Masonry Hangers and Fasteners

NOT TOO LONG AGO, the homeowner reached for a "star drill" and a heavy hammer and set himself to quite a few minutes of tedious banging when he wanted to fasten something to a masonry wall. The job can still be done this way, and it's pos­sible that there are some situations where it is the only way, but there are now more modern methods that make this type of ma­sonry work immensely faster and easier.

Electric drill and variety of fasteners make this job a pleasure
Special tool (r.) is Sure-Set. Fastener is put in bottom end with point projecting. With tool held firm, center anvil acts as ram to drive the fast­ener home; will even drive studs into thin steel.

By working with a portable electric drill and a carbide-tip bit, you can eliminate most of the labor and a lot of time when forming a hole in masonry. Carbide-tip bits will make clean holes in any type of material—brick, masonry units, concrete, tile, solid walls or hollow walls. The bits are available in a number of sizes, but the average homeowner can equip himself for most contingencies by buying a 3/8-in. bit and a 1/2-in. bit. For some fasteners, a 3/8-in. hole is needed; others require 1/2 in. When the material is really hard and excessive pressure is required to keep the 1/2-in. drill cutting, you can make the job considerably easier by forming a 3/8-in. hole first and then enlarging it to 1/2 in.

A 1/2-in. portable electric drill is usually required to keep the bits cutting in masonry. The average 1/4-in. electric drill turns too fast and lacks enough power for the job. The 1/2-in. electric drill has more "beef" and its slower speed is in keeping with the re­quirements for drilling through hard material. If you own a 1/4-in. drill and seldom have any use for its heavier 1/2-in. brother, you can always rent the larger size. Don't use the 1/4-in. drill just to avoid the bother of renting, buying or stealing a heavier one. Chances are you'll ruin it.

Fastest and easiest way to build on masonry is to use an electric drill with carbide-tip bit to drill holes for fasteners. This will greatly speed up an extensive job, such as putting up furring strips as above. With this type of fastener, a screw is inserted through wood and then screwed into the sleeve.

Typical expansion sleeve anchor is shown below ("Dryvin" by Star is one). A hole the same di­ameter as sleeve is drilled through board and into wall. Nail expands sleeve and locks it in place.
With this type of fastener (Star's Pin-Grip) as­sembly is inserted through hole in object (shown above with diagonal lines) into hole drilled in wall. Simply drive the pin home to lock fastener.
Left: Expanding sleeves used for building on ma­sonry. Left is fiber sleeve and matching screw; right, lead sleeve and matching screw. Fasten­ers of all types are available for any kind of job.

Some types of masonry fasteners (the Gemco Anchor Nails are one type) do not require drilling. These are perforated plates which are strongly bonded to ma­sonry walls with a special adhesive. Bolts or nails are welded to the sides of the plates that face out from the wall. They can, for example, make the job of installing wood paneling over a basement wall quite easy. The fasteners are glued to the wall in rows to take furring strips, and the wood strips are simply impaled on the nails and solidly secured by clinching over the nail ends.

Actually, there is a fastener for every need regardless of the type of wall or ob­ject to be hung. A look through the illu­strations in this chapter will acquaint you with, if not all, a goodly representation of fasteners ranging from specially hardened nails that you can drive directly into ma­sonry to special tools that employ a pow­der charge to drive fasteners much as a gun fires a bullet.

To select a proper fastener, consider the object to be attached. If it is bulky such as a wall cabinet, it will require a hanger with more holding power than a narrow object such as a picture fame—simply because a wide object exerts more leverage than a narrow one. The weight of the object should also be taken into account.

Another consideration is the type of wall. Is it hollow-core—gypsum board, plaster, hollow masonry units? Or is it a solid wall—brick, solid masonry units, poured concrete? For hollow walls, espe­cially thin ones, there are fasteners which are inserted through a drilled hole and which expand on the blind side of the wall for a firm grip. The fasteners become per­manent installations so that if the object is screw-attached (shelf brackets for ex­ample) it can be removed and then re­placed using the original fastener.

This type of masonry fast­ener does not require drill­ing (right). Perforated metal plate is bonded to wall surface with special adhesive. Plates come with bolts or nails welded in the center to hang objects.

To install furring strips, simply glue rows of fast­eners on the wall using a stretched string as a guide. Use the type of fastener with a nail in the center, impale the furring strips on them and clinch nails. Wall paneling can then be attached to furring (below).

Remington's Mighty-Mite is blank-cartridge actu­ated stud driver. Appropriate stud is dropped down barrel of tool and power load inserted. Light tap fires device, sinking stud into the concrete.

Some kinds of masonry fasteners are semima-chined types like the one shown at right. Sleeve is hammered into the wall using the special seating tool shown in right hand. Bolt is then inserted.

Ordinary masonry nails can be used for some projects, look like that shown in the photograph below. Difficult to hammer into very hard sur­faces, nails must be hit square to avoid bending.

Photo above shows how far blank cartridge stud driver will drive nail into concrete. Light tap sends the stud through the 2x4 and into the floor. Tool can often be rented, saving the purchase price.

Special seating tool shown in upper photograph is used to seat this lead fastener as illustrated. This is one of the many different varieties of fasteners now available for this type of work.

There are different types of fasteners for solid walls, most of them falling into two categories. One category requires a drilled hole into which is inserted a sleeve. The sleeve expands to grip the sides of the hole when a screw, bolt or nail (depending on the type) is inserted. The second category takes in types consisting of a small assem­bly (Star's Pin-Grip is a good example) which is inserted through a hole in both object and wall and then hammered. The sleeve of the assembly has a head much like a rivet and the center pin, when ham­mered, grips the sleeve and also swells the sleeve in the masonry for firm attachment there.

Specially treated nails are driven di­rectly into masonry. The problem here is that if you don't strike square with the hammer you can bend the nails or send them off at an angle so that they don't grip as hard as they should.

Special tools are available which employ nail-like pins. These make it easier to hold the fastener perpendicular to the surface of the wall or slab. Since the pin is en­closed in the sleeve-like tool, it can't bend as you strike it with a hammer.

Various types of adhesive anchors are shown in the drawings. (Gemco is one kind.) At right is a nail type for putting up furring, etc. Below is a hanger sup­port with threaded nut. and an anchor with a bolt for hanging cabinets, boxes.

 HANGER SUPPORT FOR CONDUIT, CABLE, PIPE, ETC.
ANCHOR BOLT FOR HANGING CABINETS, BOXES, OUTLET BOXES, ETC.

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