Crumbling wall - how to get wall plug/screw to stay in?

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

We have a wall which we've drilled in to to affix a curtain hold back. For some reason the wall is very crumbly and we end up with a big hole (big mess!) which won't hold the wall plug/screw in place.

We can't move the hold back as it needs to be in this position to meet the curtains.

The wall on the outside is brick - and then plaster inside. I think this wall may have suffered water damage before which is why it is crumbly? It is about 3ft from floor level where we want to put the curtain hold back.

Many thanks in advance for any advice on this.

WestonDave

I've had this problem before when trying to put curtain poles above a window - the concrete lintel behind the plaster seemed to make it crumbly. What we found worked was nailing a wooden batten up and then screwing the pole supports to that - for some reason the nail seemed to hold much better! On that basis could you cut a small square of wood from a plank, maybe sand off the edges to make it a bit more decorative, nail that up and then screw the hold backs to it.

The only other option is to fill the holes you've made with a resin type filler and then redrill it to screw into.

27col

Dig out all the loose stuff and fill the hole with a small bag of mortar mix. A quick skim with a bit of Polyfilla and you are ready to insert a wall plug for the hold back.
Alternatively, when I was fitting sink on a dot and dab wall recently I fixed a board flush into the wall just using dot and dab. It was absolutely impossible to move afterwards. It made hanging the sink very easy and very firm. I suppose the same principle would work just inserting a small block into the wall. Similar to the idea suggested by WestonDave, but inset in the wall and not on the surface.

waterwatereverywhere

Hi WestonDave and 27col,

Many thanks for your helpful suggestion - there is some spare wood in the shed so will give this a go tomorrow ... fingers crossed!

Thanks again.