Gripfill and holes in wall

Britannia12345

I have some big holes around my window where the plugs have pulled out or the plaster has crumbled from drilling.
My brother swears by Gripfill for just about everything (remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding where her dad swore by Windex for any ailment?).
He said if I fill the holes and let it harden off for about 3 days I can drill into it to replace the plugs. I did just that 4 days ago and the Gripfill is still soft in the holes. I kept a blob of it to see how long it would take to harden and the blob has been sitting on the cupboard for the same amount of time. It has a hard shell on the outside but is still pliable, rather like tough playdough.
Should this all have dried hard by now? Have I bought a faulty tube? Am I being too impatient and it needs longer?
I really don't want to have to dig it all out and start again with something else

spadoosh

It should dry rock solid.

The reason it hasnt is because it dires out by evaporating and presumably the outer has dried much quicker than the inner trapping what moisture is in it and thus keeping it pliable.

Build it up. Take out what you can and dont put it more than 1cm deep at a time. Allow to dry for a day or two and then repeat.

The other option is to fill with gripfill and site the wallplug when its wet. Leave it a few days (should dry out quicker than a solid clump) and no need to make a mess drilling again.

Britannia12345

Ok, will have to dig it out then. It smells horrible!
I wonder if it would dry if it stabbed some holes in it to aerate it?

Lorian

Yellow solvent free version?

Britannia12345

Ooh, would that fill it the same and dry hard?

southcoastrgi

Gripfill is crap, it skins over too fast & takes forever to go off

Britannia12345

What would you recommend instead? Does it harden off eventually? How long are we talking?

FreeBear

spadoosh wrote: »

The other option is to fill with gripfill and site the wallplug when its wet. Leave it a few days (should dry out quicker than a solid clump) and no need to make a mess drilling again.

When drilling holes for fixings, if I hit a mortar joint, a squirt of No-Nails before pushing the wall plug in usually does the job.