Help!

[cerbylondon]

Afternoon all need some help! Putting up some new wall lights and unfortunatly where I need to drill the new holes is plaster where someone has used filler before. Is there a filler I can get that when dry is strong enough to hold a raw plug and screw. Cannot drill else where because of the wiring. Regards Rob

[bear puncher]

how big is the base of the light? put up a pic, you might be able to cut out a hole big enough to get a strip of wood in behind, screw through the plaster into the wood to give yourself a descent base



@![


@= light fitting
!= plasterboard
[= bit of wood



comprende?

[Psychobert]

Rather than using a plug, you can get more heavy duty fixings from any decent diy place - I've just been putting up shelves and blinds using these metal plugs that expand in the cavity between the plasterboard and the fixing and then tighten against the plasterboard. Don't know what they are called, but easily available in the same isle as B&Q had standard fixings. Spreads the load and seems to do the job <awaits crashing noise from the bathroom..>

[bear puncher]

Psychobert said:

Rather than using a plug, you can get more heavy duty fixings from any decent diy place - I've just been putting up shelves and blinds using these metal plugs that expand in the cavity between the plasterboard and the fixing and then tighten against the plasterboard. Don't know what they are called, but easily available in the same isle as B&Q had standard fixings. Spreads the load and seems to do the job <awaits crashing noise from the bathroom..>

we call them curly wurly fixings, but if you try unscrewing them at a later date the entire lot usually comes out :\, you could use toggles however

[Psychobert]

bear puncher said:

Psychobert said:

Rather than using a plug, you can get more heavy duty fixings from any decent diy place - I've just been putting up shelves and blinds using these metal plugs that expand in the cavity between the plasterboard and the fixing and then tighten against the plasterboard. Don't know what they are called, but easily available in the same isle as B&Q had standard fixings. Spreads the load and seems to do the job <awaits crashing noise from the bathroom..>

we call them curly wurly fixings, but if you try unscrewing them at a later date the entire lot usually comes out :\, you could use toggles however

Ah. Not the curly wurly things, when you unscrew them, the little bds take out half of your wall. Its the toggle things I think I mean.. Long bolt with a sprung doohicky thing that gets pulled back against the wall and tightens that way.

[Budaholic]

cerbylondon said:

Afternoon all need some help! Putting up some new wall lights and unfortunatly where I need to drill the new holes is plaster where someone has used filler before. Is there a filler I can get that when dry is strong enough to hold a raw plug and screw. Cannot drill else where because of the wiring. Regards Rob

It seems to me your fixing into a solid wall, not a plasterboard clad cavity wall. Tetrion and Polycell/Polyfilla both do a stronger cement based alternative to the standard filler they sell.

Its grey rather than white and sets very hard quite quickly. Will be drillable etc and easily hold a rawlplug and screw safely.

good luck

Bud

[cerbylondon]

It seems to me your fixing into a solid wall, not a plasterboard clad cavity wall. Tetrion and Polycell/Polyfilla both do a stronger cement based alternative to the standard filler they sell.

Its grey rather than white and sets very hard quite quickly. Will be drillable etc and easily hold a rawlplug and screw safely.

That what I am after, sounds like it will do the job, off to B&Q! First bit of sun for ages and I am doing DIY should be in a beer garden, thank you all for your help.;)