Do You Drill into the Brick or the Mortar?
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
- From the @buildingsheriff comes the definitive answer to the question: do you drill into the brick or the mortar when you need to screw into a wall. Drilling into a brick wall is easy if you have the right tools and do so in the correct way.
And the correct way to drill into a brick wall is to drill into the brick, NOT the mortar!
For more information on building/construction work go to www.buildingsheriff.com
This channel is about helping the average DIYer to work like a pro with professional level tips and tricks. - Jak na to + styl
Love the down pipe bracket secured into the Mortar 🤣
Ryk That’s hilarious 🤣🤣👏👏
Luckily that wasn’t my work!
😂😂😂😂
Takes no weight tho.
Why not.... Not weight what so ever... Hanging a gate etc the brick... Also new bricks as shite anyway... Not like the old accrington bricks.... They are quality!!!
as someone without a dad to show them how to do these basic things, i find videos like this so helpful. Thank you
My pleasure!
@@buildingsheriff Most men don't know to do construction.
@@markflierl1624 Most of our customers didn't have any knowledge of the technology or the tools to do the job.. Let me tell this young one, " Never grab the wrong end of a soldering iron when it's hot.
Thank you for this video. My dad never knew how to do these things so now, at age 52, I learn from You Tube.
My dad was a wonderful man, but he didn't know much about DIY construction. CZcams and friends/family are my best bet for these things. Cheers!
One of my first jobs out of high school involved installing electronics behind the line at fast food restaurants. The control box had to be mounted in a specific location on the wall. Oftentimes that meant I had one fastener in brick, another in mortar, one in a stud, and the last in drywall. So the answer to the question posed in the thumbnail for me has always been “yes.”
I have mounted thousands of devices on all types of surfaces, you cannot always choose where the mounting holes will be, bricks have holes inside, and longer anchors will pop through sometimes, hitting them in farther with a hammer will cause that.
@@tlaf-yh2px there’s an echo in here, I guess.
Good comment!
I love the honesty
😂😂😂😂
In architecture the specifications for mortar were that it must always be weaker than the brick or block it was bonding. This was done on the premise that if there was movement that would result in a crack, the crack would follow the mortar joint which is much easier to repair compared to a brick or block.
I was taught to anchor to the mortar just for this because the mortar is easier to repair than the bricks.
Spot on, first thing to deteriorate on a wall is the mortar.
Now you just need to convince the crack to "follow the mortar", instead of the force actually being applied (which tends to not follow a 90 degree zig-zag pattern). 😄
@@RFC-3514 The force is being applied to the whole surface. Hence the crack will gladly zig zag if that's the easiest way to relief the tension.
@@sigi9669 - If the force was being applied to the whole surface, *it wouldn't crack in the first place.* What causes walls to crack is precisely localised (and / or highly directional) forces that _aren't_ being applied to the whole surface.
Mortar can certainly crack (due to multiple reasons), but shearing forces that cause one side of a wall to slide up or down can't really follow the mortar lines, because that would require bending or compressing the bricks themselves (two things bricks are notorious for not doing).
Also, note that a lot of "brick walls" aren't really brick walls, they're concrete walls with brick veneers just for looks.
Drill- Packedge in typical box, came with a tool bag (added bonus), two batteries, one charger, drill, and driver. Two words "plenty of Torque" czcams.com/users/postUgkxW1vOBRCMrgTCDEijzpVzDWsgI-Jm2iQv well I guess that's three. Nice upgrade from current setup. Has belt clips, I don't think I will be using those. Driver and drill were bigger than what I expected but it is an upgrade from the current setup. For the money I would say that this is a great setup for Professionals and DIY/Weekend warriors.
I remember my Father mixing mortar, he would use the proper amount of sand to mortar ratio, and then he would toss in about a quarter of a shovel of concrete mix too. We've never had to go back and fix loose mortar between bricks or blocks ever. I'm talking about jobs we did together when I was a kid, some 40-45 years ago and the mortar looks like it was just put in a month ago, no crumbling, or cracking and no repairs needed.
I was a bricklayer for 20 years. You father taught you correctly. Good job Dad!
Okay, I'm knew on this channel but... it depends on what you are trying to secure on a wall. Yes, securing to brick is stronger. However, it is less expensive to replace motar than it is to replace brick. Since 1983 I've been working in the telecommunications industry an for the past ten years I have been installing copper and fiber service. A light plastic copper or transition box and conduit is secured to the mortar to avoid any costly damage to a customer's house.
