Hanging a very heavy mirror in a chimney stack.

[Jane Doe]

Thanks. You were right about the coach screws and it wasn't the problem I thought it would be. In fact, they were just right. The washers were a bad idea and I abandoned them. I'd bought a chain to hang the mirror from. I thought it would let me adjust things a bit to get it dead centre and be easier to hang. But I hadn't thought it through. The D-Rings started to twist towards the centre (of course) and it didn't look healthy. I'd drilled a small exploratory hole but that doesn't matter too much so I just measured exactly where the D-rings were and put the bolts there and hooked them over it (no washers!). I'm pretty pleased I got it right. The spirit level has the bubble juuuuust off-centre, so not bad for a first attempt.

Wasn't perfect though. The first hole went in fine but the second one hit a LOT of resistance and I actually got out what looked to be actual stone chippings (not dust). I don't know how that's possible but the resistance did lead to me making the hole a little wider than I planned and there's a very small amount of play in the second bolt. But it seems okay. I'll stop dreading a sudden crash in a couple of months.

It's not an SDS drill. I nearly bought one of those but there seemed to be a big leap in price with the drill bits and I didn't know much about it at the time. I regret that now, but it's a pretty big Fat Stanley drill all the same and seems pretty good? I did what you suggested though and started with a 2mm hole for checking, then I did a 7mm and then finally the 10mm. Too late for the vacuum. I have to go over it all with that, now!

Thanks a lot for all the replies (both). I've learned a lot from this and think I'll be doing a lot more DIY in future! Not least because Screwfix would only sell me the plugs in a pack of 50 so I've got a lot to use up! ​

 

[opps]

I moved into a house 20+ years ago and tried using my faithful 750W Metabo hammer drill. The 7mm drill bit started to glow and eventually began to bend.

It would take me 5 minutes to drill 5mm into the wall. I couldn't get any further than that.

Naively, I hadn't considered that some houses have a sand and cement interior rendering.

I borrowed a SDS drill and found that I could drill a 7*70mm hole in 10-15 seconds.

I am not trying to hard sell SDS drills but if ever you need to, for example, drill fixings for curtain fittings into a concrete lintel, you will need to use a SDS drill.

Mayhaps, you should buy one for a friend or family member, and then borrow it as required...

As an aside, if a hole becomes too wide, you can hammer wooden wedges down the side of the nylon plug. To be clear, hammer them in as you push the nylon plug in.

The "stones" that you refer to sound like the stones in the pointing between bricks. In the olden days they used small stones in the lime pointing to stop the weight of the bricks above compressing the pointing.

Those pesky stones will often result in the drill bit going off in the wrong direction (as would be evidenced if you accidentally drilled in to the extreme edge of a brick and then ended up in the mortar).

Anywho, congrats and more power to your proverbial elbow.

Come back as often as you need for advice.

 

[Jane Doe]

I moved into a house 20+ years ago and tried using my faithful 750W Metabo hammer drill. The 7mm drill bit started to glow and eventually began to bend.

It would take me 5 minutes to drill 5mm into the wall. I couldn't get any further than that.

Naively, I hadn't considered that some houses have a sand and cement interior rendering.

I borrowed a SDS drill and found that I could drill a 7*70mm hole in 10-15 seconds.

I am not trying to hard sell SDS drills but if ever you need to, for example, drill fixings for curtain fittings into a concrete lintel, you will need to use a SDS drill.

Mayhaps, you should buy one for a friend or family member, and then borrow it as required...

As an aside, if a hole becomes too wide, you can hammer wooden wedges down the side of the nylon plug. To be clear, hammer them in as you push the nylon plug in.

The "stones" that you refer to sound like the stones in the pointing between bricks. In the olden days they used small stones in the lime pointing to stop the weight of the bricks above compressing the pointing.

Those pesky stones will often result in the drill bit going off in the wrong direction (as would be evidenced if you accidentally drilled in to the extreme edge of a brick and then ended up in the mortar).

Anywho, congrats and more power to your proverbial elbow.

Come back as often as you need for advice.

That sounds exactly what happened - I did go a little off-centre which is what resulted in me widening the hole slightly trying to line it up. Your wood trick would have been useful, but I'll know for next time! Looking at SDS drills now. Might be a bit heavy for me, but expect I can manage. Maybe sell off the drill I have and get a better one next time. Christmas is coming if I want to ask for drill bits!

Thank you so much!

 

[opps]

Nah, keep both drills.

SDS drills, often, even with standard chuck attachments, are not so good for drilling metal or wood. All to often there is a degree of play in the chuck.

IMO , you can never have too many tools

 

[opps]

Forgot to mention- many SDS drills have a roto stop function which allows you to drop a SDS chisel blade into the drill- invaluable for chasing or breaking the concrete around rotten fence posts.