Drilling through battens & fixing to brick

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by tomincognito, Feb 6, 2019.

  1. tomincognito

    tomincognito New Member

    Noob here, potential silly question alert. Planning to make a fitted cupboard in an alcove when sufficiently informed :)

    For the frame I've seen people place timber against the wall, drill through it and into the brick at once, tap a plug all the way through and screw. I plan to use a 7mm drill, brown plug and 5mm screw but I don't quite understand... as the hole in the batten is bigger than the screw, none of the thread will make contact and it's secured only by the head which is 10mm. Is that secure enough...? Cheers!
     
  2. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    Why not use frame or hammer in fixings, both available from Screwfix.
     
  3. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    That’s the idea as you’ve said, that’s correct

    You don’t want the thread of the screw biting into timber as can stop the timber being pulled tight against the wall

    You can either use partially threaded screws with a plain shank (the bit that passes through the timber) or your method will be good as well.

    Look at Bosch Multi Construction Drill Bits as name suggests, will drill through timber then onto wall/brick with ease

    Drill first hole say centre of batten, poke a plug through, tap with hammer flush with batten, add screw to plug with couple of turns, then tap screw and plug through timber and into wall. Then screw up fairly tight to hold batten to wall but still allow adjustment. Spirit level on batten, level, drill next hole towards one end, repeat procedure

    What’s wall construction ? Any ideas ? Brick / block / other ?

    Use sufficiently long screws to pass through batten and say 50mm into wall
     
    goldenboy and KIAB like this.
  4. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    usually yes. What I sometimes do if I have the room, is put the middle screw in like this, drill through the batten for the other screws with a slightly smaller drill just through into wall, twist the batten to expose the holes, redrill for plugs, insert plugs, twist back. It's always good to think whether the fixings are in shear or tension. If the fixings are in 100% shear you could hang the battens on the wall with 15mm holes just on the screw ends and it wouldn't fall down - the screw would just be a hook - this is why you can hang a heavy picture on a panel pin.
     
  5. tomincognito

    tomincognito New Member

    Hi Dave, many thanks for the response that makes a lot of sense and is just the kind of wisdom I'm looking for.

    It's brick of an old terraced house - I've got a 44mm batten, the plug is 45mm, so allowing for plaster I'm going with 100mm screws. The screws countersink themselves but I imagine you wouldn't want them too tight, could they potentially drive too far through the wood?
     
  6. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    Hmm.. In my experience it doesn't matter - If you have a 10mm screw head and a 7-8mm hole, yes you can wind that screw head into the timber a bit, but it's a damn tight fixing. Try it - drill a hole say 100mm from the end of a longish piece of 3x2 and make a single fixing like this. Now lever up the long end of the batten to lever and stretch the screw. Which is going to give? is the screw head going to pull through the timber? or is the plug going to pull out the wall? I know what I think will happen......

    You'll be fine - even if the screwheads pull down 10-15mm into the timber with a powerdriver it'll still be a good fixing for a cupboard. In fact, allowing the screw head to pull in to the timber is sometimes better than the head bottoming out tight and the power driver pulling the plug back out the wall. You often get this effect when putting small self-cutting headed screws into laminated chipboard or mdf. The force to cut into the laminate face is higher than the thread can grip in the material, so the thread just strips in the hole and the screw head stays proud - always countersink laminated materials!
     
  7. tomincognito

    tomincognito New Member

    Good man, very useful advice as well, thank you!
     
  8. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    Apol to DIY dave - I read his comment as "you don't want the HEAD.." - when he actually said "you don't want the THREAD.." - which is correct - you don't want thread biting in both timber and fixing. Dislexic today:p.
     
  9. DIY womble

    DIY womble Well-Known Member

    I do same as rusty , drill and fix one to hold in place , clearance hole through timber and mark walls , remove timber etc
    Heads easily sink in softwood so prefer tighter hole but countersink knots or hardwood
     

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