Drilling holes gone wrong

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grizzledman89

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So my son was drilling holes in a window recess for some blinds and it’s all gone horribly wrong — two chunks came off and fractured a larger area, and I’m trying to help but can’t remove the wall plugs (the mess you can see is a result of attempts to get out).

In the other image you can see the ideal hole positioning fine on the other wall, he said that side was much easier

How do I fix the wall and remake the two holes I need so that it’s all strong?
 

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You need an sds drill to go through a concrete lintel.
Even small plugs (5mm) work perfectly in concrete.
Filler time now.
 
johnny2007 said:
You need an sds drill to go through a concrete lintel.
Even small plugs (5mm) work perfectly in concrete.
Filler time now.
Click to expand...
What kind of filler? I want to make sure the wall is as strong as it can be and I don’t have any experience doing that
 
As a decorator, I normally use 2 pack (car) filler for those kind of repairs. I can fill and sand back less than an hour later. Often requires a second fill/sand though. Regardless, you can fill and paint in one day.
 
opps said:
As a decorator, I normally use 2 pack (car) filler for those kind of repairs. I can fill and sand back less than an hour later. Often requires a second fill/sand though. Regardless, you can fill and paint in one day.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Any particular brand you’d recommend? And would it be strong enough to bear weight / how long until I drill again? (Just some blinds)
 
grizzledman89 said:
Thanks! Any particular brand you’d recommend? And would it be strong enough to bear weight / how long until I drill again? (Just some blinds)
Click to expand...

Personally, I prefer the Upol Easy 1- I buy the large 3.5L tins, but you don't need anywhere near that much.

No filler will be strong enough to "weight load" though. You will need to drill deeper and possibly hammer in two red plugs into the same hole (one after the other _ making a longer plug) and then use a longer screw. All fillers should be treated as cosmetic. Some will extol their ability to be screwed in to, but that is little more than dodgy/questionable marketing.
 
opps said:
Personally, I prefer the Upol Easy 1- I buy the large 3.5L tins, but you don't need anywhere near that much.

No filler will be strong enough to "weight load" though. You will need to drill deeper and possibly hammer in two red plugs into the same hole (one after the other _ making a longer plug) and then use a longer screw. All fillers should be treated as cosmetic. Some will extol their ability to be screwed in to, but that is little more than dodgy/questionable marketing.
Click to expand...
Ah ok - would you recommend based on the results here that I get a stronger SDS drill and drill upwards through the lintel or do it on the sides? I think there’s less damage on the ceiling side though met a lot of resistance at the 3cm-ish point with my current drill, so tried the sides
 
You seem to have one fitting that looks ok on the vertical section- yeah. I would use a SDS drill to drill one hole in the concrete lintel.

BTW, please don't take offence, do you know what a sds drill is? It uses pneumatics to push (read: hammer) the drill bit forward. A bog standard "hammer" drill uses the pressure that you apply to (effectively) make the drill bit slip back towards you before then making it go forward again.

A SDS drill will drill will drill a 6mm (by 50mm) hole in concrete in about 7 seconds. A regular hammer drill will probably give up once it hits the concrete, or deviate off.

A SDS drill bit has slots in the shaft to enable it to be hammered forward whilst it rotates, standard hammer drills use masonry bit with regular round shafts.

Again, please do not think that I am trying to be condescending. I was about 27 before I was forced to borrow a SDS drill. I had moved to a property with extremely hard internal cement skinned walls. I once made a 7mm (regular) masonry drill bit glow red and bend after drilling for about 10 minutes and I had only gone about 5mm deep. I borrowed a SDS drill and it took about 7 seconds. I went out and purchased my own SDS drill.
 
opps said:
You seem to have one fitting that looks ok on the vertical section- yeah. I would use a SDS drill to drill one hole in the concrete lintel.

BTW, please don't take offence, do you know what a sds drill is? It uses pneumatics to push (read: hammer) the drill bit forward. A bog standard "hammer" drill uses the pressure that you apply to (effectively) make the drill bit slip back towards you before then making it go forward again.

A SDS drill will drill will drill a 6mm (by 50mm) hole in concrete in about 7 seconds. A regular hammer drill will probably give up once it hits the concrete, or deviate off.

A SDS drill bit has slots in the shaft to enable it to be hammered forward whilst it rotates, standard hammer drills use masonry bit with regular round shafts.

Again, please do not think that I am trying to be condescending. I was about 27 before I was forced to borrow a SDS drill. I had moved to a property with extremely hard internal cement skinned walls. I once made a 7mm (regular) masonry drill bit glow red and bend after drilling for about 10 minutes and I had only gone about 5mm deep. I borrowed a SDS drill and it took about 7 seconds. I went out and purchased my own SDS drill.
Click to expand...
Oh not at all! I’ve never used an SDS drill. My budget is probably 100 if there’s any in that range I could get? Anything that I should be prepared for that might go wrong with me using one?

Secondly, with these existing rawl plugs - I can’t get them out. I tried pulling, screwing a nail in a little way then gripping round to pull, but nothing. I’ve removed plugs before but these are proving really wedged in - any advice for removing them?
 
You need a cement based filler, toupret do a good one.
 
Or just cut the plugs flush before filling.
I've had my makita hr2470 sds for many years and abused it greatly, but it's still going as strong as day 1.
I think it's around the £100 mark.
As an occasional user, get the corded one, not cordless.
Otherwise, plenty of them on ebay for £50.
And plenty of youtube video on how to refurbish them to new conditions.
 
If I can't get plugs out, I use a sharp snap off 9mm knife to remove anything that is proud. The blade will flex enough to do a flush cut.

eg https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-retractable-9mm-snap-off-knife/7723V?tc=ST6

I then use a screw, with the head against the plug and try to hammer it a couple of mm below the surface.

If the above doesn't work, I use a 6mm drill bit to drill into the plug.

With regards to the SDS drill, if you get one with rotation-stop (roto-stop) you will be able to use it to chisel concrete/plaster etc. Extremely useful if, for example) you need to break up the concrete around a rotten wooden fence post.

eg https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb872sds-3-27kg-electric-hammer-drill-240v/310vv (£48)
 
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