Holes too big in wall

frogglet

Someone has leant on a small radiator and it's pulled off the wall. The holes are now quite large after fitting larger rawlplugs last time.  Obviously the holes need to be reused as the radiator cant be moved easily.
What can I fill the holes with, so I can screw the brackets back in?

grumbler

frogglet said:

 The holes are now quite large after fitting larger rawlplugs last time.

How large? What sort of wall is it? If the plugs were pulled out and it was a solid wall, the holes have to remain the same size.

nofoollikeold

1. Get some old bits of soft wood.
2. Use (carefully) a Stanley knife or a chisel to cut slivers off, starting with the corners.
3. Ram slivers into existing hole (after removing any plugs etc.).  Hammer home.
4. Repeat 3 until hole is filled with wood and compressed.
5. Level off surface as best you can.
6. Mark hole centres with a bradawl or some other spike.  
7. Optionally drill 2.5 /  3.0 mm hole into new "plug".
8. Screw brackets on.

frogglet

grumbler said:

frogglet said:

 The holes are now quite large after fitting larger rawlplugs last time.

How large? What sort of wall is it? If the plugs were pulled out and it was a solid wall, the holes have to remain the same size.

Its a very oldbrick and plaster wall. The holes are crumbly/dusty so are slightly bigger.

grumbler

nofoollikeold said:

1. Get some old bits of soft wood.
2. Use (carefully) a Stanley knife or a chisel to cut slivers off, starting with the corners.
3. Ram slivers into existing hole (after removing any plugs etc.).  Hammer home.
4. Repeat 3 until hole is filled with wood and compressed.

Not the best advice IMHO. At least, cover the slivers with thick PVA first and let them dry in the hole.

But personally, I'd prefer a whole wooden plug made to the shape of the hole, slightly bigger, and, again used PVA to cover the plug and the hole inside first. Later, I'd drill a small pilot hole for the screw.

frogglet

Not being good at whittling wood, is there some sort of filler i can use?

grumbler

frogglet said:

grumbler said:

frogglet said:

 The holes are now quite large after fitting larger rawlplugs last time.

How large? What sort of wall is it? If the plugs were pulled out and it was a solid wall, the holes have to remain the same size.

Its a very oldbrick and plater wall. The holes are crumbly/dusty so are slightly bigger.

If the holes are in the brick, then they don't need any filling. Just ignore the plaster, make the holes deeper if needed, make sure that the whole plug sits in the brick a and use longer screws.

It's a different story if the holes are in loose lime between bricks.

grumbler

Your can try using

or similar, but if it's thick loose plaster and lime mortar, I wouldn't rely on it.

FreeBear

grumbler said: If the holes are in the brick, then they don't need any filling. Just ignore the plaster, make the holes deeper if needed, make sure that the whole plug sits in the brick a and use longer screws.

Wall plugs should always be driven in below the level of the plaster. This ensures that the plug grips solid brick along its full length and no force is applied to the plaster (which can cause it to crack). For iffy substrates, a resin injected in to the hole can often be an effective solution - Something like https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-r-kem-ii-styrene-free-polyester-resin-300ml/32863

A cheaper fix (which I have used for light loads) is to soak the hole with water, and then pump in a dollop of NoNails or similar grab adhesive (use the solvent free versions) and then press the wall plug home.

Have a mix of good hard brick and some real crappy cinder block in my internal walls. All held together with a crumbly lime mortar. It can be pot luck whether you hit a hard LBC, a soft red, or a mortar joint.

Astrozombies

Milliput will do the job easily. Best bet. Mix milliput, force it into the hole and either hammer a plug into it and screw into it out just screw into milliput and leave to go solid.

flashg67

Do the brackets not have more than one set of holes? I had this same problem recently but the brackets had multiple hole options