1:32 - Always drill into the brick not into the mortar.
2:45 - A shiny screw clearly drilled into the mortar for the pipe bracket
LOL
I almost always drill in the mortar because most things I attach are not heavy duty and more or less temporary
Yeah common for a comms guy to have no idea.
@@champ8605 Explain that to the home owner when you start drilling onto their historic home. Replacement bricks are not always available.
@@flyonwall360 agreed. Easy to fill mortar. Alarm guy here and cams weigh nothing so no need to go into brick. Depends on the application
Thanks soooo much ❗I have literally done this wrong for years. Now since I have a new cordless drill I'm definitely looking forward to drilling vs screwing. Great simplified content.
Door swings open "why have you drilled a random hole in the front of my house!!!!!"
😂😂😂
@@colvingenealogy wheres that from lol? I can't remember
Mary Cooper (Sheldon's mom from Young Sheldon) steps out the door: "What did you DO?"
(With that "if you lie to me I will know and there will be hell to pay" stare). 😁
0:46 We're going to use a 6mm Masonry bit, shows image of HSS drill bits !
Those are not masonary bits, neither is the one he actually drills into the brick, with
@@DrGrafenberg Yes I know, that was my point.
As a union mason I was taught to never ever drill into the brick, unless you're going to be replacing it. Drilling into the brick permanently damages the building, and risks cracking the brick. It's a terrible practice. You should always put anchors in the mortar joint. We usually use lead sleeve anchors (or lead hammer drives for light duty). The best spot is usually where the bed joint meets the head joint. When the job is over, unless they're staying, the anchors are removed, and the mortar is repaired. If your mortar is so deteriorated that it won't hold an anchor, then it's time to grind and tuckpoint.
Totally agree bro. I'd I had crumbling mortar I'd just widen the hole and ram a tapered wood dowl or wedge home and use a coach screw type thread. Hung many heat pumps etc like that
I don't believe there's anything wrong with this practice at all. I probably would've used shorter screws myself but it all depends on what you're trying to hang. Screws that small usually won't damage the brick. Also, if he were to drill into the mortar in this particular video, it would be harder for him to hang something to the wall, you may not be able to drill your screw all the way in as well since the mortar caves inward. For me, this practice is fine considering the size of the screws. There's always a chance of brick being damaged regardless of tiny screws being drilled into them and they can always be repaired as well. Just my two cents.
@@georgebush6002 yes I have seen old Fred Dibnah doing that gotta say I'd be hammering those " iron dogs" in a couple more inches than what he appears to lol. However I learned it from my old boss doing plumbing and general contracting. He used to have a steel drum full of old roof nails we would use them with the wood wedges to mount all manner of things, mostly galvanized piping brackets though
For general cooperate work, into the brick would be fine. Historically preserved properties, everything should be handled much differently.
Nothing worse than a rusty dynobolt swelling and cracking the brick. Always mortar
Mortar fine, for small loads, but brick gives five to ten times the load ability. Mortar if you are doing a temporary install as it is easier to patch. So pictures mortar, speakers and other heavy stuff - brick. Good stuff, cheers Neil
good, because it looks like the black pipe is drilled into the mortar.
Yep, except when the brick breaks
Personally I’d use a 6.5mm bit for brown plugs, 5.5mm for red. Generally speaking. All is situational on the type of plugs your using of which there are numerous, and the thickness of screws being used. So often bricks/walls just crumble, better to start with smaller hole and use bigger bit if necessary.
I agree. Oftentimes the chattering of the masory bit in the substrate will make a bigegr hole than the number size it's been given. I always use the half size down and often find it's perfect, nice and tight.
I always use lead shields in the mortar, wedged between 2 bricks, never had a problem. You can remove them from the mortar when changing things around and just patch the mortar. I have seen many cracked bricks and brick walls full of defunct plugs over the years though. Bricks also have a lot of voids in them, not the best place for anchoring.
I agree.
Drilling into the brick totally wrecks the look of the house.
The mortar may crumble, but a brown plug won't pull out with a no.10 screw.
It will be wedged between the bricks, to a depth of 50mm.
I've got thousands of down pipes hanging from the mortar, throughout the Greater Toronto Area for 43 years and cannot remember one failing ever.
For a long time we'd anchor the straps with a wood wedge.
Bricks have open spaces inside and are quite brittle, they don't take plug expansion very well, in my humble opinion.
