Hard Walls!

[miranda]

Hi everyone,

Bit of a beginner question...
In my new house I'm finding it impossible to get anything into the walls! On one wall I got nails to go in, but they came straight out. I have eventually got masonry nails to go in - only after about 20 pinged out though! When I was hammering them in I noticed they hit something really hard about 5mm in, then went in ok if they could get past this. On the other wall I can't get anything in at all. I have borrowed my friend's drill (big black and decker one) but even that won't go through!

I'm worried it's because I've hit a pipe or something, but it does seem to be the same everywhere.

The house is 1870 but has been recently extended and renovated so I'm not sure if it has new bits on the walls.

Can anyone suggest anything?

thanks

Miranda

 

[IanDB]

I know how you feel. My old house was built around 1900. All the walls were different consistencies, some lathe and plaster, some crumbly brick and one wall in particular exactly as you describe. I couldn't get anything into it as far as masonry nails were concerned. They went in through the top layer of plaster and then stopped and bent.

It won't be a pipe as, if you've hit things as you've described, you'd have gone through it without even noticing. No, it appears to be the wall itself.

All I can suggest is that you use a good quality masonry drill and a robust (B&D is fine) hammer drill. Don't press too hard as you'll only blunt the drill bit quickly. I haven't found a wall yet that won't yield to this.

Having said that, when I demolished one of the walls in the aforementioned house I found it had been constructed from mortar, large rocks and flint. Even a drill would have struggled there.

Seems a bit OTT if you're just hanging pictures to use this approach. However, you can also get special fixings (hooks) that consist of a plastic disc with three smaller masonry pins. I believe these are designed for hard walls. You hit the whole lot with the hammer, the theory being that three small pins will do the same job as one larger one. Still hard work but you don't have to get them so deep into the wall. A good DIY shop should stock them.

 

[2scoops0406]

Could be a flint wall that has been plastered over. If so, bad luck, flint walls are very difficult to drill into. If it is flint, you'll need a diamond bit. Ordinary masonary bits wont touch it. Good luck.