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We’ve been very lucky in buying some second hand railings from a lovely man for a very good price, they don’t need any alterations and fit where we need them without any cutting. However, I’ve been looking at fixings and though I’m familiar with some such as frame fixings, concrete screws etc, the choice is endless! Some appear to be screwed in and some banged in, what type would you experienced STW, railing fitters recommend? Diameter required is 12mm and I do have a very good SDS drill. I would usually buy from Screwfix or Toolstation or, (if I’m confident in what I’m asking for), my local fastener company. Help appreciated.
I used concrete screws to fix a stair rail into a concrete step. I had an SDS drill. Was a bit worried about drilling 50 yr old concrete. After googling I bought a Bosch Expert Hammer Drill Set at £33.
Went into the concrete like butter.
I also bought a cheap impact driver £43 Galax Pro 20v off Amazon. The concrete screws screwed in all the way in seconds. Rock solid.
Can't help with correct size or supply as mine came with the railing but very happy with concrete screws rather than plugs etc.
@irc thank you for that, my reluctance to use concrete screws is because I have doubts over the density and strength of the bricks, I have used them with great success in actual concrete and in the very hard bricks of my house.
With some concrete screws there’s some risk of cracking bricks. I’d look at resin bonded stainless steel studs with nuts to secure the railings so if there’s any need to remove them you’ll be able to get them off.
Definitely resin bolts, rawlplugs that diameter will probably break a brick or two as you tighten them up
Drill a 16mm hole with the SDS drill. Used your track pump to blow out the debris.
Inject chemfix approx 1/2 full and insert a cut to length stainless bar. Toolstation sell them individually in 1mtr length
Leave it an hour or two then secure the railings with a nyloc and washer . Should be the best solution for strength and longevity
You might need to fit a nut between the brackets and the bricks to allow for the overhanging capping
Otherwise when you tightened it up the capping might pop off
Rather than nyloc nuts, I’d use a regular nut and a dome nut to cover the end of the stud.
Some good advice here, thank you. @singletrackmind I intend using a diamond disc to cut rebates and a piece of cut to size pit belting on top of the copings to help with any (minor) wind vibrations.
I’m a huge fan of concrete screws generally but in this instance, chem fix studs all day long
I'm surprised the blacksmith never put the left side lug lower down as these railings with leverage can possibly do damage to walls, if you did App Mechanics at school moments was one of the things you were taught
@redmex thank you for your constructive advice. As I said in the first post, these were purchased secondhand so not designed specifically for this wall. We paid £100 for 20m of these railings, they’re very heavy gauge, galvanised and coated and came complete with plenty of posts including corners. I’m going to use the advice above and have ordered resin and stud fixings which I’m sure will be plenty strong enough even on the off chance that I lose control of my lawnmower! Thank you all, STW delivered again.
Depending how much time and effort you want to invest in this little project but....
You could angle grind off those nasty brackets , blow 2 nice clean holes in the box section with a hole saw. Then 2 small holes for the studs to poke through . Spray hammerite on the cuts. Chenfix the studs into the bricks as above. Slide on the railings onto the studs through the small holes in the box section. , fix using washer and nuts plus socket set . Then use blind grommets in 20mm flavor to cover the holesaw holes. Bit of Spray grease on the nuts for anti corrosion .
Look neater , bigger gap in the fixings increases the strength as you could mount the top and botttom much wider apart , or even fit 3 bolts for extra man points.
Depending how much time and effort you want to invest in this little project but....
You could angle grind off those nasty brackets , blow 2 nice clean holes in the box section with a hole saw. Then 2 small holes for the studs to poke through . Spray hammerite on the cuts. Chenfix the studs into the bricks as above. Slide on the railings onto the studs through the small holes in the box section. , fix using washer and nuts plus socket set . Then use blind grommets in 20mm flavor to cover the holesaw holes. Bit of Spray grease on the nuts for anti corrosion .
Look neater , bigger gap in the fixings increases the strength as you could mount the top and botttom much wider apart , or even fit 3 bolts for extra man points.
Is that a single brick wall?
If so then I think that the rationale (if not the wording) is right from redmex. Extend the legs and use the least intrusive fixing
Resin/chem glue and studs/bolts all the way. I’ve used the glue for fencing previously and it survived a lorry going thru the fence. The shoes I bolted down were ruined but the threaded bar was straight and reusable afterwards. Super impressed with it.
It’s a brick and block double skin wall and we don’t have the sort of parties where people will drape themselves over the railings putting a lot of pressure on… we don’t have parties at all!
We don't have parties at all
That reminded me when I picked my son up from a girls party when he was 10, asked him did he enjoy himself the reply was no people jumping, dancing around and being daft eating jelly n ice cream
He's 33 now and much more sociable
I’ve purchased quality resin and a resin gun as apparently a heavy duty item is required. The cartridge doesn’t fit the gun! Back to the shop I go…
With those cranked legs, they aren’t going to be going very far, even if you had loads of people leaning on them .
looks like previous owner only used one fixing in each plate
As alluded to above, use a threaded stud and get some domed nuts to make it look purdy. You’ll ideally want to drill right through and fix to the block behind for super security , but remember if there is a gap between the brick and block you will end up pumping your resin into it. Make sure you push the nozzle right in and release your gunk as you pull out slowly 😉
Generally you want to go 2mm bigger than your stud size for your hole you are drilling. As the railing is sat on the wall you’ll be able to drill through with them in situ too
Is it worth cutting slots in the capping so the metal legs are flush against the wall? Or are the caps likely to fracture rather than cut cleanly?~
An update - I followed advice from here (unusual for me). I cut rebates in the capping and used Rawlplug resin and studs, it surprised me how easy it was! A good quality 12mm SDS drill bit, 10mm studs with stainless washers and nuts and it’s all up and secure. Thank you forum for the help, now, what shall I do with the remaining railings and posts?