Fixing to sandstone Fillers, sealants and adhesives for all types of DIY work. Help, advice and information on all aspects of this subject

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I am currently trying to fit a 3m pine handrail to a staircase wall. The walls are made of sandstone, the problem is when I drill a hole and insert a plug and screw the bracket in, the bracket seems to fit securely but when I tried to fit the handrail the bracket becomes loose, as the sandstone seems to crumble slightly round the wall plug. I have fitted wall plugs to stone, brick and concrete before and never had any problems. The house is 100 years old and I have a boiler fitted to the bedroom and wall and kitchen units fitted to the wall which were installed before I moved in, so I don’t see why I cant fit the handrail.

Can you advise.

Gary

[thedoctor]

It sounds as if you may have the hole sightly too large Gary. This always gives the impression of a tight fit until any movement is tried then it starts to spin. Try a hole which only just lets the plug in (ie you have to bang it in) or see our project on chemical fixing which is sometimes the only way in very soft walls.