I'd much rather have a mortar problem, than a customer with a cracked or broken brick on their home.
Cheers
@@moondawg3693 Agreed. Nothing is permanent and people change their minds. What they want there today will need to me moved later. It's much easier to patch the mortar.
@@grantrichards4950 Totally agree. Not only is it easier to patch the mortar, quite often it's impossible to replace bricks. Sand and Cement are both going to be with us for a very long time. Brick designs come and go, as do their manufacturers. So if you ever want to replace a brick because it's riddled with redundant holes, you may find it's no longer available in that pattern.
Thank you! While looking at installing a patio light which charges with the sun, I did not know whether to drill into the brick or mortar. Your ideas are clear and accessible to my non-skillful sides. Thank you!
Never had to fix something to brick before, did a You tube search, this pops up.. Straight Forward Clear and Concise instruction, saved me a lot of time and unnecessary blue language. Great Job, deserves the multi-million views
Excellent video! This gentleman knows a lot more about it than me. But I wanted to offer a small tip that may be helpful. Sometimes I find the drill wants to bounce around a bit at the start and it's hard to get the hole started exactly where I want it. So I use a much smaller bit, like a 3 or 4, NOT on the hammer setting, just to create a small starter hole, not even 1/8" deep. Then I'll switch to the larger bit. Takes more time, of course, but it's a handy tip to have in the back pocket when needed.
The simple answer would be to start slowly. ie a slower speed.
Yup, it's called a 'pilot hole' and you really should do it whenever you want to make a larger hole.
That's what a punch is for.
That is exactly what I do, except I do not use a smaller bit. If I am using these plastic anchors you are most likely making a 1/4" hd bit.
A lot of brands give you the bit with the jar of anchors. I just use the 1/4" on drill setting. It grinds away a small dimple. Then throw the drill on hammer and drill in.
If I am drilling into tile I never turn it to hammer. Just use the hd bit on drill setting and it works wonders.
on many surfaces you can also start your bit in reverse - that tends to wander much less and will also leave a small depression right where you want to drill.
If, however you are using Lag and Shield fasteners for larger attachments, it is preferable to place them along the mortarline where possible. Because they expand more than plastic plugs they are apt to crack the brick. When placed in the mortar they will expand up to the brick giving a tight solid hold.
Good tip when you drilling: use an eye protection. You don’t want all kind of dust ending up in your eye.
always good practice to wear eye protection but dust in your eyes is the least of your worries when goofing around with masonry, you will breathe in silica and will lodge itself in the lungs and will never leave, too much of it and you get silicosis, too severe of a case and its a death sentence.
I was going to say the same thing.
Absolutely wear eye protection. It is not for the reasons we can think of, it is always for the reasons we don't think of.
Squinting is actually the safest
My dad's black and decker hammer drill is still going strong after 20+ years! Amazing engineering! Obviously it's not as powerful as current drills, but for DIY projects at home, it's perfect and reliable.
"My dad's black" my dad is white
I have B+D older than that, in the day there was diy drills together with a professional range, but the beauty of B + D is that back then they had service centres in most towns and it was easy & cheap to get all of their power tools serviced and maintained.
My dad's black and decker was bought before I was born (in the 1950s). It now has a plaster mixing paddle installed in the chuck permanently as that's the only thing I use it for. That paddle is now over 40 years old but still works fine and even still has some of it's original orange paint on it. I daresay I could find another chuck key for it but I haven't seen the original in over 50 years. (Yes it was a bit of a devil tightening the chuck onto that paddle which is why it has never been out since)
Delighted to find this channel. Simple answers to questions I’ve been pondering for years
Almond Grove yes 👌🏼👏🏼
OMG - I love the tip about tapping the plug head in BEFORE turning the screw. AWESOME tip. I always seem to get a splurge of wall plug sticking out my hole that gets in the way of a flush finish. Embarrassingly, I got to 57 yrs of age and didn't know this gem! One is always learning. Thanks. Simon / Adelaide
Simon Trangmar Thanks. Pass it on! That tip is now your knowledge
That's because the hole is not deep enough
MR NOBODY 🤣🤣🤣
Me too
Wow. I never thought to sink the plug head. Thank you.
When I did my apprenticeship 45 years ago we were taught always to drill into the mortar, never ever failed me yet
You must only work on new houses !
New bricks have holes throw the middle, I wouldn’t like to be drilling into them for anything heavy duty.
