# Diy failure.



## postman (25 Feb 2020)

We have been over to Manchester today.To do a little diy job for our son.Simple job two brackets to a wall,then a pole through and hey presto he can hang the clothes on it.So i gets there and there has been four attempts to put these brackets up 
So i start first my bradawl goes straight through the plaster board.First drill bit is narrow,a pilot hole,then a wider drill bit.Put in the rawlplug the screw is too lose it does not tighten up.Well i don't have a full set of screws,so off comes the bracket i put in some polyfilla then another rawlplug inside the first one.Screw it up and hey presto a nice tight fit.Job done.Ok so now we head for home after having lunch with him.We are at Bradford interchange when we get a text the weight of the clothes has pulled out the plugs on the top ,oh bother,all i can offer is for him to take off the bracket and then try some longer screws.See if they go deeper in to the breeze block.Failed diy is a bloody pest when you are miles away from home and don't have your full set of tools,or a bit of leeway in time,we had a stated train time to keep to.I could not carry all my gear,it is never in my opinion a straight and easy job.It seems i did not use long enough screws.Bother.


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## PeteXXX (25 Feb 2020)

Toggle bolts..... 🔩 

You know it makes sense!


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## Beebo (25 Feb 2020)

Are you saying you failed as a parent because your son couldn’t put up his own rail or you failed because you couldn’t put up your son’s rail?


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## PaulSB (25 Feb 2020)

The Readers Digest DIY Manual was a great thing.........does it still exist?

I'm not trying to be clever or funny here but when I bought a house I knew nothing about DIY but I soon taught myself.

I don't see driving to Manchester as the solution.


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## Adam4868 (25 Feb 2020)

If it's plasterboard unless you hit a joist use something like these.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripit-plasterboard-fixing-25-x-14mm-8-pack/682gk


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## MartinQ (25 Feb 2020)

Beebo said:


> Are you saying you failed as a parent because your son couldn’t put up his own rail or you failed because you couldn’t put up your son’s tail?



Think the title is a bit of a tautology anyway ...


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## HMS_Dave (25 Feb 2020)

You are using proper plasterboard rawl plugs? If so, and that failed me then i would use heat and a lump hammer. If that fails it goes in the bin.


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## Low Gear Guy (25 Feb 2020)

A very long bolt straight through the wall with a large washer at each end will take the weight.


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## Cycleops (25 Feb 2020)

Unless you're using fixings specially for plasterboard you're on a loser. Even then you won't be able to put much weight on it.


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## postman (25 Feb 2020)

A bit of chopping and a change of title,now it looks better.


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## postman (25 Feb 2020)

Now it needs moving to the diy section of CC.


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## Bazzer (25 Feb 2020)

Spring toggles 
But it's always a bummer having limited time and tools.


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## cyberknight (25 Feb 2020)

as above toggle bolts or a freestanding rail


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## Chromatic (25 Feb 2020)

Locate the studs in the walls, fix suitably sized wooden battens to the walls into the studs, fix brackets to the battens. Probably not the most aesthetically pleasing solution but it will hold up the rail and clothes. If the wall is painted the battens can be painted the same colour to help blend in


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## slowmotion (25 Feb 2020)

Spring toggles and gravity toggles all work well until you have a very limited space behind the inner face of the plasterboard. Then, they have no chance of getting into the right position when you try and poke them into the gap. When that happens, the only solution is to try one of the plastic plugs that has "wings" that pull up as you tighten the screw.
I loathe trying to fix into plasterboard.


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## screenman (25 Feb 2020)

Err! why not use drylining fixing, I have about 50 in use around this house.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=qA2tWqtde5Y


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## neil_merseyside (25 Feb 2020)

Plank of wood of suitable size glued to wall with no more nails, with a huge surface area of adhesion you can hang a fair bit of weight, plug and screw at each end and the middle, allow 24hrs before using.


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## steveindenmark (26 Feb 2020)

Get your son to pay someone to do it.

The golden rule is once they leave home, they are on their own.


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## Drago (26 Feb 2020)

CCTV footage of postman...


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MU2BO5Obg2k


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## raleighnut (27 Feb 2020)

Is it a 'drylined' wall or a stud wall though.


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## postman (27 Feb 2020)

It has a story this hanger.The owners of the flat put it up it fell off,it was put up again it fell off,my son had a go then i went from Leeds and mine fell off.Had i have known it's history i would have taken a longer drill bit longer rawl plugs and longer screws.That would have fixed it.Anyway enough now thread closed.


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## postman (27 Feb 2020)

Drago said:


> CCTV footage of postman...
> 
> 
> View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MU2BO5Obg2k





I love that sketch,Kenny E was a genius.


