DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

We went and got a load of shelves, rails and units yesterday, as we're very short on space in the kitchen of our new flat.

Came to fit them on the most spacious wall today and hit a stumbling block.

Drilled my first hole, and it went through about 1cm of plasterboard, then about 1cm gap, then hit brick which my masonry bit isn't touching. I got 40mm screws and plugs, but they're going to be useless.

Do I need to go much longer, get a better drill bit and get right into the brick? Or am I better off trying specualist plasterboard hanging fittings? I couldn't see how some of these would work, with the cavity behind the plaster being so small.

I've been unable to reliably locate any studs or beams either - certainly not where I need to put the shelves.

Can anyone offer some advice? Thanks.

No problem:

1st - get SDS Drill with 8 or 10mm drill bit
2nd - get 8 or 10mm plastic plugs
3rd - get No. 8 or 10 screws x 60mm plus thickness of fitted item
[ I usually just go for 75 or 100mm lg screws ]
4th - optional - get a tube of Grip-Fix or similar 'hard set' adhesive / filler
5th - get a long Spirit Level [ for leveling array of holes ]
6th - get DIY sundries: pencil, hammer, mini level, wipes etc

Procedure:
Vital: check for hidden pipes / cables
Mark-out fixing hole positions and drill holes for your preferred plugs.
NB: to mark-out a cross bigger than the diameter of the hole, this will aid you in maintaining position during drilling. If you have never used an SDS drill; you will be amazed at the ease of drilling.
Optional - but preferred by me when hanging wall cabinet / shelves: squirt a small amount of Grip-Fix into each hole.
Press in plugs, slightly below plaster board line. Wipe off excess Grip-Fix
Allow overnight to set.
OR simply
Press in plugs, slightly below plaster board line.
Hang Fittings & enjoy

PS: optional fixing with Grip-Fix works very well for Soft Blocks