Repair fixings for radiator in brickwork wall?
Repair fixings for radiator in brickwork wall?
Author
Discussion

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

Yesterday (17:20)
quotequote all
We took off a radiator for decorating. Unfortunately my other half removed the brackets, which in hindsight has meant all the fixing holes have failed - we have very weak backing plaster and lime mortar in our 1930s house.

As a result the holes have blown out significantly - eg 30mm + at the surface, meaning I can’t easily fix it. Worse the fixings I think by chance are sitting on a mortar line, and hence are like cheese and keep getting worse the more I do. I can’t easily move the brackets, and redrilling them and trying again seems to have resulted in the same result.

Anyone got any ideas of how to repair? Was wondering if a tonne of resin from a resin fixing kit would give me something to screw into? Or perhaps rapid repair mortar, although concerned it’ll just crumble. Anyone got any experience?

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

Yesterday (17:29)
quotequote all
hellorent said:
Would you then use with a threaded stud or just drill and screw?

hellorent

562 posts

80 months

Yesterday (17:32)
quotequote all
I've used numerous times in thermo block and always put a piece of stud in it, never had a problem, just make sure measurement's are spot on as you don't get much time before it goes off.

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

Yesterday (17:34)
quotequote all
This is my worry with needing to do stud fixings - the brackets are all over the place, and it’s one and done!!

wolfracesonic

8,387 posts

144 months

Yesterday (19:05)
quotequote all
Can you not drill some additional holes in the brackets, to one side of and above and below the existing ones so that you can get a fixing into brick rather than a joint?

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

Yesterday (20:10)
quotequote all
Tried that, concrete screw threaded out. Twice. Think it’s a combo of crappy mortar/plaster and also cinder block sometimes on the inner leaf. Bad luck on each one.

Close to using glue 😂

Danns

388 posts

76 months

hellorent said:
just make sure measurement's are spot on as you don't get much time before it goes off.
Put it in the freezer for a bit before hand - had to do so on some outdoor jobs in the summer where it was setting within 20 seconds of leaving the nozzle.

Learnt that trick the hard way working on a frozen roof at 3am mid December and it taking forever before I could pull test.

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

That’s a great tip thanks. I did try to use it once similarly and gave up because it was going off so fast.

Still tempted to rapid set mortar it as atleast I can drill that

Fatboy

8,229 posts

289 months

Put the brackets in place, mark round them on the wall, then put resin in the holes, put the brackets in place to the marks on the wall and push the threaded rod through the bracket and hold until it sets.

This will make sure you get the studs spot on....

Perhaps put some parcel tape on the back of th bracket so the resin doesn't bond the bracket to the wall in case you need to remove it...

RGG

731 posts

34 months


My solution

I used a large diameter hole saw, say 50mm + and drilled out the area surrounding the failed hole down through the plasterboard and lime plaster.

I filled the area with Toupret Murex (resin based filler) and then redrilled and fitted the new fixing.

Works very well and the Murex is perfect for the job.

Toolstation and Screwfix have it in stock.

Pheo

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

219 months

RGG said:
My solution

I used a large diameter hole saw, say 50mm + and drilled out the area surrounding the failed hole down through the plasterboard and lime plaster.

I filled the area with Toupret Murex (resin based filler) and then redrilled and fitted the new fixing.

Works very well and the Murex is perfect for the job.

Toolstation and Screwfix have it in stock.
That’s innovative.

I am also thinking 18mm ply or similar cut larger than bracket, screw that to wall, allowing me to put fixings wherever. But it brings it out 18mm so likely would need to adjust rad piping.

Sheepshanks

37,885 posts

136 months

Pheo said:
That s innovative.

I am also thinking 18mm ply or similar cut larger than bracket, screw that to wall, allowing me to put fixings wherever. But it brings it out 18mm so likely would need to adjust rad piping.

If it’s hidden behind the rad you could sink that into the plaster?

Someone (maybe Plasplugs) used to do a hefty squashy plug which expanded as the screw was tightened which I used regularly in a house we had with crumbly breeze blocks but they don t seems to make them any more. If you re working in a mortar gap years ago builders just used to hammer bits of wood in and screw into those.

Gareth79

8,464 posts

263 months

Fatboy said:
Put the brackets in place, mark round them on the wall, then put resin in the holes, put the brackets in place to the marks on the wall and push the threaded rod through the bracket and hold until it sets.

This will make sure you get the studs spot on....

Perhaps put some parcel tape on the back of th bracket so the resin doesn't bond the bracket to the wall in case you need to remove it...
That's similar to what I did when I needed to fix some very heavy aerial brackets on a wall. I drilled the M6 mounting holes in the bracket first, then I drilled a small hole in the bracket and wall to temporarily fix the bracket in place using a rawlplug and screw. I then used an SDS drill through the mounting holes to drill the main holes in the wall, and used an air line to blow the dust out. Finally I squirted the resin in and pushed the threaded rods in their final positions, and left it to set (overnight I think). I then spun on the nuts and it was done! The main thing was being careful to keep the resin off the exposed threads, although I imagine a brush on a grinder would get it off if necessary. I used some grey and silver stuff from Toolstation, in a green tube I think.

RGG

731 posts

34 months

Pheo said:
RGG said:
My solution

I used a large diameter hole saw, say 50mm + and drilled out the area surrounding the failed hole down through the plasterboard and lime plaster.

I filled the area with Toupret Murex (resin based filler) and then redrilled and fitted the new fixing.

Works very well and the Murex is perfect for the job.

Toolstation and Screwfix have it in stock.
That s innovative.

I am also thinking 18mm ply or similar cut larger than bracket, screw that to wall, allowing me to put fixings wherever. But it brings it out 18mm so likely would need to adjust rad piping.
Here's a photo of a rough bit of work - I was needing to fix a wash basin through plasterboard - a small void - through a bit of lime plaster and then 250 year old crumbly Georgian bricks.

Some similarities to yours - Just drilling out everything down to the brick enabled the resin filler to take the place of the plasterboard, void and lime plaster and provide an immensely secure base for the fixing to go in.
The thing is it's so simple to accomplish.