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Seeking advice for secure fixing into Thermalite blocks


FinFerNan
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Hello

 

Looking for a bit of advice, ideally from someone who has actually done this job. I live in a new house, it's got the dreaded plasterboard and dabs on thermalite blocks. My original plan for fitting the gun cabinet was to cut out an area of the plasterboard, clean up the surface and bolt the cabinet directly onto the blockwork.

 

However, this is i) messy ii) will take up too much beer time and iii) I reckon there must be a easier way, I mean there always is........... isn't there?

 

I am aware that Thermalite is not the easiest material to drill into (as it just disintegrates) and that expansion bolts are likely to just split the block.

 

So, if any of you have experience and advice that may help me, I will forever be grateful :lol:

Edited by FinFerNan
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How about a threaded bar all the way through. If its on an outside wall you can disguise the outer part of the bar and nut with a hanging ornament. Tack weld the nut in place and then peen the thread over as well. You can also put a plate under the ends of the rod to spread the load.

 

Its a matter of just putting a nut and a spring washer on the bar inside the cabinet.

Edited by covlocks
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yep what you want are resin fixings, drill your holes fill them with resin and then put in the studs and job done. Leave the plasterboard in place and you should be fine.

 

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/100071/Fixings/Injection-Fixing

 

basically it just needs to stop an opportunist carrying the cabinet away as lets face it not much will stop someone who really wants the guns

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al4x is right resin fixing's are the best way.the plasterboard should hold as a gun cabinet is big and should spread the load a little.but if your worried you could cut a piece of 12mm ply to the size of your cabinet or a litle bigger to help spread the load.or failing that trace around the cabinet drill some holes and fill with expanding foam this will give you a firm back ground to bolt too

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have tried the chemical anchors...unsuccesfully... the thermalite blocks absorbed the resin as a result of this they did not set....also drilling into the blocks is tricky they crumble giving a bigger void to fill with resin before the stud is inserted....after turning the wall into something which resembled a dart board ....we resulted to the fix to cement floor route ...more likely if you have a new build you will have solid floors ?

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i used resin to fix bolts in thermalite and it worked fine, dont know what resin andy b used but must be too thin. there are several on the market and i used the one made by SPIT, its two part and the tube fits in a mastic gun and mixes in the nozzle on its way through.

its also very thick like hilti hit but not as spendy[ about £12+ vat}. if youre worried about the plasterboard cracking then squirt some of the resin in the cavity around the hole first, that'll sort it. :hmm:

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:lol: Forgot to mention, drill the hole 2mm bigger than the bolt, ie, 10mm bolt, 12mm hole. then fill the hole completely with resin a nd shove the bolts in quick, takes about 30mins to harden but dont tighten the bolts for another couple of hours. :yp: :blush:

 

But when the bolt sinks a little during setting you have to hit it rather hard with a lump hammer to get the cabinet hole to match up :hmm:

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Covlocks - thanks but the cabinet will most likely be upstairs and I don't own a set of ladders (or a MIG Welding kit) :stupid:

 

al4x - cheers this looks like the way forward, but are you sure the plasterboard won't crush?

 

 

you won't crush the plasterboard and really you don't want to make it look like its spaced from the wall by placing anything behind it, when you tighten the cabinet up just don't overdo it. It needs to be secure not overly so, mine is secured through insulated plasterboard so I've a layer of polystyrene between the plasterboard and the bricks and its never been mentioned,

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''sika'' do an chemical anchor tube works great just goes in ordinary mastic gun,,,,rem no hammer action when drilling holes and always helps to dampen holes before putting anchor stuff in stops the dry block taking all the moisture from the chemical stuff....not very technical advice and im a builder...lol leave the plasterboard you wont do it any harm if you dont overtighten the bolts

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hi

i had the same problem, i drilled 10mm holes got hold of 8mm studding, and i used hard as nails, just filled the holes threaded in the studding leaving enough to put a nut on twisted the studding to make sure the studding was well coated, left overnight. bolted the cabinet on next day, tried to pull it off but could not shift it, even with my foot against the wall, as it says on the tin hard as nails. :hmm::hmm::lol:

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ive had the same conumdrum with plaster board walls - in the end i got some metal anchors that fitted in the plaster board and then screwed the cabinet into these anchors. I used quite large washers inside the cabinet to spread the load further. I also got some lumps of wood and sort of fixed these into the concrete floor. Result was the gun cabinet was solid and the firearms guy who came round seemed quite pleased with it (after giving me a heart attack or two!)

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  • 9 years later...

I have just fitted my sons gun cabinet to a thermalite block wall using 10mm x 120mm Thunderbolts, I also injected a resin just before securing the bolts. I used a 8mm drill for the holes.( Didn't use hammer action on drill) This gave the bolts a couple of mil of grab without the risk of shattering the blocks . With the resin set the cabinet is extremely well secured.  

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