Removing expanding bolts

[ienquiry]

Hello, can anyone advise on the best way to remove some expansion bolts, these were initially used as fittings for holding a plasma screen. Your advice appreciated.
The expansion bolts appear to go into the wall, there about 1/2 inch that stick out of the wall which is threaded.

 

[NS215]

can you not just unscrew the threaded part then touch up the hole

 

[Deluks]

Do they have a nut on them?

If so, have you tried turning it?

If not, they could be bolted on the other side of the studwork if timber and plasterboard. Tap it, see if it goes in slightly.

...or they could be fixed in with resin if it's a brick wall. They'll need cutting off.

 

[Joe Malone]

Put two nuts on the thread and tighten them against each other, you should then be able to unscrew the threaded bolts using a spanner or ratchet. Aternatively try locking a pair of mole grips on the thread and unscrewing that way. If all else fails cut them off with an angle grinder and make good with some plasterboard jointing compound.

 

[ienquiry]

Hi - just put two nuts on the thread and tried turning, looks like its turning however the bolt isn't coming out. Is there anything else you can suggest before I get the angle grinder......:-O
thanks for the quick reply

 

[^woody^]

Can't you just knock the tread in below the surface?

 

[Deluks]

Hi - just put two nuts on the thread and tried turning, looks like its turning however the bolt isn't coming out. Is there anything else you can suggest before I get the angle grinder......:-O
thanks for the quick reply

Put the first nut on, right tight against the wall, put the second nut straight on top of that, use a spanner to hold the first - keep the spanner locked in one position, (nail/screw a bit of wood on the wall to stop the spanner rotating if poss) Then tighten the second nut, and if it's turning the threaded bar as you say, it will come out.

Now I think of it, you don't need that first nut, just the second one, using the wall as resistance, preferably with a big washer underneath it. With a bit of ply or thin wood under that to stop it from digging into the wall.

Did you install it yourself, are you sure they are expansion bolts?

 

[ienquiry]

I'll give it a go tonight, do I turn the nut clockwise or anticlockwise?
I put in the expanding bolts a few years ago but cant recall how...All I know is that I did tighten very firm so as to hold, never realising how hard it would be to take off....
thanks

 

[AtoZ]

wouldnt a tap and a wiggle sort it out.

depends on the type i suppose.

 

[Deluks]

clockwise, put it on and keep turning it in the same direction. Is the nut already on there? If so you might need to undo it instead, and that should loosen the bolt. As mentioned, it depends on the type of fixing.

 

[^woody^]

Clockwise?? Thats screwing it back in.

It needs to be turned anti-clockwise to uncrew it from the wedge - that's assuming that the wedge bit is not permanently fixed to the tread.

It will probably be easier (and quicker) for me to nip on the bus and cut the thing off with my hacksaw

 

[Deluks]

I meant put a nut on it and turn that clockwise, this will pull the threaded section through, it it's that type. Although thinking about it it probably isn't

It would be quicker for me to nip on the bus and cut the thing off with my hacksaw!

Where are you ienquiry? I do a special bolt removing service, £25 an hour (min charge 2 hours)

 

[andyandy2]

I might be thinking of the wrong type of bolt but try tapping the thhreaded part into the wall this should allow the expanded part room to close, it might need a sharp tap to pass any locking lugs, then try and prise the bolt out of the wall by using a screwdriver or similar on the collar part of the bolt (if its within reach) Don't pull the threaded part or you will expand the bolt again. I've used this method to remove them from concrete garage floors