Repairing a drilled hole

gillydee

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on my makeshift repair to a drilled hole (to hang a mirror).

I have a 9KG mirror that I intended to hang onto plasterboard using 2 hollow wall anchors on each side of the mirror (the umbrella type).

I checked for studs and my detector decided to give me false readings confirming no studs were present. (mistake 1). Drilled the 10mm hole for the anchor and lo and behold guess what...theres a stud. Now I have a 10mm hole that I can’t use my anchor with.

I have attempted a repair by filling with polyfilla and inserting a normal rawlplug with the hope that when it sets, I can put a screw into the rawl plug.

Question 1: will this makeshift repair work for this hole? The mirror is only 9KG and all force will be downwards, not outwards so I thought it might but the mirror is above a sink though so I have fears of the mirror falling off while im at work, knocking the tap and flooding the place. I haven’t drilled the second hole and god knows whats behind there as clearly I can’t rely on my stud detector!

Question 2: if it wont work- whats the best way to rectify this? I need to use this hole. I can’t move the position of the mirror because it will look out of place.

Many thanks in advance.

Ebe_Scrooge

You say there is a stud there ? Why not just screw directly into that and forget about the plasterboard anchor ? Those purpose-designed plasterboard fixings are not bad, but if you've got the option of screwing straight into a stud that's always going to be a much more secure option.


And if your stud detector isn't working properly, it's worth knowing that studs are usually 2' apart. Not always, especially around windows etc., but if you've found one then it's worth poking a needle through at 24" away and seeing if there's another one there. Hopefully this may be of some help ?

TheCyclingProgrammer

I was also going to say, why don't you just screw directly into the stud without a plug?

Grenage

I assume the OP has drilled a 10mm hole through the wood.

If you can't move the mirror mounts, then a chunky rawl plug would probably suffice. Drill a small hole for the next mount to verify the absence of a stud.

FreeBear

gillydee wrote: »

Drilled the 10mm hole for the anchor and lo and behold guess what...theres a stud. Now I have a 10mm hole that I can’t use my anchor with.

One would normally drill a pilot hole first with a small drill (3mm to 5mm) before going in with the big one. But hohum... With a 10mm hole, I'd have inserted a wooden dowel with a smear of glue round it and then used a regular screw (no rawl plug needed).

gillydee

Hi all,

Yep- like I said, I did use a stud detector which clearly didnt work (hence no pilot hole as I didnt think it was needed to confirm, lesson learnt!).

If I had known there was a stud I would have just got a normal rawl plug but hey ho! I will make sure to do a pilot hole for the next hole!

Appreciate the suggestions thus far- it has given me something to think about!

TheCyclingProgrammer

Grenage wrote: »

I assume the OP has drilled a 10mm hole through the wood..

Ah, good point.

In that case I'd also do what FreeBear suggested - wooden dowel*, bit of wood glue, wait for it to dry then screw as normal.

* a number of matchsticks may also suffice.

tonyh66

adjust the height you want to fix the mirror at by 15-20mm and screw directly into stud, no plugs needed.

gillydee

Hi all,

Yep, unfortunately I already drilled into the wood and ‘pop’ out the otherside. Strange though as the drill bit definitly wasnt very long and I thought studs would be very “thick”. The wood appears to be about an inch thick? Could it be a horizontal stud instead?

The issue is further complicated by the fact that if i do indeed get a 10mm rawl plug for the larger hole, the head on the screw I use will not fit into the D-ring of the mirror. The head of a 5mm screw only JUST fitted into the D-ring.

I would move the position of the mirror and restart but it wont really look as good so I suppose I could move the brackets on the actual mirror and restart.

I never thought about filling with a wooden dowel to be honest. I just panicked and filled with polyfiller automatically.

Thanks for your help to a DIY newbie :beer:

Pretty new to the whole DIY thing so it might seem like an easy task but it’s wuite intimidating to me. I just imagine doin one thing wrong and the whole plasterboard crumbling!

Ebe_Scrooge

gillydee wrote: »

the head on the screw I use will not fit into the D-ring of the mirror. The head of a 5mm screw only JUST fitted into the D-ring.

If it's fiddly to latch the D-rings onto a screw head, you could always thread some string through the rings, then use that to hang it from. That also gives the advantage that you could get away with just one screw - as long as it's secure.


When I say "string" - you'd need to make sure it was a good strong nylon line, not just a bit of cotton or wool or suchlike ! Or you can buy picture-hanging wire from any DIY shed - something like this : http://www.wilko.com/all-hardware/wilko-picture-wire-brass-35m/invt/4426342?nst=0&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgNrQBRC0ARIsAE-m-1xd338mIe34PShU3EnFR2wFCxlVZFHZuvceZFRfIMO-fMdsRf7LYTIaAunwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


It's just a thought - it may make life easier ?

Norman_Castle

gillydee wrote: »

If I had known there was a stud I would have just got a normal rawl plug but hey ho! I will make sure to do a pilot hole for the next hole!

If there's a stud you don't need a rawl plug. Just screw into the stud.