@@neilrobinson2385 Look at a brick, measure where the holes are, don’t drill there, or drill through and use a longer plug ?
You know whenever I used to see holes being drilled into a brick building they always seem to be put into the mortar and I always got good results from going right into the mortar but I'm going to keep watching this video and see what's going on
@@neilrobinson2385 agree
I always drill the mortar. I did this for over 40 years and never had a problem. I kept many of my clients for the whole time so if there were any problems I would have been contacted.
i think the climate matters i live in the far north and water gets in the hole and freezes same reason are roads are terrible
@2:31 Love the safety squint!
LOL, you have to meet OSHA regulation.
Thanks for taking the time to clearly explain why you should go through the brick and not the mortar. My friend was telling me to do it the other way around. Good thing I watched your video first. I found this video very helpful!
My invisible friend tells me a lot that wrong all the time... He is also living inside my head, Rent Free while I work on this place.
A couple of points:
1. Why not show masonry bits in the introduction. The Dewalt bits were for wood and steel. This would help the novice understand and save confusion.
2. I disagree that you should ‘always’ drill into mortar. It depends on many factors such as, the age of the house and the type of brick (older bricks tend to be much harder, and modern bricks have holes in them to grab the mortar and are easily cracked), quality of the mortar, age of the mortar, what it is you are fixing as most items will be relatively light weight and the mortar would be fine, is the item needing to be removed in the future?
3. Mortar is designed to be repaired whereas bricks are not. Can be a benefit in both options. If you are hanging something, but it will need to be removed, then put it in the mortar. If it’s permanent and heavy go in the brickwork.
4. Position depends on what you are fixing. Brackets with many fixings will unlikely allow you to fix every point in the centre of the brick.
5. You didn’t mention where to drill in the brick to minimise the risk of cracking the brick.
Glad the video has had a lot of views, but not sure how helpful it is in the real world and improve the novices understanding.
Old bricks can be soft too. A couple of times I have drilled a 6mm hole and put in a 12mm plug.
Some blocks are so hollow, that they either fall apart, or the plug goes right through.
I once tried to drill into a 150-year-old brick, one of many thousands of locally made bricks that made up an old loco shed (75F UK)
The brick was so hard it melted the masonry bit . . .
I have found some brick hard enough that I bought a heavy duty hammer drill to hang TVs above fireplaces. Some of the firebrick is like iron.
if you are working on an old or listed building, you probably want the job to be reversible, so you would drill into the mortar
I was pretty shocked he didn't mention to avoid drilling near the edge. The risk of cracking can be significant. Using a concrete anchor Bolt in a brick at the end of a wall was a mistake I'll only make once.
I normally drill into the mortar because it`s much easier . Also , as a 71 year old , I reckon I`m ` crumbling ` faster than the mortar so the fitting is likely to outlast me anyway. Cheers.
Brilliant! Let's hope not though!
Respect to you Mr Carter
@@kf5541 Thank you. Kindest regards.
Love your humor old man. Lol
@@Cardoza0727 Thank you , son . Best wishes from east Yorkshire .
Thank you - I appreciate the little details of how to use equipment etc - when you haven't grown up learning these things, all the details count!
I would think it would depend on the weight of the attached item . A small mail box use the mortar , heavy sign , use the brick .
replay the vid, you mist the point
Great video! Learned 2 new things today: always drill into the brick, and tap the screw to hide the plug to make it flush with the wall. You Sir, are awesome! Thank you.
1st year of apprenticeship: Always the mortar. Don't disfigure the brick. Pretty much everything put on a building elevation in the last 50 years has been replaced whether its iron downpipes, pipe clips ,satellite dishes, soil pipes, hoppers, hanging basket brackets ,house numbers etc etc etc. If you drill the bricks the house looks like a cullender a 100 years later. As a plumber of 30 years ,most holes you see in masonry walls are drilled into the mortar -it was always good practice. It was always the rough plumbers that drilled the brickwork. You could be lazier with the choice of drill/fixing.
The small exceptions would be things like gates and awnings etc. Most stuff on a wall has the load pulling downward and you just don't need the extra strength of fixing you get from drilling the brick. Plastic downpipes weigh nothing .
Yeah I agree with this, if something is very permanent and needs to be as secure as possible, perhaps for safety, then drill the brick, otherwise it's mortar.
95% of the time I drill in to the mortar, you can test how solid a fixing is and if you need to re-do or move it, it's so much easier to cleanly patch and hide a hole in the mortar.
