Recommend me a 'Filler'

[Jimmyarm]

Hi All,

Have a hole that needs filling

The raw plug and surrounding plaster work around a curtain pole bracket have finally succumbed and I need a decent filler to slap in there to repair it.

The plaster is about 1" thick and goes straight onto the exterior bricks, the brick itself has also deteriorated enough to let the plug fall out.

Overall there is probably about a 3" x 4" gap that needs filling up and will obviously need to redrill it to put another rawplug back in..

Will normal ready mix Polyfilla be up to the job ?

[SeeFive]

If you mean 3 inches deep and 4 inches around, I would be more confident of getting a good fixing if you go in with a Jetcem style quick drying cement first, keeping it about 1/4 inch below the surface, and then finish with filler.

It'll also dry a lot faster than a huge glob of filler too, which could take days to dry and will probably crack as it does so - and is not recommended if you read the pack (something like build up to surface in 6mm layers I think from memory).

[Jimmyarm]

Apologies, the gap is only about 1" deep but the above dimensions L x H

That stuff you mentioned might be handy for repairing the bricks though, will have a nose thanks

[Wings]

Jimmyarm said:

Apologies, the gap is only about 1" deep but the above dimensions L x H

That stuff you mentioned might be handy for repairing the bricks though, will have a nose thanks

Use two part car filler, mix what you need, then sand, drill etc. etc. You never see car filler fall off a car.

[annodomini2]

Wickes lightweight filler

Best stuff available retail, according to an informed mate.

[Jimmyarm]

Not a wickes anywhere near me afaik

Like the car filler idea though, think there is some knocking about in my box of bits too

[robinhood21]

You might have trouble getting the filler to key to the surrounding plaster/brickwork. If possible, drill a couple of holes (not where the actual fixing will be) and rawlplug and drive a couple of screws in just below the surface. These will help with filler retention.

[Simpo Two]

Jimmyarm said:

raw plug

Interesting how language evolves!

Curtain rails can be buggers because there's so much leverage on a small fixing area.

I have two alternative ideas to filling and then trying to re-fix into the filler. One is to use much longer screws so that they bite properly into the brickwork behind (and the load on the new filler is proportionately less). The other is to move the mounting positions either laterally or vertically, so that you start with a fresh piece of wall.

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 16th October 09:47

[Wings]

Agree, longer screws will give a much greater torque, using thicker, higher guage screws, will only increase the diameter of the drilled hole, at the same time increasing the problem if that doesn’t work.