6inch oak gate post into brick - Is this ok ?

by **stuieg** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:39 am

Hi,
I am going to fit an 11ft gate across the front of my drive. I have two 6inch oak posts to hang the gate from. One side is going into the ground, so I have dug down 28" and will postcrete that one in.
The other post has to be screwed to a brick, cavity wall. I found a screw shop on a local trading estate as the 'usual' DIY outlets seemed to have no answer on how to go about this.
The guy in this shop sold me some 'Thunderbolts' and a description of them is here if you Google "shop1.actinicexpress.co.uk/shops/Jandsfasteners/index.php?cat=Anker_Bolt__Thunderbolt_
He assured me that they were excellent as they cut their own thread, negating the need for rawlplugs etc. They are M12 x 200mm with a 19mm hex head on them. Before attempting to drill into the house wall, I took an old brick and drilled a 12mm hole with a masonary bit, (as per instructions from bolt box) and began winding the screw in. After about 3/4" the brick cracked and fell apart !!!!
My question is (sorry it's a bit long winded, it's my first post !), will the brick in the house wall be at a lower risk of splitting as it's part of a wall? I.E - did the single brick break becasue it was on it's own ?
Any thoughts / advise truly welcomed.
Cheers

by **Steve the gas** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:53 am

Yes, but if not happy use a resin fixing = no strees on bricks.

Hth

by **stuieg** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:43 am

Yeah, I though of resin, but it's a cavity wall. I therefore thought resin was out of the question as it would fill up caivity !

by **Dibble** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:04 am

[quote="stuieg"]Yeah, I though of resin, but it's a cavity wall. I therefore thought resin was out of the question as it would fill up caivity ![/quote]

You can buy nylon sleeves that go into the hole and stop the resin from leaking out. I would use resin fixings, they are easy to use and give very good results. You can buy resin cartridges that will fit into a standard cartridge gun.

by **plumbbob** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:19 pm

Just another idea, you could use threaded bar and bolt all the way through the wall. Gives a solid support, but could be a it tricky if the inside is your freshly decorated living room.

by **plumbbob** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:51 am

Oh, and another point, resin fixings work best under shear loading (at 90 degrees). Obviously, in your application, the loading will be tension where the weight will be trying to pull the fixing out from the wall so if you decide to go this route, make sure the fixing is beefy enough for the application as long heavy gates can exert a significant force.

by **fixings man** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:36 pm

Resin fixings will work as well in Tension as Shear as long as the bricks can take it.

Just make sure that the holes are well brushed out and blown out to ensure the resin and sleeve, well recomended by the way, adhere to the brick.