Forum menu
Need some expertise from the stw massive.
I have a big steel gate round the side of my house, probably about 50-60kgs. The bottom pin is in concrete on the ground; and then there's a hinge/ eye bolted into the wall higher up, holding it all vertical. But the bolts are coming out of the wall - being Georgian, the wall's a bit of a crapshoot with huge chunks of rock held together with enormous amounts of mortar. If you're lucky when you drill in you get a bit of rock; in this case the bolt's obviously just gone into mortar, the mortar's crumbling, and the hinge and gate are just falling off the wall.
It looks like a chemical anchor (resin) is the answer - squirt that in the hole, insert a big anchor rod, let it cure, then attach the hinge plate. Really the plate should be bigger, with 4 bolt holes, but hey ho.
So, advice time: anything to be aware of when getting the resin and bolt all set up? Getting a stiff brush in the hole and clearing out the dust is essential - although not sure how that works if it's all mortar in there...
After advice on here I used resin and rod to fasten railings to a wall. I was advised to drill holes 2mm larger than the fixings and I blew the dust out with compressed air. I wouldn’t worry about voids, I had some and the Rawlplug two part resin filled them and set very well. The biggest problem was finding the right size sealant gun at a reasonable price, the resin was cheaper from Screwfix for 3 tubes.
Is that a concrete block wall or brick, rendered with fake pointing lines?
If concrete block you may only have a inch of concrete before you hit the hollow in the middle.
Could you get two peices of flat bar and fit one each side, vertically over the original plate. Do away with the original bolt holes and drill two new ones above and below the original mounting. Then you will have 4 bolts holding the gate up, and you could resin bond them as well.
I wasn't impressed with the Rawlplug stuff, I used some as it was the only thing my local builders merchant had in stock. The way it mixes the 2 part epoxy is crap, it all came out at inconsistent rates. Could be user error but I don't see how.
Previously used the Fischer stuff which is a bit more expensive but far better.
Have recently used the Fischer stuff. It sets very quickly.
bit of steel plate welded to the original bracket and a few new wall anchors spread over a wider area?:
No; it's original 1850s wall, solid 2' thick (albeit "solid" meaning no gaps rather than doesn't crumble) mainly stone and mortar, under the render.Is that a concrete block wall or brick, rendered with fake pointing lines?
I wasn't impressed with the Rawlplug stuff, I used some as it was the only thing my local builders merchant had in stock. The way it mixes the 2 part epoxy is crap, it all came out at inconsistent rates. Could be user error but I don't see how.
Ah, very good to know - was checking out the screwfix reviews on the Rawlplug stuff earlier, and it sounded a bit variable in terms of output. Definitely not idiotproof, which means it may not be right for me 🤣
Is the Fischer stuff 2-part too?
Could you get two peices of flat bar and fit one each side, vertically over the original plate.
Looking again at the photo I was wondering something along those lines. There's a lot of angular load, the weight of the gate pulling the plate away from the wall could well bend and warp anything that's not robust enough. But it would be the option with the best chance of success if the resin anchor doesn't work
Is the Fischer stuff 2-part too?
Yes, all this stuff is 2 part epoxy. But the Fischer stuff has a tube within a tube to help the mixing and a much better nozzle. The Rawlplug stuff has 2 plastic bags within the tube that it relies on bursting somehow and hoping they mix properly.
I recently used Fischer resin and was impressed. The one I used seems slightly different;
https://www.screwfix.com/p/fischer-fis-vl-300-t-vinylester-resin-300ml/3613x
I'm not going to begin to try and say which is the better for your application, seems to be a 'cracked' vs. 'non-cracked' concrete thing. The one I used seemed to work flawlessly in my slightly crumbly walls.
As mentioned above, I used the Rawlplug resin, I downloaded the pdf instructions and the key is to check it’s mixed and a uniform colour when it comes out. I did my railings and my mates balcony with no problems whatsoever.
I'm sure I've recommended the rawl R-kem on here before.
If the masonry is hollow (looking at you bricks) you can get wire mesh plugs that you slip in then pump full of resin and it helps secure the anchor.
The R-kem smells nice too.
Drill a hole,
clean it out,
a puffer (a straw stuck in the hole and stay off to the side then blow, the side bit is critical unless you want a face ful of dust)
Brush it out (the hole brush or ram a touth brush in to clear out any remaining debris.
Pump resin in (with your new tough silicone gun that will last years)
Stick fixing in and rotate it to get good adhesion.
Snif the resin.
Wait to cure based on times on packet.
I've hung people and heavy suspended scaffold off resin anchors, they're well tough.
I think that if you are in mortar ,even with the new chem fixing the same problem could happen in the future?
A bigger bracket is a good idea to spread the load more.
The main load of the weight of the gate is on the post, the "wiggle" and "waggle" factor is on these bolts and they will loosen mortar and even stone over time in my view.
They need to be really good and strong.
I would avoid the gates slamming as well .
Maybe a damper or something.
you basically want to use a Hilti Hit kit which is what i use for chemically fixing steelwork in masonry at work.
However you dont really want to be buying a Hilti hit kit as they are expensive but you can buy a copy from somewher like screwfix etc
Essentially you do what jamiemcf describes perfectly.
However, bear in mind that once the bolts and resin is in and cured you wont be getting the gate off. So you might want to swap the bolts for threaded stainless rod and fix that in first. Then hang the gate and put separate bolts on the threaded rod and tighten. That way the gate will be removable for when you need to get a grand piano through and you need an extra inch
How about also adding a wheel at the other end so that all the weight isn't pulling on the bolts all the time?
You can even get them in black to match the gate...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/gatemate-heavy-duty-gate-wheel-100mm-black/393YV?tc=UC8
https://media.screwfix.com/is/image/ae235/393YV_A1?$fxSharpen$=&wid=414&hei=414&dpr=on
If you have an SDS drill then go big with a 12 or 14mm bit. Nice deep hole say 150mm . Blow out with tack pump . Half fill with resin of choice. I have used K-rem chemfix with the std gun sized tubes and its been fine. Push in threaded bar M8 or M10 , use SS for longevity. You can buy singles at Toolstation, Wind on nut , cut to length with angle grinder . Remove nut , it should square up any threads for you. Wait an hour or so then refix the gate , bit of copper slip on the threads and job jobbed.
I’d try expanding bolts for concrete/masonry first, if they fail then resort to resin fixed.
Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful. The existing hole was 16mm, c120mm - although the mortar's crumbling, so it's probably bit bigger now. Got some M16 studs on order, got the Fischer resin, got my track pump ready to go, think I have a plan!