Drilling and securing a fixing / screw very close to other holes in Brick

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Hi all,

Today, I had a go at being a little practical / hands on myself and put up some Ben Simpson floating shelves... I had my Dad help me but I did make a fundamental error with the second shelf... I got the measurement 2cm out and ended up with 2 shelves that were not aligned with each other. A schoolboy error but I'm sure it happens more than most will admit. In future I'd actually make a template first to avoid the scope for my ineptitude hampering my own progress

Anyway... to correct this my father said just drill the holes you want 2cm to the right... Now these are 10mm holes with plugs that hold the floating screws; my thoughts were that this is very close to the original hole so opted to drill 5cm higher and 2cm to the right to afford a "reasonable" gap.

My question is, although of course there is no exact science, but how close can you go to an existing hole / fixing in brick? I guess this would be breeze block actually but still.

Thanks...
 
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The minimum distance varies with the type and strength of the material, along with the load you intend to apply to the fixing.
 
Put a plug in the "wrong" hole, then a countersunk screw flush it will reinforce the hole and you can drill along side, done it loads of times!(y)
 
The minimum distance varies with the type and strength of the material, along with the load you intend to apply to the fixing.
Put a plug in the "wrong" hole, then a countersunk screw flush it will reinforce the hole and you can drill along side, done it loads of times!(y)

Thanks folks... Yes I appreciate minimum distances would depend on materials.

The idea about plugging the existing hole and driving a countersunk screw in is a good idea...

I ended up going 5cm above and 2cm to the right of the original hole and have since filled it. Hopefully it will be OK. Not planning to load these shelves too much.
 
Sponsored Links
Put a plug in the "wrong" hole, then a countersunk screw flush it will reinforce the hole and you can drill along side, done it loads of times!(y)
Yes, I have done the same on occasions.
Not my mistake though, when I was a teaboy I kept on hearing "measure twice, cut once".
Heard it so many times that since my first project I keep on double and treble checking measurements.
Sometimes for critical things I even get a second opinion from my helpers.
 

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