DIY Tips: #7 How to fix into different wall types

DIY Tips: #7 How to fix into different wall types


Houses around Reading will have many variations of wall, from plastered brick and mortar, stud walling with lath and plaster or plasterboard. Fixing into  some types of wall presents us “DiYers” with an interesting set of problems (or an interesting set of potential solutions if you're a budding Psychologist)

Ideally you will need:
A stud locator – seriously – this will help locate the studding in partition or stud-walling
Bradawl
Electric or Hand Drill
Computer controlled robotic arm (to hold your pencil)
A screw driver or driver bit drill attachment
Suitable screws 
 
Strong fixings into plain brick/render/plaster walls is easily made with “rawl” type plugs and screws as we have already discovered in [DiY Tasks #5 & #6]

However fixing into a wall becomes more interesting when you have lath & plaster. Lath & Plaster is made from a wooden framework of “studs” and a lattice of thin strips of wood (laths) fixed to the studs and then plaster over the top – the wet plaster oozes through the gaps in the laths to make a good bond.

You'll be able to tell if you have a lath & plaster wall in your 'turn-of-the-century terrace' by either tapping on the wall in different places and getting a 'hollow' sound or by the fact that when you drill into it, your drill just keeps disappearing without seeming to have the normal resistance when drilling into, for example, a brick wall. 

If you have a teenager they may even have already resolved this question for you by kicking the wall in teenage angst ridden anger or by idly poking around in some un-repaired hole, exposing a cavernous space behind (the devil makes work for idle hands, as my old nan used to say). This is supposed to be a DiY column so I'm not going to get into the massive and protracted debate as to why teenagers do what they do or why some teenagers do and others don't – suffice to say – if you have one, good luck. 

These lath & plaster stud walls will normally only be found on 'internal' walls between rooms, hallways or stairs. If you find you have lath & plaster for an outside wall, I strongly suggest you're either living in a hippy commune and you need to “let go man” and leave the 70's behind, or you really must call in a building inspector to look at your house.

You'll find it virtually impossible to make a firm fixing into lath & plaster – unless you stick huge bolts right through both sides of the wall and brace it with steel shackles and plates of course – or you could put your screws into the wooden studs which run floor to ceiling at around 14” intervals for the length of the wall (this can and does vary up to around 16”). 

Find the studs, either with your handy (cost a few bob from any decent DiY shop) or by simply tapping on the wall in various places. You'll know the stud when your knock sounds kind of, 'not hollow'. Or, you could use a bradawl to poke through the laths in different places until you meet resistance - but then of course you'll have to fill all those little holes with filler and sand them and paint and it all gets very messy just for putting up a shelf. Mark the position of the studs across your wall with a feint pencil mark. See the picture at the top.

Fixing into a more modern stud wall with plasterboard is much the same – don't try to fix anything other than “blu-tak” onto the plasterboard – instead fix through that and into the studs. Again, see the picture above.

The main thinking behind finding the studs in this type of walling is that we need to fix our bracket or what-have-you into the stud rather than the hollow lath & plaster part of the wall.


Do let me know if you'd like me to suggest places to purchase tools and hardware needed for these DiY tasks and I'll see what I can do.

Also see 
http://www.getreading.co.uk/blogs/andanotherthing/s/2116600_diy_dave_fixing_into_lath_and_plaster_walls


Keep safe
Dave

DIY Tips: #6 How to fix a crumbled and messed-up hole for a rawl type plug using filler.

Fixing anything to a wall using brackets is really a simple task and should 

provide years of faithful service in holding up your books or knick-knackery. 

However if the wall is a bit crumbly or you are trying to use an old hole which 

has broken out and crumbled, you will need something to repair the mess.

You will need:
Fine Ready-Mixed filler (can use powdered but “Ready-Mix” is easier)
Spatula or filler knife (flatter, better finish than a thumb)
Fine grade sand paper
Electric or Hand Drill
Computer controlled robotic arm
Plastic rawl type plugs (I'd use the brown plugs although read task #5 first)
Masonry Drill bit size 6 - 7mm
A cross-head screw driver or drill attachment
Suitable screws (with brown rawl plugs I'd use 1.5” (either 8's or 10's))


First TIP: Old walls - made of rendered and plastered brick or lath & plaster - do sometimes crumble when you try to fix anything into them.

With a hole like the one in the picture, you will need to get the vacuum cleaner and suck all the dust and little bits of rubble out to leave a clean (if a little unsightly) hole in the wall. It is a good idea to use a teenager for this, if 

you have one around – it will help them to feel useful. They will probably 

“wander off-task” and start to experiment with sucking different things with the vacuum nozzle or sucking their hair although with a little nudging back onto task they should manage it without too much trouble.

Second TIP: If the hole is deeper than, say, a quarter of an inch (a few 

millimeters in metric) you should fill it in stages, allowing each stage and 

application of filler to harden before applying the next.

Press the filler as deep into the hole as you can, with your filler knife and in stages until the surface is level with the original wall and then smooth it off 

to a good finish by wetting the filler knife and running it over the repair 

(rather like icing a cake). Leave this a day or so to fully harden and cure.

Third TIP: It is best to leave a smooth finish with the filler knife, to save on hours of sanding once it has hardened.

Finish off the repair by gently sanding in a circular motion on and around the 

repair until the edges are all blended-in and flush with the original wall. Paint over the repair. You could consider using your handy teenager to hold the vacuum cleaner hose near where you are sanding to at least catch some of the dust – if you don't have a spare teenager, you will need to hold the vacuum hose in your 

teeth or under your chin.

Fourth Tip: To get a good flat finish to your sanding – wrap the sand-paper 

around a “noggin” of wood.

Now, you can drill into that repair and fix a rawl type plastic plug and screw as normal. I wouldn't hang my exercise equipment off it or use it as an abseil 

anchor point although it should be “pretty strong” say, for a nik-nak shelf or 

clock and what-have-you.

Alas, we didn't need the Computer Controlled Robotic Arm for this job either 

although in years to come they'll be everywhere so we need to get used to having them around.

Next week we shall look at how to fix into different types of walls, brick, 

block, lath and plaster and dry-lined. After this we will get into painting and wall-papering. Do let me know if you'd like me to suggest places to purchase 

tools and hardware needed for these DiY tasks and I'll see what I can do.

You can also read these DiY Tips and Tasks at > 
http://www.getreading.co.uk/blogs/andanotherthing/s/2116186_diy_dave_how_to_fix_a_wornout_hole



Keep Safe
Dave