Re-screwing redidrive plasterboard fixings

[mahigton]

We have a curtain rail that was held up by two small brackets, screwed to the wall using Redidrive plasterboard fixings - the sorts of things in this image:

.

Then my daughter decided to swing on the curtains.... So now we have a plasterboard wall (brick behind) with two holes, just bigger than the redidrive screws, and two curtain rail brackets with the redidrive screws firmly attached - and no obvious way of taking the two parts of the screws apart.

We are considering filling the holes with Polycell Plug-and-fix Polyfilla, and then trying to screw the redidrive fixings in while it is setting as if they were normal screws, and hope it's strong enough to take the fairly light pole and curtains.

Any better ideas?

 

[^woody^]

Fill and smooth the holes. Then drill right through into the brick and use a long screw and plug

Those fixings aren't suitable for curtain poles

 

[ajrobb]

no obvious way of taking the two parts of the screws apart

They usually come apart fairly easily but be careful 'cos the outer part is quite sharp.

Have a look at http://www.british-gypsum.com/pdf/DS-001-03 Gyproc WallBoard.pdf for instructions to patch holes.

As woody says though, you can probably just fill the holes and sand flat. Use deeper fixings into the masonry. If you don't have a skim coat over the plasterboard, you might want to peel back the facing paper 10mm beyond the damaged area in order to get a smooth surface.