Fireplace Beam Fixing

[mcjimbob]

Hi there, this is my first post but I have regularly found this forum to be helpful!

We are building our own house (some project eh??!) Nearly done though and hoping to be in for Christmas.

I have a rather large fireplace beam/mantle shelf made of solid Oak. I need some way of fixing it to the wall above our open fire. Not entirely sure what type/size of bolts I will need. It is quite heavy. The thickness of the beam is 7", we need to drill into that and counter sink and fill with oak plugs to finish.

So my questions are....

- What type of bolts do I need to fit it into the masonry?
- How many should I use (2 minimum I guess but I assume that this depends on weight)?
- How far should we go into the masonry?


Many thanks in advance.

Jimmy

 

[^neo^]

I'd use some chemical anchors (in a tube like mastic) and some M12 studding, probably no more than 500mm apart to make sure it doesn't come down. 75mm into brickwork will be fine.
If you drill a 1/2" hole through the oak, then probably a 1" hole half way through to plug it

 

[mcjimbob]

Thanks for the quick response!

One more question regarding this...

When you are drilling the hole in the wall, what diameter do you want the hole to be? If the rod is M12 (12mm dia??) then should we be using a 12mm bit and filling it with the chem anchor or do we make it 13mm?

Cheers,

Jimmy

 

[^neo^]

It needs to be 14mm for a 12mm stud. Could probably go down to a 10mm stud with a 12mm hole if you like, but depends on weight of the beam.

If you make sure the end of the stud that goes into the wall is cut off at 45 degrees, it will stop the stud from being able to turn too.

 

[mcjimbob]

We've got 12mm stud - it's fairly heavy so not going to chance it. Decided to give it three fixings as well.

Last night we've managed to get everything set up. We've got all the studding, bolts, chem anchor. Getting a loan of a proper drill tonight so will hopefully get it up on the wall tonight.

Will let you know if it is a success!

 

[^neo^]

Get the chemical resin to room temperature, or leave near (not on!) a radiator before you pump it in and it'll go off nice and quick.
If the house is warm you should be able to hang the beam after about half an hour.

Make sure you blow the drilled holes out with something to get rid of all the dust or they won't take.

If it's not a success then you have done something seriously wrong! Once those studs are in, they dont come out without taking the brick with them!

 

[ColJack]

you can get capsule chem anchors too.. no need to use a gun..

just drill the hole, put the glass tube in, tap the stud in after it breaking the tube and twiddle it a bit to mix the chems.. leave to go off, tighten the bolt..

best to put the beam in place and support with temp timbers, then drill through the holes to make sure it all lines up..