Thank you. As someone who wasn't really taught this stuff it's great to have something to fall back on
Awesome description of how to do it. And what to use. Thanks a lot!
Thank you sir. You are a excellent teacher. I understand the use of drill better and drilling into brick not the mortar🙂
Depending on what it is you're trying to hang / mount on the brick-faced wall, the weight bearing down on the screw, as well as the force pulling on the screw, will have to be considered. Drilling entirely through the brick, or even the mortared joint, anchoring a screw or lag bolt into the wall behind the brick face will provide a stronger anchor point. Just be sure not to crush the brick / mortar when snugging the screw / lag. In addition, find out what type of wall is behind the brick face. Concrete or block walls will require plugs or shields as well.
On more modern brick walls there could even be a space behind the walls to prevent thermal bridging. Maybe that's more for commercial but still should be considered.
"The bricks don't crumble."
I guess you haven't seen the front of my house.
Don’t let the sprinklers or roof drain hit it
Neither does the mortar-if it's the correct guage laid in the proper range of conditions suitable for laying.
Hahaha
Super helpful for installing my front doorbell, thanks so much.
Clear, succinct, told me exactly what I needed. Thanks for the good video!
I had some questions. Watched video and listened carefully. All my questions were answered.
This was a great tutorial Sheriff!🛠
The answer depends on the composition of the brick, the composition of the mortar, and the flexibility of the mounting options. Flimsy brick is no stronger the typical mortar and flimsy mortar is a disaster. I've got both flimsy brick and flimsy mortar on my home. It has held up for years, but is a pain to mount objects on.
Totally agreed to this answer. I've worked for 12 years in a college. The building is on the historic registry. There are times I can "drill into the brick" and it might as well have been sand.
The mortar? Yeah right.
Straightforward, informative, and accurate. Thank you for sharing this.
thanks Neil, this is exact problem I have and you explained the solution very well. Appreciate it.
Great - really clear and well explained. I scrolled through several other clips before that told me nothing, this was just what I needed. Thanks
Sophie Hayward the only thing missing was the use of eye protection.
I brought one of the first 18" tv dish systems to my fathers to install on a red brick house and I tried the brick first with a newer masonry bit on a hammer drill and it murdered the bit fast. Pulled out a new bit and went for the mortar with no issues. I was extremely experienced in drilling slabs ,block walls, and poured headers but that red brick was rough.
the masonry drill bit you used was trash. i'm reusing masonry bits for weeks even months
Probably old brick. I remodeled a high school recently and the bricks were impossible to drill. Getting holes for conduit took forever
Being a former cable and satellite installer, I have ran across everything including this. It is not the equipment. Trust me. There are brick compositions out there that will absolutely murder a common masonry bit.
For small holes that is fine.
However when I used to install heavy LTE antennas with thick bolts we always try to drill into the mortar for several reasons.
-Here you will find a lot of hollow bricks so you only have about a cm of stone to work with.
-Older bricks(100 -200 years) can shatter when you tighten them up. Those hollow ones can too.
-Easier to repair the holes if the bolts are removed.
-The plugs we used were as wide as the mortar so it would grip nicely between the bricks.
Only when you would install them on top of a chimney or a wall without weight on top we would drill in the bricks(if there were less than 4-5 layers above it) as otherwise when you tighten them you would lift the brick layers of their mortar and the top of the chimney would come off.
Forget the antenna in my bricks separate structure for the antenna
Ah good tip. So it depends on the brick type.
@@deadmanswife3625 You say that, unrelated to the video I once had to install one at the house of a BMW dealer(in other words they had money) who placed a radio tower in their backyard. I had to max out my trucks aerial work platform (30M) and still had to lower part of the mast so that thing was hanging at aprox 35m. Our mast was located maybe 300m away, could have placed that antenna on the ground facing the wrong way and still get max speed xD.
Would have been cheaper to get fiber to the property...
But yeah, if you are able to have a separate structure for things like that, do it. I always appreciated customers who made arrangements like that. ( And if you are nice to the technician he might "forget" to limit your SIM card or something like that ;) )
@@david6054 🤗
I just now searched for "drill brick or between bricks?" and this came up the #1 result. Most information packed four minutes I ever spent on CZcams. Good job.
Thank you Jeffrey!
Nice. Thank you for posting 👍
And great zooming for close-in work. So many don’t bother but it really helps.
