Rawl plug problems!

Moll'll fix it

I put up some brackets for hanging baskets over the weekend. They each needed 3 screws to attach to the wall, one at the top and two underneath about two inches below. When I hung up two of my baskets, the rawl plugs and screws on the top of the brackets came out of the wall with the weight of the basket. They are now hanging on the strength of the two screws underneath, but how do I now secure the top screw so that the bracket doesn't collapse altogether from the weight of the basket? I used the same drill bit and rawl plugs for all of the baskets and had no problems like this with most of th brackets I put up. Do I need a bigger rawlplug for the problem 'holes' or can anybody advise me what I should do? Thanks.:mad:

meercat

if the rawl plugs fits back in the hole,push them back in
then put a thicker screw in to retain the bracket

Moll'll fix it

Thanks Meer Cat. The rawl plug still fits, so will try bigger screw. Thanks again.

galwaydude18

Try using either a 4x40 or a 5x40 screw. To hang my baskets I drilled a 7mm hole put in a brown rawl plug and used 4x40 screws.

Moll'll fix it

Thanks a lot for that advice. M

studdlymurphy

Try cutting a slice of timber off a plank or board that will just about fit into the hole hammer it in then screw the nail into it. Better than any rawl plug.

Moll'll fix it

Thanks for that.
M

Buford T Justice

What size bit did you use to drill the holes with, and what size plug did you use?

Moll'll fix it

I used brown rawl plugs and screws which came with the brackets and the instructions said to use a 7mm drill bit. I put up a load of brackets and most of them were fine, just in two cases the screw came out of the top hole.
I am a female diy enthusiast but am still open to learning as much as I can about things!

antiskeptic

Moll'll fix it wrote: »

I used brown rawl plugs and screws which came with the brackets and the instructions said to use a 7mm drill bit. I put up a load of brackets and most of them were fine, just in two cases the screw came out of the top hole.
I am a female diy enthusiast but am still open to learning as much as I can about things!

A lot depends on what you're drilling into. If, for example, you've a brick/block wall and drill into the brick/block you'll most likely get good fit between plug and wall.

You might however drill into the mortar between the bricks (easy to do if the wall has a plaster render on it which hides the bricks behind) which can be a bit more 'crumbly'. You'll know you've hit mortar/poor material when the hole drilling is significantly easier than other holes in the same wall.

If you inadvertently wobble the electric drill around as you're drilling into soft material you'll enlarge the hole beyond the drill diameter and Hey Presto! the plug will be loose. You can avoid this by concentrating on holding the drill steady and straight the whole way in.

Make sure you've a solid, stable stance, grip the drill with both hands - one near the drill chuck and away you go.

Moll'll fix it

That's great advice and that's exactly what happened. Drill bit went in very easily first, then it met something really tough, then it hit a really soft bit. I was on a step ladder and was up as far as I could go but had to lean up with the drill and wasn't standing directly opposite where I was drilling so that didn't help. I wobbled the bit around in the hole to clear out the dust and I would say I made the hole too big for the rawl plug. Any tips for putting stuff up on a dashed wall - it's hard to get a level patch to put up brackets - even knocking off the dash with a hammer doesn't help that much!

DublinDilbert

If the rawl plug is loose, cut a second rawl plug in half (along its length) and hammer the two in at the same time. Then as other posters have said use a nice big screw and you should be done.... Rawl plug should be a nice tight fit before the screw goes into it.

Moll'll fix it

Thanks for that. Plenty of solutions here.

antiskeptic

Moll'll fix it wrote: »

That's great advice and that's exactly what happened. Drill bit went in very easily first, then it met something really tough, then it hit a really soft bit. I was on a step ladder and was up as far as I could go but had to lean up with the drill and wasn't standing directly opposite where I was drilling so that didn't help

There you go. There's always these akwards in diy but half the fun is finding workarounds.

I wobbled the bit around in the hole to clear out the dust and I would say I made the hole too big for the rawl plug.

Usually your wobbling around with a drill will enlarge the hole at the surface and the plug will be loose - sometimes too loose to stop rotating even when you try a larger diameter screw.

A quick workaround is to tap the plug 5-10mm deeper into the hole where it's nice and tight, then use a long enough screw to reach the plug. The bar on your chuck key is a useful diameter to go between plug and hammer.
Because the plug is now out of sight, it can help to first screw the screw into the plug and remove it again prior to mounting whatever it is you're hanging. That establishes an easy-to-find-hole for the screw and avoids the screw missing the centre of the plug and running between the plug and wall.

Any tips for putting stuff up on a dashed wall - it's hard to get a level patch to put up brackets - even knocking off the dash with a hammer doesn't help that much!

A useful tip for DIY in general is to purchase inexpensive tools as you need them. You'll inevitably use them again for a hundred and 1 jobs and they make the job a pleasure.

And so a small cold chisel (not for wood) is the thing to use here. You can chip away the dash until you reach the underlying brick or just chip off the dashed undulations to give a sufficiently flat surface without going down to the brick. If removing down to the brick I'd first use the chisel to indent the dashed plasterwork in the shape of what you want to remove (chisel held perpendicular to the plaster when hammering around the shape) before angling it to chip away the plaster. That way you'll not chip away a larger-than-intended chunk of dash

Scan down the wiki page for "chisel" and you'll come across a cold chisel. It's larger counterpart, a bolster chisel is good for flattening larger areas.

slimjimmc

Wouldn't it be a better job to shim the bracket out with a few washers under the screws rather than chip away the protective plaster completely.

Moll'll fix it

Thanks for the advice folks