FAO People who Know about DIY

I will preface this by saying I am utterly woeful when it comes to practical stuff. I like to think I’m as intelligent as the next person (debatable) but wouldn’t be able to wire a plug without Googling it first 😕

Anyway by some miracle I have actually come to own my own property 😯

I’m going to paint the living room but this should be fine as my mate is coming to help me.

However first I need to fill a load of holes in the walls where the previous owners had stuff like shelves fixed to them. Now, they have those plastic plug things in which I believe are called Rawlplugs.

If I pull the plugs out they’re about an inch long. So, if I pull these out, fill the hole with some tissue, and then just put some standard polyfilla in the hole and leave it to dry this will be OK, right? And then I can just sand down any excess after it’s dried, applying another layer if needed? There’s no way I can **** this up…right?

Also, can anyone recommend a stw forum equivalent for DIY?

Woudlnt bother with the tissue my self but each to their own.filled in worse with less 🙂

That’s about it, but I wouldn’t bother with the tissue. Vacume out the holes to get rid of brick dust then squeeze the filler directly in build up to over wall surface level then sand back. Be patient waiting for it to set and you’ll have no worries.

There’s no way I can **** this up…right?

No you seem to have got the gist. Although you needn’t bother with the tissue.

I tend to roll up a bit of newspaper paper and put that into the hole leaving a good 6-10mm of hole for polyfiller. When you’ve got the polyfiller in there dunk the putty knife in water and drag it over the filler and walk away. That should leave it pretty smooth but if needed you can then sand it to remove any burrs

Tbh, STW is as good a forum as any for DIY advice. I think most trades are represented here in one form or another. I’ve never seen the mix of good advice and mickey pulling anywhere else.

diynot.com is a good site for advice though if you need it. Not sure about how active the forum on it is though.

i would go down the no paper (and hoovering) route, other than for wiping your palette knife on after you have smeared the filler smooth. i think b n q, other like minded stores available, do a tube of filler which you can just squeeze into the hole. it’s much easier if you massage the tube first so the filler is softer.

it’s much easier if you massage the tube first so the filler is softer.

Sounds quite sexy. 🙂

I find it easier to drive the raw plugs further into the wall and fill. Removing raw plugs makes bigger holes to fill 😀

Excellent, thanks guys much appreciated! I’m going to give this a go after work tomorrow.

thekingisdead- yeah when I tested some of them today a couple were much, much harder to pull out so I guess I may just drive them in and then fill the gap.

I imagine I will have plenty more DIY questions in the coming weeks!

I also now have a garage which I am incredibly excited about 😀 No more carrying a bike up 3 flights of stairs after every ride, and actually a space to do some work, get a work-stand etc, feels like a proper relief.

Thekingisdead is correct

You need to make sure the old plugs are below the surface, otherwise no amount of filler will make it smooth. You can either punch them in below the surface or a sharp chisel to cut the top off. Don’t take them out or this will make the hole bigger and disturb the surrounding plaster.

I only use the newspaper to avoid have to use a lot of polyfiller which increases drying time, it would have to be a big hole for this requirement though. The paper soaks up moisture in the polyfiller helping it dry quicker so I can crack on with painting. Paper turns to paper mâché too which helps. Need to be careful with tissue as it may soak too much water resulting in cracking of the filler

Trick to getting them out is take a screw bigger than the plugs designed for

Screw it in 2 or three threads a pull.

You have got hold of it but you have not expanded the gripping part so the plugs free to come out 🙂

I also favour the push-em-in method

don’t worry if the filla looks a bit lumpy – sand it, slap on a layer of cheap emulsion and see how that looks, you can always add another layer of filla and then sand again

I like to think I’m as intelligent as the next person (debatable) but wouldn’t be able to wire a plug without Googling it first

😐

Thanks for your input Takisawa, a fantastic contribution

I normally paint the hole with PVA glue to set the plaster, as otherwise the Polyfilla just bonds to lose dust and can fall out. Then put in filler. If it’s a huge hole, look at expanding foam.

However first I need to fill a load of holes in the walls where the previous owners had stuff like shelves fixed to them. Now, they have those plastic plug things in which I believe are called Rawlplugs.

I suspect they will be either red or brown plugs, newspaper or expanding foam won’t be necessary.

I suspect we’re over-thinking filling a few holes with wallplugs in ’em. 😀