My nightmare with wall plugs

[zetland76]

My daughters house was probably built pre-war. The plaster on the walls is like chalk and the bricks underneath are like steel. Drilling a hole for a fixing is a nightmare. You get a neat hole in the plaster, the drill hits the brick and wanders all over the wall.
And if you do get a decent hole, put in a plug, the plaster crumbles when you tighten the screw, leaving only a couple of cms of brick to hold onto (which it doesn't).
How do I drill a good hole and do I need to use a plug that's about a foot long?

Thanks

Mike

 

[Alastairreid]

first of all a decent hammer drill and high speed masonry drill bit.

if the brick is hard use a smaller bit to pilot the hole moving onto the correct size of bit for the plug.

drill the plug right into the brickwork and use a longer screw to accomodate the fixing.

 

[noseall]

The entire plug needs to be submerged into the brick. The depth of the plug within the brick will depend upon which length of screw you use.

Generally the screw needs to occupy at least three quarters of the plug length and do not try and go beyond the full length of the plug.

If you think that the plug needs to be visible or flush with the plaster then you are thinking wrong.

 

[noseall]

p.s. If you are not using an s.d.s. drill then WHY NOT!