Anchors in old brick

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lat1

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I recently tried to use tap-cons as anchors in some 100 year old brick and it didn't work out all that well. I used the right drill bit, but the screws really didn't grAb too much. I ended up packing out the holes with some plastic, and that seemed to snug things up a lot. Any recomendations on better anchors for old, crumbley brick?
 
Lead ancors work well in that.


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Use the next size smaller drill bit.
For 1/4" tapcon the standard size is 3/16" bit.
1/32" smaller for softer material like old brick whick is 5/32".
Also for harder material that wants to snap the tapcon off before it's snug I use 7/32".
In general I try to have a few bits in 5/32, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4", an extra 5/16 driver bit, and an assortment of 1/4 tapcon sizes.

A few other tips.
Make sure you drill at least 1/4" deeper. The dust needs a place to go when you drive the tapcon or it will bottom out.

It can make a difference if you work the drill bit back and forth a few times once the hole is drilled. Call it fine tuning the size. Such as if you go down to a 5/32 and it's too tight then reem it out a hair and it will fit better.

Use a short tap con. If that strips go to the next size longer one (make sure the hole is deep enough). If that strips maybe you can go with a 1/4 plastic anchor.

Try to imagine what your drilling into. Such as some bricks have hollow spots. You need to size the tapcon just right so the threads hit land mostly on the solid part.

A bad bit can give you a hole slightly to large.

If you got more than 6 or 10 holes to drill you may be better of with a corded hammer drill if power is available.

I like to use the 1/4" diameter with the 5/16 head. Those can be easy enough to break I can't imagine the 3/16. The 5/16 driver wears out enough I would hate to try the phillips.
 
A roto-hammer blasts that brick in two.

I like a bonafide hammer drill to spin-out a clean hole and use 5/16 plastic anchors, with #12 screws

The mortar on that old stuff fares hardly better than sand and egg-whites.
 
Use your drill in drill mode. Forget the hammer on that old red brick. You don't need it. Cordless with a masonry bit will drill right in. I like using plastic anchors in brick as there is less stress on the brick that way.
 
Plastic anchor

Plastic anchor

Use the ol plastic anchor and #10 screw. They hold more than you think. If you are worried it might not hold, put the hole for the anchor at a slight angle upward. It will help with he shear force of the screw deforming the plastic and pulling out. Like glue, an anchor is only as strong as the material you are putting it in or on to. Oh yeah, they are cheap too.
 
I find that as the drill bit wears, the holes become larger. It's poor economy to try to get as many holes as possible out of a bit, unless the hole size doesn't matter. Tapcons are not very tolerant of oversize or undersize holes.
 
I had an instance where the house was being "Tuck Pointed", the brick was being sanded. I was told this removes the hard outer surface, these bricks would not hold any type of expansion ancher (I use lead anchors frequently).

I used Gorilla glue and a wedge anchor. The Gorilla glue seams to penetrate the pores in the brick.

I was told an Easy anchor (Threaded Drywall Anchor) into a small pilot hole works.
 
No luck with tap cons

No luck with tap cons

I have had nothing but bad luck with tap cons, have tried them a number of times. Some people love them. I like plastic anchors for most things. The threaded lead anchors someone pictured work very well. So do lead lag shields, they look sort of like plastic anchors. I like wedge anchors too, except that 1/4 inchers can sometimes slip and turn. 3/8 or larger work well in most material. I've also used silicone caulk if a plastic anchor wanted to slip. I'm trying out some glue called power stick too. The supplier had a display of it used to glue boxes to brick and block, also straps, rods, etc. Wouldn't trust it for life/limb but may be a good thing where drilling is not practical. Grainger use to carry threaded anchors that glue into the hole. Lots of stuff out there.
 
What if you drilled out maybe a 3/8" hole and glued in rawl plugs. The use a good solid wood screw afterwards, not a metal screw like I see alot of people use. Seems like those worked pretty good before when brick kinda crumbled. We usually use the drop-in anchors with the Greenlee setting tool on newer brick and it works well.
 
I use epoxy to set my plastic anchors. for light weight things. I use epoxy and tap ti lead anchors for panels and riser pipes. I too have found not to use the hammer drill setting but rather to use a masonry bit and drill set to drill only.
that old sand brick just falls made out of wood like they did in the old days.

I suppose you could do like they did in the old days before plastic anchors and use small wedges of wood in the holes I can not imagine how difficult it was in the old days before hammer drills or electric drills, sawszall, band saws, Circular saws.
could use imagine what it was like trying to install straps on Brick , wood or Metal.
 
Lead anchors ,Plastic anchors ,Split wedge anchors all work well in soft masonry. Lead and plastic cannot be used in cielings for fire melting purposes. Hilti has a feathersoft setting on many of their smaller drills for drilling granite countertops and delicate masonry.
 
For you Tapcon Fans

For you Tapcon Fans

Ditto to Larry's post. In a pinch if you have to use tapcons, I have found that inserting a wire in the hole prior to installing the tapcon gives it some extra bite. It saves your hole if you over-drill--Same idea as wood but we seem to be able to find wire scraps more conveniently.
 
Wooden plugs are not allowed, by code. I don't have NEC at the moment, but it specifies that. They eventually work loose. I have seen wood backing used, if web of a block is accessable, slide a 2x4 or such into the web and go through block to it. Nothing illegal about that.
 
jmellc said:
Wooden plugs are not allowed, by code. I don't have NEC at the moment, but it specifies that. They eventually work loose. I have seen wood backing used, if web of a block is accessable, slide a 2x4 or such into the web and go through block to it. Nothing illegal about that.
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110.13 Mounting and Cooling of Equipment.
(A) Mounting. Electrical equipment shall be firmly secured to the surface on which it is mounted. Wooden plugs driven into holes in masonry, concrete, plaster, or similar materials shall not be used.
 
I like these too, or the wedge anchors similar to them, with the small band near the end. These types can also be driven down if object is to be moved later on. Drill holes a little deep and they easily hammer down later, holes can be mortared over if needed.
 
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