Please help with fixings for simple task

[johnagall]

Hi I'm so bad at DIY and need to fix a curtain pole bracket. It looks as though the previous owner used some kind of hollow wall fixing which have come away pretty easily.

The problem that I have is now there are two 10mm wide holes and am wondering what fixing to use to secure? The hole feel pretty deep (50-80mm deep) with no obvious void the other side of the plasterboard before hitting what feels like block.

Should I try to get a small toggle in the small void? Or should I try to drill further and get a plug deeper into the block?

Thanks in advance

 

[rsgaz]

The hole feel pretty deep (50-80mm deep)

That seems way too deep for it to be a dot & dab wall, but not really deep enough for a timber framed house. Do you know which it is, because I am confused by...

with no obvious void the other side of the plasterboard

What do you mean by that? If you poke a thin screwdriver in at an angle, or try and wiggle it, you mean you hit something down the sides of each hole? i.e. it's not really hollow at all? Insulation backed plasterboard maybe?

Really need to figure out the wall construction first. Could you try a better picture of the inside of one of the holes please, with the flash on or a torch shining in the hole?

Also, take an accurate reading of the depth of the hole, you just put in a screwdriver 'til it hits the back, hold the shaft where it meets the wall and pull it back out and measure it.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It looks like breeze block to me. Some can be so soft, it can be difficult to get a strong fixing in it.

Unlikely it would be plasterboard on an outside wall anyway. That being the case, the holes need filling with car body filler, then they can be redrilled for a fixing.

 

[johnagall]

Yes on looking closer I think it's breeze block.

So I've got 2 x 10mm holes. What fixing can I use to sort this without resorting to filling and redriling?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes on looking closer I think it's breeze block.

So I've got 2 x 10mm holes. What fixing can I use to sort this without resorting to filling and redriling?

As said, you cannot - breeze is very soft and difficult to get a strong fixing in. What is needed is something which spreads the screw's load further in the hole - car body filler works well.

 

[rsgaz]

Unlikely it would be plasterboard on an outside wall anyway.

How so? It's been the norm for the last 40 years or more round these parts! Dot n dab onto aerated or medium concrete block through the 80s and 90s ish, then timber framed houses, unless they are more expensive houses, then still dot n dab onto block.

What fixing can I use to sort this without resorting to filling and redriling?

Unfortunately, any 'normal' fixing for a 10mm hole will use a screw so large, that it won't fit through the bracket you are trying to attach.

Look at CoreFix or Rigifix fixings, they could work, depends on the bracket. But, they need a nice, accurately drilled hole, not an oversized/crumbly one, ruined by the last person who has used the wrong fixings.

Filling those in and drilling new holes nearby is the best option by far.

 

[johnagall]

Thanks all,

Managed to get some normal brown plugs in to the side of the current holes. I'll fill and paint.

 

[foxhole]

You needed these , https://www.marshallindustrial.co.u...88h1oyRM4cO6SrFVIPq3AOkRi_qRmwX8aAkF2EALw_wcB

Would have hammered straight into existing holes and take standard screws.
Hold heavy weight on thermalite blocks .