Block crumbled when hanging curtain rail - what to do?

Esho

I was drilling some holes to hang a curtain rail. I was going to use bigger rawl plugs than the ones that came with the rain, because the curtains are heavy.

When I drilled the hole for the rawlplug, the block underneath turned to dust.

There's no way that part of the wall will support anything.

Any idea what the problem is, and how I can get that curtain rail up?

_Brian

Worst case scenario it could be Pyrite

Tow

A photo would be useful. If not too big a hole I would fill it with plaster (or a stronger filler) with the rawl(s) plug set in it.

shaunr68

Can you try again a few inches to the right or left? A slightly offset curtain rail won't be noticeable, and you could then fill the original hole. However if the whole block is crumbling then this would suggest something more serious as suggested above. What type of block?

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Sleeper12

Esho wrote:

Any idea what the problem is, and how I can get that curtain rail up?

When the house was built & the head went in there we holes left. The plaster filled the holes with what he had handy. Most likely bonding. Bonding is soft and won't support anything.
You can try with deeper holes. I have had to use 6 inchicore screws at times.
It might be easier to go higher or lower by a few inches. You might hit stronger stuff. Hanging curtain poles can be one of the most difficult diy jobs when it doesn't work out like this.

Gravelly

Could be:

A hollow block wall - just use a hollow block fixing
A plasterboard wall - use a plasterboard fixing or fix to studs
If an old house, cinder or fly ash block - anchor the fixing using gripfill or similar

But the most likely of all is that it was just a gap between blocks or a corner of a block broken off and filled with plaster - just move the fitting to one side, or fix the plug in place using gripfill.

wexfordman2

Esho wrote: »

I was drilling some holes to hang a curtain rail. I was going to use bigger rawl plugs than the ones that came with the rain, because the curtains are heavy.

When I drilled the hole for the rawlplug, the block underneath turned to dust.

There's no way that part of the wall will support anything.

Any idea what the problem is, and how I can get that curtain rail up?

You might want to get that checked by an engineer, and other parts of the house as well.

A colleague of mine had a similar issue, and thats what he had to do, better safe than sorry.

Esho

Thanks for the replies.

It is an old 50s house and the wall in block. Maybe I did hit the edge of the block, thanks for that, I'll have a look.

There was some damp on the wall there until I got a vent in the room, but no signs of salting on the wall.


Thanks for the recommendation on gripfill - I'll give that a go and see if I can get the rail up.

Gravelly

Esho wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

It is an old 50s house and the wall in block. Maybe I did hit the edge of the block, thanks for that, I'll have a look.

There was some damp on the wall there until I got a vent in the room, but no signs of salting on the wall.


Thanks for the recommendation on gripfill - I'll give that a go and see if I can get the rail up.

Could well be cinder block or hollow block so - if it's near a train station there is a high likelihood it could be cinder block.

danemail

Gravelly wrote: »

Could well be cinder block or hollow block so - if it's near a train station there is a high likelihood it could be cinder block.

Why so?? I'm curious as my 1980's house is near a train station, backing onto the train line, and seems to be built with breeze blocks. Every curtain pole in the house is falling down :O

Gravelly

danemail wrote: »

Why so?? I'm curious as my 1980's house is near a train station, backing onto the train line, and seems to be built with breeze blocks. Every curtain pole in the house is falling down :O

Unlikely with an 80's house I would say, but many houses built near train lines from the late 19th century up to the 50's was built of cinder blocks because it was a handy way to get rid of the left over ash and cinder from the steam trains, and made for cheap blocks!

wexfordman2

Esho wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

It is an old 50s house and the wall in block. Maybe I did hit the edge of the block, thanks for that, I'll have a look.

There was some damp on the wall there until I got a vent in the room, but no signs of salting on the wall.


Thanks for the recommendation on gripfill - I'll give that a go and see if I can get the rail up.

Thats a relief , I didn't want to say it when I replied earlier but my friend had to demolish his entire house due to faulty manufacturing of the blocks. He was lucky the quarry held their hands up and had to rebuild

Sleepy

In a 50's house that's previously had damp, it could be that the plaster has boast. We had a similar issue and had to strip off not only the skim coat but also the bonding (which would literally come off with your fingertips). How deep were you drilling?

Esho

I drilled in about 5 cm. What is boast? The rest of the wall is ok, Myabe I just went into the mortar between blocks .
I met a builder in McQuillans when I went into get gripfill who told me to fill the hole with it, wait two days until it dries and then drill into it.
I'll give that a go this evening.

Sleepy

Boast is when the plaster separates from the brick beneath.