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## postman (27 Feb 2020)

screenman said:


> Err! why not use drylining fixing, I have about 50 in use around this house.
> 
> 
> View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=qA2tWqtde5Y



Superb just the thing.


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## keithmac (28 Feb 2020)

If you've got a block behind deep hole, rawl plug knocked in with a long screw does the job.

I wouldn't hang anything of any weight off plasterboard personally.


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## MichaelW2 (28 Feb 2020)

If you cant fit toggle bolts, maybe nails glue with a small screw into the board?


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## Kempstonian (28 Feb 2020)

Nip round to your nearest window company and ask if they'll sell you a few Fischer bolts. They fix windows in with them. You might even find them at B&Q or Screwfix.


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## icowden (28 Feb 2020)

Personally I'd have concerns about using Fischer priced bolts...


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## SkipdiverJohn (29 Feb 2020)

Cycleops said:


> Unless you're using fixings specially for plasterboard you're on a loser. Even then you won't be able to put much weight on it.



This is one of the many reasons I hate modern houses and would never buy one myself.


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## screenman (29 Feb 2020)

SkipdiverJohn said:


> This is one of the many reasons I hate modern houses and would never buy one myself.




I think we are coming to the conclusion you would not buy anything made in the last 50 years.


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## carlosfandangus (29 Feb 2020)

SkipdiverJohn said:


> This is one of the many reasons I hate modern houses and would never buy one myself.



I do understand your statement re older houses, however I live in a 35 year old timber framed house and almost everything is plasterboard, the choice of fixings is key.
I also own a 3 bedroom property that is made of Manx stone (150 years old), walls are 2 foot thick and getting a fix is so hit and miss, sometimes you hit a piece of stone that the drill wont easily penetrate or you hit mortar that will not take a fixing..... you have to make your choice of fixings wisely, some times i have had to take the plaster off, fit a wooden pad in the gaps of stone, fill then screw.


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## SkipdiverJohn (29 Feb 2020)

screenman said:


> I think we are coming to the conclusion you would not buy anything made in the last 50 years.



I own lots of things that are less than 50 years old, but I have no time for crappy disposable construction methods and the vast majority of modern residential properties are flimsy rubbish designed and thrown together as quickly as possible purely for the commercial benefit of the developer and not the buyer. I've got nothing against newly built fully brick & block constructed houses, so long as they also look nice and aren't monstrosities. Sadly few and far between and tend to only be small niche developments done by small scale builders. The big players just want to churn out overpriced junk.


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## keithmac (29 Feb 2020)

screenman said:


> I think we are coming to the conclusion you would not buy anything made in the last 50 years.



Ours is 1950's vintage, proper built but not a square doorframe in the house!.

These new build plasterboard jobs seem a bit "fragile".


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## screenman (29 Feb 2020)

keithmac said:


> Ours is 1950's vintage, proper built but not a square doorframe in the house!.
> 
> These new build plasterboard jobs seem a bit "fragile".




I built mine 11 years ago, I have no problem fixing things to walls, it is a more energy-efficient than any other I have previously owned ranging from built in 1880 up to this one.


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## Rusty Nails (29 Feb 2020)

My son gets round that sort of problem in his flat by leaving all his clothes on chairs or on the floor.


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## SkipdiverJohn (29 Feb 2020)

keithmac said:


> These new build plasterboard jobs seem a bit "fragile".



Not only fragile, but if someone slams a door the whole place shakes and you can hear every time someone next door uses the toilet. Some modern flats even the external walls of the flat facing an internal corridor are flimsy plasterboard. if I wanted to break into such a place I wouldn't bother trying to open a multi-point locked entrance door, I'd just smash a hole through the wall next to it.


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## icowden (29 Feb 2020)

Conversely, my sister lives in a house that is two converted 18th centuryish farm cottages (although the house now looks nothing like an 18th century cottage). On trying to remove tiles from the bathroom wall it disintegrated - turned out to be made from wattle and daub. So older houses do have their issues...


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## SkipdiverJohn (29 Feb 2020)

Places of all ages can have their problems, like lack of effective damp proof courses and shallow foundations - but overall I'd say the best constructed houses tended to date from the mid-late 19th century up until the start of WW2. The materials used tend to be well proven and long lasting and structural timbers generously dimensioned, not everything pared to the bare minimum as done today. The only downside is they don't hold the heat in as well as modern places, but for me the trade-off is worth it.


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## MontyVeda (1 Mar 2020)

A lot of c1900 houses round here seem to have walls made from rubble and cement and the occasional impenetrable boulder... putting up a shelf is a pain in the arse.


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