Drilling in to old (1930s) house internally to hang items (plus filling holes question).

JohnB47

A few years ago I came across a product called WetNFix. You can find it by internet searching.

It's very simple and I've found it works well when my drilled holes go pear shaped. I've just looked at them again and they seem much more expensive than when I bought mine.

I've also resorted to filling the hole with 'powder filler' and pushing the plug in while it's wet, then wait until next day to screw in. The trick is to get the position of the plug just right.

Also, for either suggestion, wetting the hole area first is essential. Otherwise the surrounding plaster dries out the filler before it can set.

B0bbyEwing

shiraz99 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Here's a question - how do you tell what size drill bit you need for the plugs you've been provided?

On the Fisher ones I have it says 8 so I know I use an 8mm drill bit. I actually start out with about a 5 or 6 & then work to an 8.

But on these blinds, they just provided some white plugs. I had no idea what size bit I needed so what I did was get an old wooden board & drilled a few holes in with various bits to see which looked most likely as what I wanted to avoid was getting it so far in but then getting stuck & not being able to send it home or pull it out.

The standard coloured wall plugs are sized as follows;

Yellow 5mm for 4-8 screw
Red 6mm for 6-10 screw
Brown 7mm for 10-14 screw
Blue 10mm for 14-18 screw

You do tend to get these odd, cheap plugs that come with your purchases but I generally chuck the fixings and use a red plug (usually Fischer) instead. For your white plug you could simply measure against a drill bit then try with a size lower.

Thanks for the info.

Not trying to be funny here or intentionally thick, but what do you mean for example 6-10 screw?

FreeBear

B0bbyEwing said:

shiraz99 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Here's a question - how do you tell what size drill bit you need for the plugs you've been provided?

On the Fisher ones I have it says 8 so I know I use an 8mm drill bit. I actually start out with about a 5 or 6 & then work to an 8.

But on these blinds, they just provided some white plugs. I had no idea what size bit I needed so what I did was get an old wooden board & drilled a few holes in with various bits to see which looked most likely as what I wanted to avoid was getting it so far in but then getting stuck & not being able to send it home or pull it out.

The standard coloured wall plugs are sized as follows;

Yellow 5mm for 4-8 screw
Red 6mm for 6-10 screw
Brown 7mm for 10-14 screw
Blue 10mm for 14-18 screw

You do tend to get these odd, cheap plugs that come with your purchases but I generally chuck the fixings and use a red plug (usually Fischer) instead. For your white plug you could simply measure against a drill bit then try with a size lower.

Thanks for the info.

Not trying to be funny here or intentionally thick, but what do you mean for example 6-10 screw?

Last century, screws were measured by a gauge number. But in 1976, the metric system was adopted in the UK, and slowly (very slowly) people started to sell screws based on the diameter measured in millimetres. The old imperial gauge numbers are still used by some.... So a No.6 screw would be 3.5mm diameter, and a No.10, 5mm. For a red plug, you would use a screw of between 3.5mm and 5mm (or 6 to 10).

If you need to convert between imperial and metric screw sizes, here is a hand table - https://www.bolts.co.uk/guides-and-tips/screws/imperial-to-metric-screw-conversion-chart/

anotheruser

I used exterior filler from Wikos for interior filling jobs.
Much stronger.

B0bbyEwing

FreeBear said:

B0bbyEwing said:

shiraz99 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Here's a question - how do you tell what size drill bit you need for the plugs you've been provided?

On the Fisher ones I have it says 8 so I know I use an 8mm drill bit. I actually start out with about a 5 or 6 & then work to an 8.

But on these blinds, they just provided some white plugs. I had no idea what size bit I needed so what I did was get an old wooden board & drilled a few holes in with various bits to see which looked most likely as what I wanted to avoid was getting it so far in but then getting stuck & not being able to send it home or pull it out.

The standard coloured wall plugs are sized as follows;

Yellow 5mm for 4-8 screw
Red 6mm for 6-10 screw
Brown 7mm for 10-14 screw
Blue 10mm for 14-18 screw

You do tend to get these odd, cheap plugs that come with your purchases but I generally chuck the fixings and use a red plug (usually Fischer) instead. For your white plug you could simply measure against a drill bit then try with a size lower.

Thanks for the info.

Not trying to be funny here or intentionally thick, but what do you mean for example 6-10 screw?

Last century, screws were measured by a gauge number. But in 1976, the metric system was adopted in the UK, and slowly (very slowly) people started to sell screws based on the diameter measured in millimetres. The old imperial gauge numbers are still used by some.... So a No.6 screw would be 3.5mm diameter, and a No.10, 5mm. For a red plug, you would use a screw of between 3.5mm and 5mm (or 6 to 10).

If you need to convert between imperial and metric screw sizes, here is a hand table - https://www.bolts.co.uk/guides-and-tips/screws/imperial-to-metric-screw-conversion-chart/

Ah, I know when I've been looking for screws & they'll say things like M6x50mm. 

Obviously the 50mm is the length.

I'm taking that the M6 in that case would be in your quote, the 6-10 screw Red plug?

FreeBear

B0bbyEwing said:

FreeBear said:

B0bbyEwing said:

shiraz99 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Here's a question - how do you tell what size drill bit you need for the plugs you've been provided?

