Drilling through cladding to put up hanging baskets

[EternallyLearning]

I bought a house which has a lot of cladding around the back. I hope that's the right term. Personally I find it ugly and wish it still had just the red brick underneath but it is what it is. I don't know exactly what you call this - I don't think it's pebbledash as I don't think they're any actual stones in it (so far as I know).





I want to put up some trellis and hanging baskets. Is it okay to just drill straight into this stuff and will it support some modest actual weight? Do I need to drill extra deep so I put the plugs into the actual brick? I don't want it to crack or come away or to create some channel where water is going to start seeping into and down the inside. And I'm even wondering if I need to grind down a little rectangle somehow so that the hanging basket brackets can sit flush against it.

My level is still mostly newbie-ish at DIY. At least for anything significant. All help appreciated!

 

[^woody^]

You need to drill through it and into the wall behind.

Ideally, coat the hole with silicone before you insert the wall plug, and then cover the hole and plug with a blob of silicone, and smear it around a bit before you put the screw in.

The silicone prevents water getting in and behind the render to reduce risk of freezing and detaching the render.

 

[EternallyLearning]

Thanks. I feared I would probably have to go for the brick. Well I guestimate it to be about 2-3cm thick so not the worst. I guess I'll have to shove the plug down through the render and into the brick with a pencil or something. Or I use a long plug that includes the depth of the render as well but I feel like that might push the render to crack, maybe?

What a nuisance. Renders like this look so ugly compared to the original brick, imo. I guess people put them on for insulation?

 

[opps]

If you use the cheaper brown plugs with no collar you can push then in to the hole and then use a longer screw to push it back to the brickwork.