Drilled hole TOO BIG for screw/rawlplug

[and1c]

sounds to me also like you have not hit the brickwork yet and are jsut in plaster.
Sometimes if your unlucky/your drills not much cop/or your mortar bits are not much good, you can hit brickwork and instead of penetrating it the drill joggles around and soft plaster gets enlarged to the point where a major tantrum is due


You need to tell us how deep your hole currently is?

Even if you gobbo up the hole and put a rawl plug in and let it set, if there is any weight it will probably bring a nice chunk of plaster off with the shelfs weight!

Drill deeper, bigger rawl plugs, bigger screws may be one option

 

[ckilpatrick]

have you tried fixing an MDF pad to the wal and screwing your brackets to that? You can spread the weight over a larger area for heavy stuff like a TV and you've got more chance of finding some solid wall. Drill small deep holes to start and work up to the size of your plug. You might need to use long fixings to get to the brick or knock the rawl plugs deep nto the wall to get a good fix.

 

[Hairy Steve]

This used to happen to me all the time.

The solution?

Don't drill the hole to the same depth as the rawplug is long. Drill it at least 1/2" deeper, or more if the plaster is thick.

You know when you hit brick when the sound of the drill changes.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

If the plaster/mortar/brick crumbles hoover off any really loose stuff and seal the damaged area with PVA, 2 coats if needed, when dry mix up some styrene based two part filler (P38 the car body filler is ideal) and fill the hole with this, don't hang about cos it goes off in about 10 mins, before it cures set your rawlplug in place.

 

[Pinnacle]

Had a similar problem when puttin gup my curtain rail after I had new windows fitted. The plaster work just kept crumbling and the brick behind it had been removed packed out with more plaster.

I bought some rad repair from Wickes, sets like metal in 3 minutes. Filled the area pushed the raw plug in. Hada cuppa and then tested. It's hard as .. well steel really.

Jobs a good'en.

 

[mattylad]

one tip is to always keep a box of cocktail sticks in your toolbox.

I have always found them handy for this, I can push them in around the rawlplug, snap them off, turn around & push the other end in.

 

[ToxixMess]

our house is 110 years old and when we moved in i decided to put up some simple shelves for DVDs n books,

Bugger Me... no matter how big or small i a mde a hole everything just crumbled away - got a shelf up evetually and this did not hold - the plaster just came a tumbling away.

Chatting away to Roy, out neighbour who been there for 10 years and he says he same problem... suggested that i get a decent electric drill and drill beyong the plaster into the brick and knock the raw plug way back into the brick and use long lengh screws.

Perfick !! all me shelves, cabinets etc etc are rock solid.

One Happy Girlfriend too.

 

[JohnD]

you could always

Drill hole ( which is then too big)
use a hoover to suck out the extra dust
squirt a bit of no more nails in the hole , and either
fill it flush , let it set overnight and redrill
or put in the rawlplug, let it set fo 30 mins and then carefully screw home

( obvioulsy this depends on the weight of the item) , personally i use the first option.

and again obviously, this is no good if you are only in the plaster

I have recently been using the method of cleaning out the hole and squirting in no-more-nails or similar (start with the nozzle deep in the hole to fill in deep) then push in the plasplug, if necessary tapping it in with a screw in the bore of the plug.

I have found this really good!

If the hole is very sloppy, don't drive the screw in until the stuff has set hard. If the plug is a fair fit and does not turn, you can screw it in straight away. It is of course essential to get the fixing well into the brick or block, plaster has no strength.

IMO this was a first-class tip and it has worked for me where I was trying to fix a batten for skirting into a crumbly mortar joint, but I have also been using it in other sloppy holes too.

Well done gaza2!

 

[masona]

Another way is Resin Fixings, unbelievable strong

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/25733/Fixings/Injection-Fixing/Injection-Resin-150ml#

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/A236072/Sealants-Adhesives/Resin-Fixings

http://www.everbuild.co.uk/products/23,Building Products/51,Chemical Anchors/1

 

[joenineo]

Perhaps a bit obtuse, but if a wall bracket ain't gonna cut it, can you not simply use a normal shelf stand?

(Save you the pain of wall mounting)

Joe