What's in my wall and how do I drill through it?

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NVP

NVP

NVP

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Howdy,

Installing some skirting and it's bowing on one wall so was attempting to put some frame fixings through to make it flush but I can't bloody drill through the damn wall!!!

It's an internal brick wall, old house built in the 40/50's .

No metal being detected when I scan. The other walls have been fine but this one won't let me go deeper than 4/5cm....

Is it a concrete lintel? It's the ground floor internal wall (skirting so right at the bottom) so not sure if there would be a concrete lintel on the floor.

Can't think of anything else which could stop me drilling through.

Any ideas?

Thanks :)
 
Are you definitely using a masonry drill bit, and was it easy through the rest of the fixing?

(also made that mistake myself..)
 
If it's a brick wall, could it just be a stone in a brick? They can be damn tough to drill when you find them.
 
Haha Yeh defo a masonry bit :) gone through other walls fine, just this one.

If it was a breeze block wouldn't I still be able to make some progress through?

This is as if it gets to one spot and just won't budge. I've tried half a foot either side too and a little higher and lower, definitely something structural.

:(
 
Walls could be based on engineering bricks or hollow blocks filled with concrete. Are you using a SDS drill. Battery hammer drills are a bit pony for anything softer than blockwork or soft facing bricks.

Can you wedge it from another wall and gripfill it then leave it for a day or so?
 
Yeh it's an 18v makita so perhaps I needed to borrow an SDS and give it a good seeing too.

I did manage to gripfill and hold it in place with four 20kg plates, seems to have held OK and the caulk will fill the gap nicely.



Just curious about this wall now, what could be there? How can I check?
 
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I had this when trying to put a tv on the fireplace wall in our bedroom. The bit just hit something and refused to go any deeper. Stud detector didn't suggest any issues.

In the end i gave up!
 
Do you know how thick the plaster is? It could just be that its going though a thick layer of plaster and then stopping at the brick. If its engineering brick then only an SDS will have a chance at going through that.
 
Hmm it could be just the plaster and then hitting some super brick in that bottom part of the wall.

Would there be different types of bricks higher up on the same wall? As I put a radiator up directly above without any problems, just seems to be at base level.

I don't know much about brick types and where they're used in structures.
 
Decent drill bits make a world of difference as well. Used to have no end of issues with a generic "every bit you need" B&Q set, but switched to some dewalt masonry bits and not had any issues since (even with a non sds drill)
 
Armageus said:
Decent drill bits make a world of difference as well. Used to have no end of issues with a generic "every bit you need" B&Q set, but switched to some dewalt masonry bits and not had any issues since (even with a non sds drill)
Click to expand...

Yeah I use dewalt bits on my Makita battery LXT drill and don't have an issue (set to hammer mode).

Also OP, have you considered gluing the skirting board to the wall? Might be easier.
 
Yeh I think it's a bottom row of blue brick's on that wall (only that one it seems).

I use Makita bits which I would have thought would be decent quality, I think an SDS is needed instead on an 18v.

I have glued most of them, it's just where they bow on bent walls that I'm having to fix them with frame fixings.

Anyway, 2 of the 3 rooms have now been done and look quite professional even if I do say so myself :)

Thanks for the advice guys
 
On this subject I need to secure my skirting with plugs and screws, what screws have you used?

I was gonna use a 7mm drill bit, brown plugs and then screws with 10mm heads counter sunk. That sound ok for mdf?
 
NVP said:
Howdy,

Installing some skirting and it's bowing on one wall so was attempting to put some frame fixings through to make it flush but I can't bloody drill through the damn wall!!!

It's an internal brick wall, old house built in the 40/50's .

No metal being detected when I scan. The other walls have been fine but this one won't let me go deeper than 4/5cm....

Is it a concrete lintel? It's the ground floor internal wall (skirting so right at the bottom) so not sure if there would be a concrete lintel on the floor.

Can't think of anything else which could stop me drilling through.

Any ideas?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Is a council/ local authority built house?

My 1950s Corporation of London built ex-Met Police house is brick with mounded concrete shorting boards and picture rails.
 
Hedge said:
On this subject I need to secure my skirting with plugs and screws, what screws have you used?

I was gonna use a 7mm drill bit, brown plugs and then screws with 10mm heads counter sunk. That sound ok for mdf?
Click to expand...

The easier way is with frame fixing screws, that way you simply drill straight through the board and into the wall, hammer in the plug and screw it in. No need to line up holes etc.

Linky

However, don't forget about gripfiller adhesive, most of the wood will stick fine with that, then just screw down where there are any gaps (bent wall etc)
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Is a council/ local authority built house?

My 1950s Corporation of London built ex-Met Police house is brick with mounded concrete shorting boards and picture rails.
Click to expand...
I've no idea whether it was council built or what shorting boards and picture rails are haha :)
 
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