I made a HOLE in the plaster

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I don't know if anyone can help me with this unless someone in here lives just round the corner and is feeling charitable.

I just bought a roller blind from Dunelm Mill in the sale, but when I tried to put it up, I drilled holes for the brackets (the drill only went in so far - I think it hit brick), inserted the rawlplugs and then tried to screw the screws, I saw a spreading hole appear in the crumbly Victorian plaster.

The screws wouldn't hold and fell out, plaster fell off the walls, spoiling the decor, and now I just don't know what to do. ( I don't even have any of the original paint to cover up any repairs. :cry: )

I am a total ignoramus when it comes to anything like this, and I'm not young, so I'm feeling really depressed.

What should have been a five-minute job with a pleasant, satisfying outcome has snowballed into a horrible, fearful experience.

Can anyone help me at all?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/madasaballoon/DSC08540-1.jpg?t=1245256607
 
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If I lived in Kent, I'd be around like a shot. Your problems arose by not continuing to drill into the brick - plaster has no strength at all.

Cheapest solution will be to find an offcut of timber, cut it in half and screw these symmetrically to either side of the door (drill into the brickwork before putting the plugs in) to cover the damaged section and the same area on the other side. Then you can screw the brackets easily into these.
 
Thank you for at least your sympathy, which I much appreciate.

I'm afraid the picture isn't very clear; it's the window I am trying to put a blind up over.

If I pay your fare, will you come and fix it for me?
 
we know it's the window.. :rolleyes:

what he's saying is, put a piece of timber ( painted a nice white ) up to cover the holes you've made, and screw the brackets onto that..
 
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we know it's the window.. :rolleyes:

what he's saying is, put a piece of timber ( painted a nice white ) up to cover the holes you've made, and screw the brackets onto that..

Patience my friend, patience
 
More sympathy from me! I know how irritating and disappointing it can be when you set out to do a job like this and everything goes wrong. If it's any consolation it happens all the time; it's called "stuckness", which is what happens when an easy job gets thwarted by one tiny problem.

Best remedy is as advised above, to use a batten. Buy a pack of filler (around £1.00 in your local hardware store) and a spatula, make a wettish mix and after removing all the loose plaster fill the hole. You may need a couple of goes at it. Once it's dry, sand smooth. Cut your batten to the right length, check, then drill some holes and countersink them if you can. If you use half a dozen screws and plugs you'll have enough even if a couple go wrong. It might help to drill pilot holes first (fix one end of the batten, level, then push the pilot drill through the holes to mark the wall) before using the right drill for your wallplugs. The modern plastic plugs with a flared outer end are pretty good and tolerant of a bad hole.

Once your batten and blind are up you won't notice the plaster repair.
 
Im surprised at the advice being given is to fit a batten.
Has its already Fck & more holes for batten could result it ven more of a mess.
I would pack the whole with the 2part rawplug chemical tape filler thingy (cant remember what its called). The re drill plug & fit blind, then remove the blind & make good the mess.
Nothing worse than a batten, especially if its only done at the fixing points.
But if i were round the corner I would come & do for a beer or 2 :LOL:
 
Thanks guys (and gals?) for all your advice. Unfortunately I think I'm out of my depth and shall have to Pay A Man ... :cry: Apart from anything else I'm terrified of my drill; and now I've messed it up my confidence has vanished. I'm in Chatham, if anyone is seriously offering ...
 
We can talk you through this, it as not as difficult as you fear. However there are a few things you need to get right before you start.

If you have got an old brick in the garden, you can practice drilling holes, it is surprisingly easy when you know how.

what sort of electric drill have you got? Mains or rechargeable? Does it have a hammer action?

What sort of drill bits have you got? Bits for drilling wood have a spiral flute round them, and a sort of point on the end. However, masonry bits (for drilling brick) have a squarish insert on the end, made of a very hard material, usually Tungsten Carbide. If you have a look at the bits you are using, and a look at the ones in the DIY shed or hardware store, you will see the difference.

The reason youi need a special drill for masonry, is that it acts like a grindstone on ordinary steel, and grinds the cutting edge off.

photo of a Masonry bit (look at the tip)
p3482191_l.jpg


photo of a bit for drilling wood etc.
p4761470_l.jpg
 
with flaky walls, i usually fill the drilled hole with something like gripfill (liquid nails) then put the plug in, then wait for the gripfill to set.
 
yep, I strongly agree with that. If the wall is soft or crumbly, Drill a biggish hole, verify that the plug will easily go in, and it is long enough for the screw, blow or wash the dust out, squirt in nomorenails or similar (a cheap one will do) starting with the nozzle at the back of the hole, press in your plug, smooth off with a wet finger, leave to set, drive in your screw.

if the hole is already fairly tight, you don't have to wait for it to set, but I prefer to give it time anyway.

However I think that matahari's problem is that she did not have the correct drill, and did not drill deep enough into the brick.
 
I've had this problem before (well, sort of - very soft block walls, drill went straight through) - we filled the hole with a 2-part resin type stuff, and while wet, inserted the plug. It set incredibly strong, to say the substrate was thermalite! :eek:

Think all the OP needs to do is drill deeper with the right bit, and use my method above. Should do the trick.
 
OP has probably hit the lintel over the window preventing drilling with anything less than a sds drill.Get a handyman with an sds drill to sort it.
 
You really are amazing people in here! Thank you so much for all your advice. I think I have found another way; being on a low income I qualify to use a local charity called In Touch. They provide a Handyman for small jobs, for £15 (+materials) for up to three hours' work. I am waiting for them to ring me back to make an appointment. I hope it's not too good to be true! I will show him your comments, they are very practical and ingenious.

I think the problem was that I don't have a hammer drill, and I couldn't drill as deep as needed. I will have a go at filling the hole, which isn't very big, beforehand.
 
If you have a handy man coming, let him fill the hole, unless you want to practice for your next diy attempt. :LOL:
 

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