This is something that I’ve wondered for a while now as I saw a few properties with screws into mortar.
They now make hardened screws that cut their own threads in masonry.
@@damnhandy yeah?!?
@@SonnyGTAAre you asking about salmon brick? It's a softer cheaper brick that's fired at a lower temperature, soft enough that kids used it like chalk to write and draw on the streets and pavements. It is used as the interior layer in two-brick walls. It holds cut nails and a horse well as loud as it's not been exposed to weather. It was used a lot during the 1800 and early 1900s.
Just drilled 470 holes into block, used a pump sprayer to keep bit cool & dust down. Used same bit entire job that way also.
Your fancy red tape depth gauge. When i was a boy we had none of that fancy shenanigans, we stacked our free fingers on top of each other until we marked the right depth then drilled through them. Blood and bone everywhere there was but we got the job done. Ah, them were the days. (written by ' too much time on my hands ' on a Sunday evening ).
Brilliant! Them WERE the days…!
Quote 1 "I keep this one at home for my own DIY", quote 2 "I haven't had this drill out for years and years and years" Priceless 😂
1:32 - Always drill into the brick not into the mortar.
2:45 - A shiny screw clearly drilled into the mortar for the pipe bracket
LOL
haha, well picked up.
@@PrideDefiler he didn’t do that though. That was already there.
Never had to do any DIY so total novice but my husband passed away so just looking at hints and tips on CZcams. Come across this. It is so helpful. Very simple and clear. Thank you so much
There is very little an average homeowner can't learn to do in terms of repair. From toilets to capacitors on an air conditioning compressor units. CZcams is a great resource! Just always use caution if working with electrical and thinking about the worst that can happen. Whenever turning a wrench think about what your knuckles might run into if it slips!
Just make sure to wear eye and ear protection…
@@Eagles_Eye EAR protection!!!!!!! Hahaha
@@SonnyGTA ?
Awesome video, thank you. I learnt many things from this one video but the two key things: 1) drill into the brick, not the mortar. 2) hammer the screw a little so the wall plug goes into the hole and not visible from outside. Wish I knew this years ago :-)
As others have pointed out, drilling into the mortar might be preferable in certain scenarios.
Excellent demonstration, Thank you.
I always fit temporary/moveable stuff to mortar as to not damage a brick, hangin baskets , light, plaque, side tv aerial.
Downpipe, fence dividing timber, front door canopy etc bricks.
I alway drill my holes where it needs to go.
Depends what brick it is where your drilling as you can split the brick .... and what fixing your using and what your drilling in to the the brick for
Hopefully your masonry skills exceed that of your writing capabilities?
@@elliottalderssohn2751 yes I’m more maths and science factual subjects manly subjects not man made language
@@elliottalderssohn2751 but the grammar police are out in force today lol 😂
David,I fully understood your writing and agree with your comment on splitting bricks.
@@josephstratti52 My house was originally built with solid bricks, no frog or other voids. Then when I had an extension the bricks were made with three large holes in the middle. Drilling a hole the depth shown in the example in the centre of a brick would hit the hole in the brick where there is neither brick or mortar. The house next door had someone drilling into the solid bricks too close to the corner of the wall. Large chunks of brick have split off. Putting a wire through the wall, drill the mortar makes more sense. You need to take into account a number of things when deciding where to drill holes in walls. SAFETY GLASSES and EAR PROTECTION. A modern SDS drill throws bits away from the hole very rapidly and the noise from some drills is very loud. This work was being done close to both eyes and ears. Safety and PPE should be the first thing mentioned in any of these DIY videos.
Sometimes I'm mounting something light or something I'll need to replace in a few years, like a sign, which I'll always mount in mortar. Holes in mortar are easy to patch and make disappear. When I need strength and a permanent mount, I drill into brick and use an epoxy anchor.
Had to fix a whole bunch of decks a couple years ago because whoever built them decided to lag the ledger boards into the mortor joint's instead of brick. Managed to make it through a few Canadian winters before the deck's started falling from the house. Point being, always fasten into brick or stone if it's a structural job. Going in mortor is fine for cable tie clips and stuff like that. Also idealy hit the center of the brick, especially if using large lag bolt/screws( 3/8",1/2").
Deck ledgers should be lagged into the framing or foundation to pass a building inspection.
