Any suggestions how to drill holes through crumbling plaster?

I’m trying to put up some shelves, but my walls are 20mm of crumbling plaster over red brick. My attempts have led to me having to patch a 15x15cm hole! Time for a beer!

Anyone have any suggestions how to do this and get the shelf level?

I’m thinking I might be able to v.slowly drill through the plaster, turn on the hammer action to get through the brick then fill with No More Nails and push in a rawl plug. Has anyone tried this?

Drill through the plaster with a normal drill/driver (no hammer)
Drill into the brick with a hammer drill as normal.
Use a frame fixing of whatever length needed to hold up your shelves.

that.

what he said, plus holding a piece of wood or something tight against the wall and drilling through that

HSS metalworking drill bit can leave a less destroyed hole in the plaster than a masonry bit- not always though. In my brother’s place we drilled the plaster with a slightly oversized metalwork bit, then the stone with a masonry one (using the same size drill still meant the plaster tore up)

how deep would you go into the brick? I need a 45mm hole for the plug, so should I drill a 65mm hole so the plug just sits in the brick not the plaster? (thanks for your help guys!)

I wouldn’t use standard plugs if I were you.

Use frame fixings like these.

http://a3fixings.co.uk/epages/eshop121172.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop121172/Products/%22001%20Frame%20fixings%208%20x%20100%20Counter%20sunk%22

Excellent, thanks Neal, frame fixings is just what I need. Expensive bits of plastic though!

They are a bit pricey, but they are great for when standard plugs aren’t up to the task.

I always have a few in my fixings box as they come in really handy.

Great for when you need to drill straight though something into the wall and fix it in one go. Like fixing battens to a wall for example.
8mm holes in the timber, drill straight through the holes into the wall, bang a couple of frame fixings in you are done.

If it’s old Victorian plaster, plain it with PVA glue to set it all. If you have a large hole to patch, best to paint the hole first with PVA to stop it crumbling any more, before filling it. That way the filler gets something solid to set to.

As footflaps said: paint the wall with PVA solution. I used several coats on dodgy plaster, I hoped enough to stick the plaster to the brick. That’s a new coat before the previous dried. Plus if you cut regular plastic rawlplugs to the right length and tap them into the holes you won’t stress the plaster.

As well as the above advise … use a small square of Fat (3″) masking tape on the plaster prior to drilling, this will reinforce the plaster as you drill.

Put in the plug, then give the hole a squirt of 50/50 PVA & Water to stabalise the plaster.

If you think the plaster is ‘blown’ ie separated from the brick underneath, drill a small hole above and pour PVA into the gap. Wait 48h for it to set. With old houses, most problems can be resolved with PVA glue, must have used 10s of litres on my house over the years…..

frame fixings is just what I need.

You need 4″ screws ? 😯 How thick is your plaster ffs ? And what will you be keeping on your shelf – I assume nothing as obvious as books?

Btw I hope it’s not a party wall you’re trying to get a fixing to, as I’ve got visions of the end of your drill breaking through into your neighbours living room as you attempt to use ever longer screws.

You need 4″ screws ? How thick is your plaster ffs

Calm down (ffs) 🙄

What I actually said was ……..

Use a frame fixing of whatever length needed to hold up your shelves.

The link was purely to show what a frame fixing was. Not for him to click and buy that exact thing.

.
As he said, his plaster is 20mm thick. So an 80mm frame fixing will be 60mm into a 110mm brick and provide a nice solid fixing.
If that’s ok with you obviously.

So what size frame fixing would you recommend ? (ffs)

They don’t come a great deal smaller than 4″.

Bite the bullet and hack the plaster off and replace with nice easy plasterboard?

So what size frame fixing would you recommend ? (ffs)
They don’t come a great deal smaller than 4″.

Read above.

This ought to do it, but stand back a bit as you let it off:

😉

Tune in same time, next week for more helpful DIY advice !

I’m trying to put up some shelves, but my walls are 20mm of crumbling plaster over red brick. My attempts have led to me having to patch a 15x15cm hole! Time for a beer!

Worked in a house a few years ago,fitting some dado up the stairs, plaster a bit dodgy, about an hour into the job, a builder who was working down the road gives us a knock, asks what we are doing, tells us he was puting up a handrail a few doors down, and the burglar alarm on the next door neighbours house went off, no problem he thought after checking round the house it will reset which it did.
Next morning he got the very very angry neighbour on the phone, his drilling had dislodged the plaster on the house next door, and set the alarm off, it had also blocked the front door, when he got there the front door had been forced in and the entire plasterwork of the wall had fallen of with a huge amount of dust and mess, for which his insurance paid up for.

So beaware it may be your house with dodgy plaster and next doors as well.

Read above.

Ah, the wonders of stealth editing.

OK, I wish the OP the best of luck with 80mm frame fixings.

Ah, the wonders of stealth editing.

It was there a good five minutes before you posted.

OK, I wish the OP the best of luck with 80mm frame fixings.

As you didn’t offer any alternatives, I suppose that’s what he will use.

You win.

If the shelving can take a frame fixer use a concrete screw instead. Like a frame fixer they are strong in shear, unlike a frame fixer they cannot be pulled out.

That’s a good point, if you can get a nice clean hole in the brick, concrete screws would make a strong fixing for sure.

(You can get a more accurate length then too so you can keep ernie happy 🙂 )

You will need to add between 25mm and 45mm to the depth of the plaster and the depth of whatever you are fixing.

So probably around a 75mm screw depending on shelf thickness.