the drills are available cheaply:

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have a reduced shank to fit a conventional 1/2" chuck drill.

Btw, that company has free delivery on orders over £10 so buy some filler and a filler knife and you will be there.

If you don't have a suitable drill then hire one, it won't be a difficult job but the bit may grab a bit as it cuts so not one for those with fragile wrists.

If a builder (or handyman) couldn't do this in 2 mins then find another ;-). They may not have a bit that large though so it wouldn't do any harm to get one in and save their markup on it.

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Terry Fields 14 years ago

Consider using or buying one of these Bosch saws for the job:

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appears that it could saw flush to the wall; if anyone on here has used one, they might care to comment.

Terry Fields

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Ian Jackson 14 years ago

Instead of a 'blowlamp' (= hot air gun?), maybe the tip of a hot soldering iron applied to the brass insert?

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funkyoldcortina 14 years ago

"Angle grinder" means use a tool called an "angle grinder", not "angle your grinder"...

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Janet Tweedy 14 years ago

In article , ss writes

Several kind souls already have and gone away defeated :) including a builder and an engineer :)

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Janet Tweedy 14 years ago

In article , fred writes

Handyman and builder were friends so they weren't actually out to make money but just trying to help, in fact I had a team of experts at one time staring at the things :)

Not got fragile wrists, so may have a go. Thanks

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MuddyMike 14 years ago

I envisioned a bit of wall being ground/chiselled away as well as the end of the plug leaving a dimple to fill, thus giving a bit of depth for the filler.

You taking a break from gardening Janet?

Mike

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Owain 14 years ago

Run a decorative moulding up the wall (presumably it's parallel to the stair/handrail slope) the length of the staircase covering the wallplugs. The back of the moulding can be recessed if you can't get the plugs quite flush.

Pop some LED lights into it if you want to make it a Feature.

Owain

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Andrew Gabriel 14 years ago

Yes - you have to hammer the brass insert to the back of the hole, which will then allow the plastic to be extracted, as I said.

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NT 14 years ago

Perfect job for an angle grinder, just cut through them so the remains are below the surface, and fill.

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stuart noble 14 years ago

Too messy. If you so much as touch the wall you will have plaster dust in every room in the house

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NT 14 years ago

not my experience

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Andrew Mawson 14 years ago

Can they not just be sunk flush (or below) by thumping them with a lump hammer and suitably sized round drift?

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