@@hagarthehonorable8133 that's if it is brick veneer. My engineered plans called for lagging into the structural brick wall, and they have been inspected and passed so I think I'm good. But very good point if it's brick or stone veneer you should be lagging into solid framing.
just a quick question, you mention at 0:52 about using masonry drill bit but you were using normal bits did you swap them out when we were not looking?
he must've done. normal metal/wood drill bits won't work in masonry.
I have an identical Bosch drill at least 25 years old. Still in perfect condition. I learned at some time in the distant past that we should always make mortar weaker than the brick. Because if there is movement, the mortar will fracture, not the brick and the wall will retain some strength because the break will be an irregular (zig-zag) fracture that spreads the load over a greater width. It follows logically then that we ought to drill the brick for making holes for screws. Because walls are designed to have strong bricks and weak mortar.
That’s BS. That’s why there is control joints(straight vertical lines) in brick walls. Masonry walls are not built to move.
I remember when we didn’t have these tools and would use a star drill and hammer to make the hole, the push in a bit of roughly shaped wood plug. Some joiners could, using hammer and cold chisel, start a hole on one side of a brick wall then (to prevent spalling) go around to the other side which could be in another room, lightly tap the wall find the hole and finish the hole.
My dad taught me how to make a chopped, twisted plug often used to hold door frames, a number of mortar joints were cleared and the flat, timber plug was hammered in; as it went in it twisted and was very secure. the plug is long enough so that when finished all the plugs could be sawn to length to take the door frame. To make the plug a piece of flat softwood which was joint thickness was chopped with an axe so that it remained the same thickness throughout but resembled the twist of an aeroplane propeller. This sounds confusing so google it.
The days of Tradesmen who worked with their hands - and their brains :)
You say: "I remember when we didn’t have these tools and would use a star drill and hammer to make the hole" I don't say you're lying, but I'm 75 years old and all I remember is the use of an electric drill or a big hand drill, but never the use of a hammer and a star drill!!
Have still got bruised hands from using a star drill bit and hammer 40 years ago, putting up lights in a canal tunnel. No battery drills then and not allowed generator near to water.
You have good memories and heritage.
@@Guillaume2606 I remember stardrills I'm 61 !
And if you've got lime mortar (which you should) you don't want to use any kind of hammer function on the drill. You're just going to crack the mortar. You won't see the damage, but if you live where it freezes, winter will show you where it is. Hint: If you see spalling (edges of the brick chipping away) that means the wrong mortar was used.
Thank you! What would old lady do without CZcams?!
Was trying to do it all wrong! 🤦🏻♀️
Great and informative video one thing you didn't mention and i have come across alot in my line of work is that the brick you showed us at about 1 min in had holes as do a lot of new build bricks if you were to drill into a hole the strength of the fixing would be compromised so i always try and drill towards the end of the brick. 👍👍
Mostly 3 holes so go for ends and 20mm either side of centre, those hole though mostly are filled with mortar.
This is actually a bit of a trick question because I'd say it depends on the brick. Some bricks are porous (improved insulation) or have huge hollow insides so you'd need to supplement with anchor mass as well to actually have something that the plug or screw can support against or it will be like trying to hang something in brittle styrofoam.
I did have to use three cartridges of anchor mass for just two screws in a brick wall hanging a computer networking enclosure on a wall to be sure it was staying put.
But that brick...
@@buzzcrushtrendkill You never know what brick you are drilling into until you discover that the plug won't stick.
Hello - could you provide a link to the plug/anchors you used? I'm having a hard time finding them - most of the anchors I am seeing online are for drywall.
My wife used to be on function 1 permanently. Ah, those were the days!
:D
Maybe she needs a better drill
My wife is more like my demolition drill set on hammer mode.
My wife’s battery no longer holds a charge.
You should never drill into the brick especially if its historic. You cant replace the brick, if it breaks you are screwed. You can always replace the mortar or strengthen the hole you make
Most definitely into the mortar joint unless there's absolutely no other option. I'm a stonemason working in conservation and we're not allowed to fix anywhere else without specific agreement.
Rawlplugs are basically a compression fixing, even more so with a ferrous screw. It's often hard to always drill the hole in the centre of the stone or brick so you risk splitting them over time and matching pointing is easier than stone or brick. Where we absolutely have to EH want something that can't become compressive over time like a stainless resin socket.
I like the lead roll method mentioned in another comment here. That was certainly done historically and seems to last quite well. Or if it's internal you could maybe discover what a plugging chisel is originally for!
As a fellow stonemason I totally agree, this video is so infuriating. Also, when inserting the plug make sure that it'll split up/down and not along the joint (except when drilling in a head joint).