On the Fisher ones I have it says 8 so I know I use an 8mm drill bit. I actually start out with about a 5 or 6 & then work to an 8.

But on these blinds, they just provided some white plugs. I had no idea what size bit I needed so what I did was get an old wooden board & drilled a few holes in with various bits to see which looked most likely as what I wanted to avoid was getting it so far in but then getting stuck & not being able to send it home or pull it out.

The standard coloured wall plugs are sized as follows;

Yellow 5mm for 4-8 screw
Red 6mm for 6-10 screw
Brown 7mm for 10-14 screw
Blue 10mm for 14-18 screw

You do tend to get these odd, cheap plugs that come with your purchases but I generally chuck the fixings and use a red plug (usually Fischer) instead. For your white plug you could simply measure against a drill bit then try with a size lower.

Thanks for the info.

Not trying to be funny here or intentionally thick, but what do you mean for example 6-10 screw?

Last century, screws were measured by a gauge number. But in 1976, the metric system was adopted in the UK, and slowly (very slowly) people started to sell screws based on the diameter measured in millimetres. The old imperial gauge numbers are still used by some.... So a No.6 screw would be 3.5mm diameter, and a No.10, 5mm. For a red plug, you would use a screw of between 3.5mm and 5mm (or 6 to 10).

If you need to convert between imperial and metric screw sizes, here is a hand table - https://www.bolts.co.uk/guides-and-tips/screws/imperial-to-metric-screw-conversion-chart/

Ah, I know when I've been looking for screws & they'll say things like M6x50mm. 

Obviously the 50mm is the length.

I'm taking that the M6 in that case would be in your quote, the 6-10 screw Red plug?

M6x50 would be a bolt, not a (wood) screw. Totally different thread, and no good for use with a red or even brown wall plug.

You'd want a 6mm x 50mm (and I would use a brown plug).

Confusing isn't it...

greensalad

Buy a big pack of rawl plugs on day 1 of trying to DIY anything. Learnt that the hard way! Same issue we had with putting up blinds, ended up buying a cheap (£25) SDS drill and got through in the end. My thread here in case there's any additional info to be gleaned... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6348153/putting-up-blinds-concrete-lintel/p1

B0bbyEwing

FreeBear said:

B0bbyEwing said:

FreeBear said:

B0bbyEwing said:

shiraz99 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Here's a question - how do you tell what size drill bit you need for the plugs you've been provided?

On the Fisher ones I have it says 8 so I know I use an 8mm drill bit. I actually start out with about a 5 or 6 & then work to an 8.

But on these blinds, they just provided some white plugs. I had no idea what size bit I needed so what I did was get an old wooden board & drilled a few holes in with various bits to see which looked most likely as what I wanted to avoid was getting it so far in but then getting stuck & not being able to send it home or pull it out.

The standard coloured wall plugs are sized as follows;

Yellow 5mm for 4-8 screw
Red 6mm for 6-10 screw
Brown 7mm for 10-14 screw
Blue 10mm for 14-18 screw

You do tend to get these odd, cheap plugs that come with your purchases but I generally chuck the fixings and use a red plug (usually Fischer) instead. For your white plug you could simply measure against a drill bit then try with a size lower.

Thanks for the info.

Not trying to be funny here or intentionally thick, but what do you mean for example 6-10 screw?

Last century, screws were measured by a gauge number. But in 1976, the metric system was adopted in the UK, and slowly (very slowly) people started to sell screws based on the diameter measured in millimetres. The old imperial gauge numbers are still used by some.... So a No.6 screw would be 3.5mm diameter, and a No.10, 5mm. For a red plug, you would use a screw of between 3.5mm and 5mm (or 6 to 10).

If you need to convert between imperial and metric screw sizes, here is a hand table - https://www.bolts.co.uk/guides-and-tips/screws/imperial-to-metric-screw-conversion-chart/

Ah, I know when I've been looking for screws & they'll say things like M6x50mm. 

Obviously the 50mm is the length.

I'm taking that the M6 in that case would be in your quote, the 6-10 screw Red plug?

M6x50 would be a bolt, not a (wood) screw. Totally different thread, and no good for use with a red or even brown wall plug.

You'd want a 6mm x 50mm (and I would use a brown plug).

Confusing isn't it...

Knew I'd seen M in use somewhere. 

It's when I was looking to hang a bicycle turbo trainer from a beam in the shed. 

Which reminds me. Need to ask something. Good job you said that

Bendy_House

Moved in to a 1930's bungalow 20 years ago, and started my reno. My hammer drill wouldn't touch the walls - seems the concrete blocks had pebbles in them, and these would simply deflect the normal drills, just as you have experienced.

Invested in an SDS drill - the cheapest Titan from Screwfix... The difference was total. In fact, when I started drilling through the kitchen wall to hang wall units, I got carried away and blew the plaster off on the dining side :-(  I was so impressed, I wasn't even cross.

Ectophile

Invest in a tube of ready-mixed filler.  When your holes end up wonky or over-sized because the drill kept wandering, squidge some filler into the hole, push in the correct size rawlplug, and wait for the filler to set.