Floating oak beam - bent supporting screws

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Hi,

We had our walls plastered and they removed our floating oak beam over the fireplace.

The fixings have been left in the back of the beam and are bent.

They are quite a thick diameter screw and I wondered how I could remove them from the wood to start again.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
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I'm just about to put up some floating shelves - is the beam the same principle?
- Terry.
 
Use a pipe which will fit over the fixing and you can then straighten without removing, how were they fixed originally?
 
Use a pipe which will fit over the fixing and you can then straighten without removing, how were they fixed originally?

They used floating screws, so the screws are meant to be in the wall first, and then the beam is attached. But the screws were pulled out the wall and left in the beam.

So I'm not sure how I will be able to fix it without pulling them out of the beam.
 
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I'm just about to put up some floating shelves - is the beam the same principle?
- Terry.

Yes it is, but the beam has larger screws.

So when it was put up, they put the screws into the wall first, then made the holes in the back of beam, put in the fixings and then attached.

20211120_101924.jpg


There are three of these in our beam, two are bent.

But I can't see how I can reattach this without removing them.
 
Assuming that at least two were used (one wouldn’t work!)

that’s a dowel screw, meant to screw into “something” and then the other item rotates to screw on.

probably used as pins in the wall.
I’d guess they screwed into the timber, then were fitted into holes in the wall. Chemical anchor Adhesive used to hold the pins in place.

you could just angle grind/ hacksaw the old pins off and start again?

or double nut the existing thread and remove from the timber. Then straighten the pins using a vice and long pole.
Maybe use new holes in the timber for fresh keying.
New pins might be easier
 
The bolt has a hex head so should unscrew with a spanner.
Or you could instead straighten the bolts and re-drill holes in wall , resin and fix timber with support until resin sets .
 
Looks like a resin anchor to me (including some resin still on the threads, so it wasn't well installed IMHO - and BTW it was installed wrong way round because the square should be at the outer end so you can get an adjustable spanner onto it). Best replaced, although for non-structural work threaded metric rod will do the job just as well. Needs the holes on the wall to be redrilled (2mm bigger diameter than the threaded bar) and new resin squirted in
 
Ah yes bigger than my floating shelves fastenings, where I have a problem now cos one of the supplied rawlplugs is rotating when I try to screw the rod in :(
Terry
 
Resins are actually pretty easy and can be a better bet in crappy Victorian masonry (like wot I get to deal with so often)
 
JobAndKnock what is this resin please? Not sure how to fix rotating rawlplug problem. I used some small bits of wood in the hole to try to tighten it but not sure it’s that great.
Terry
 
You don’t use rail plugs with resin.
Rawl plugs expand as the screw goes in
Resin “glues” the rod in place

drill the hole and vacuum the dust out. You need a good hole for the resin to soak in and then be squished out as the rod goes in
 
Tiger, Harry, ah thanks. Ain't got a rod, got this

upload_2021-11-20_20-53-36.png


The thicker section goes into the back of the floating shelf. So I need the rawlplug - or something - to centre the fitting in the hole.

(It's in and the shelf is up, but it's a botch!)

Terry.
 
Tiger, Harry, ah thanks. Ain't got a rod, got this

Shelf Fitting.png


The thicker section goes into the back of the floating shelf. So I need the rawlplug - or something - to centre the fitting in the hole.

(It's in and the shelf is up, but it's a botch!)
Those are designed to be screwed into wood, not masonry (the thread is a tapered wood thread, not a parallel machine screw thread like the original had), and I'd hazard a guess that the holes you have in the wall are far too big for it in any case. As you have surmised, the threaded end goes into the wall. But my suspicion is that the holes are already too large for any plug you could find to work with that screw and that attempting to use this type of fixing may well not work, or work reliably enough

Assuming from the previous photo you showed that the holes have had resin injected into them

Pulled Out Resin Stud.jpg


and that there are no shield ends inside the wall (as you would have with shield anchors aka a Rawlbolts), what I suggest is that, as you already have a sample of threaded stud, it should be possible to get hold of matching replacement studs (looked them up on Toolstation and they are quite reasonable - M12 x 160 cost under £9 for 10 no -0 assuming you don't have the tools to cut and clean-up threaded rod, namely a hand file, and a hacksaw or an angle grinder) and a couple of matching nuts. You'll need to extract the damaged old studs and wind in new ones (hence the two nuts - to act as a locknut).

After the studs are in the shelf redrill the holes in the wall, same diameter as the threaded rod PLUS 2mm - so if your rod is M12 you'll need a 14mm drill bit. As you are only drilling resin this can possibly be done with a HSS reduced shank blacksmiths's twist drill in an ordinary drill or with an SDS drill and 14mm SDS bit. The holes can be cleaned out using a blower, a hole brush or a vacuum cleaner and crevice tool. Do a dry run to ensure you can get all the studs in to full depth and adjust as required

Next the holes will need to have resin injected into them. It is widely available and not overly expensive, but it does require a special mixing nozzle (which may or may not come with the resin - ask first) and it is best applied with a heavy duty caulking gun as the cheap DIY skeleton guns are generally not up to the task. Put a generous bead of resin inside the holes along the bottom of the hole from the deepest part to the front - pulling the gun towards you. Repeat for all holes. The put a bead along the top of the protruding threads. Finally gently push the shelf and threaded rods onto the wall and prop the mantlepiece with a broomstick to stop it drooping whilst the resin sets. This all needs to be done promptly as the resin starts to set within 5 or 6 minutes of mixing

You need a good hole for the resin to soak in and then be squished out as the rod goes in
I agree that you need a good clean hole, but resin doesn't soak into anything - it does, however, flow into pores and fissures in the masonry and sets to form a plug which is very difficult to remove
 

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