Great information. Thank you! I will be installing a Ring Floodlight Cam , and it is a bit heavy so definitely will be drilling through two separate bricks. Maybe three bricks for extra support. 😊
I'm going the same way as you, with a big ass Motion flood light ... then maybe maybe a couple of those and more flood lights ......LOL. GOTTA ADD A CAM !!!
Thank You.Appreciate the info .
Don't have many brick structures where I live, but good to know. Helpful tip. 👍👍
Simple, easy, and to the point. Thank you for the concise video.
Very helpful tips and practical advice. Loved the video. Thank you
Thank you for the information.!
I always drill into the mortar. Most bricks have hollow voids to grip the mortar. If you drill into the void you only have about an inch (2.5 cm) to drill into. As well, bricks are brittle and can crack and mortar is easier to patch if you want to remove the plug. I've seen too many older brick houses littered with holes in the bricks from this.
I also tend to use lead shields instead of plastic plugs when hanging heavier objects like clothes lines.
Hue Janus do you go to work on a horse like the other cowboys 🤣😂
Keith Robinson he’s right though 🤷♂️
mortar is designed to be weaker than the brick so that any movement in the building cracks the mortar as it's easier to repair
25 years in the trades and at no point have ever used mortar over brick
Hue I agree and I also know alot depends on the bit size you use and the fixing you use and the length of the fixing and the lay of the mortar all these make a difference.
You might always do this, however its 100% wrong and much weaker than drilling into the bricks. Hopefully anyone coming across this video won't read your comment as gospel.
If you consider bricks brittle I'm curious as to how you'd describe mortar...
Can I just say here? I love seeing the use of the good old reliable tools. Proof that they just don't make them like they used to.
Yup, I have a 30 year old Black and Decker drill that's still going strong. It could do with having the brushes replaced, but it's outlasted two cordless "replacements".
Very helpful and straight to the point. A+ video, thanks!
Great video! Thank you!
'Safety squint' in full effect! Good lad👍🏻
Glad i found this out,i gotta put up some security cameras in the morning an im gonna hide the cables in some pvc cable raceway...thanks brother
Thank you! I haven't been able to drill into the brick yet, but I will keep trying!
Yeah neither have I. I've got the proper drill bit but I can barely make an impact in the brick. I've got one hole to go about 1 cm in and the other has barely made a dint. And I'm strong for a woman and pushed hard but no way.
Wow. Excellent. Thank you for this. Straight to the point and well explained.
Really like the way you explain, could you do a video on building a timber lean to from a brick building ?
Unfortunately I'm not building one at the moment. I could explain on a livestream perhaps?
Depends on where you want the hole.
Perfect video. Answered all my questions. Thanks
Thanks for the heads up.
Depends what your fixing, if it's temporary, into the mortar, if it's permanent, into the brick.
*you're. That's the contraction of you are, not your.
I have a little table top craftsman table saw that's been used and abused do work that I should have used a bigger saw for and after 45 years it's still going strong.
Thanks for the help.
Thank you SOOO MUCH!
Jeez! At 2 mins when you pressed the drill, you nearly blew my head off. Your mic must be right up close. 😱🎧🤣
A lot of modern bricks are hollow and do not lend themselves for face fixing and will usually disintegrate under the second attempt of trying to get a secure fixing. Personally I would never advise face fixing as the permanent damage to brick face. You can repoint a bed of Mortar easily but trying to replacing a damaged brick that is discontinued... good luck
with that.
good point. So continues the argument of morter or brick....
Stan Skaggs suck it n see...
Not everyone is a Mason and can repoint. I am I would probably make an integral support structure worked right through the wall and lagged with pressure dispersion plates and blah blah blah but usually mounting anything to a brick wall depends all on the load.
You are correct
@@aaronmackay6123 Pointing is a piece of piss ,even the unskilled labourers could do it ,& often did .
Thank you for posting this video
Very helpful. Thank you.
Kept staring at the downspout that is drilled into the mortar. You were saying…
😆😆🤣
I was wondering who else noticed that... lol
Hahahaha. I was going to say the same thing!
Thanks, I keep offering to put a hose reel up for my mum but I don't think she thinks I know how to do it. This was the one thing I wasn't sure about but now I know, if she ever lets me lol !
Amazing details thanks man!
Thanks for the Explanation...I was wondering which I needed to drill into to hang a Door on the side of my home.