Old bricks can't hold nails

[CaptainCsaba]

Hi!

I am still a humble padavan when it comes to DIY stuff, that is why I came here to seek some answers. I am living in a house in Eastern Europe which was built in the 1920s, even then from bricks that were demolished from other houses. I don't really know the term for them but once heard "sand bricks" and they are kind of like that, because when we drill the wall it really resembles sand. No matter what you try to put on walls they just fall after some time. Shelves, painting and everything. We tried to nail stuff to the wall by very gently drilling it and putting in a plastic case that we screwd the screw into. It's better but far from perfect. Although I can manage without paintings there are just stuff that he have to put up, mainly the curtains for the windows and the shower curtain, but all of them already fell out from the wall after a few months.

Is there a way to be able to put stuff on a wall like this that actually holds at least close to a normal brick? We would like to fix the house up, maybe even buy it later but this gives so much trouble, especially for the stuff that gets used daily like the curtains. Is there a way?

 

[Silentrunning]

Welcome to the forum Captain. I am going to make a suggestion but please note that I have never worked with the type of brick you are describing. There is a product called Bondo Glass. It is a two part epoxy with fiberglass fibers embedded. I have used it many times to repair furniture. Once hardened it can be drilled, tapped and sanded to shape. I would drill a hole in the brick and then swivel the drill to make the hole larger on the backside. Pack the hole tight with the epoxy mixture and let it cure. Then drill and insert a screw.

 

[CaptainCsaba]

I like the idea, although they don't sell it here I found some on the UK Amazon. So if I get this right, when Bondo Glass hardens it becomes this really solid hard matter that would hold the screw in place, given that it hold itself because of the bigger part of it in the back of the brick?

 

[Silentrunning]

That’s my theory. It has worked with stripped threads on furniture.

Warning: once you use this stuff and see how great it is you will find lots of places to use it.

 

[jacob]

You should look into a thinner types of glue or epoxy. Something that the bricks can absorb deep into them. To fortify the structure and keep it from breaking down. There is a type of glue used in concrete that could work but I can't remember what it was.

 

[markie]

I have this problem with my walls as the cottage is built from mine waste. Sometimes you hit granite, other times it's just lime mortar. What I usually do is put a little squirt of PU adhesive into the hole before the rawlplug. It's supposedly good for all building materials and will be absorbed into the surrounding material. It's good to put a squirt of water in first as this will help the PU to spread. Also helps cure it.