NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, which are all part of the NatWest Group, will now shut at least 172 of their bank branches in 2023 and 2024. If you are just going to be doing smaller household jobs like putting up curtain poles, fitting shelves, and fixing pictures to walls, then buying your own drill or even drill/driver is worthwhile. Why? Because the way a wall plug works and holds in place is by expanding in a radially outwards fashion. Simply put, when you put a screw into a plastic wall plug (or an old fashioned wooden plug for that matter) it acts as a wedge, pushing the two halves of the plug apart and filling the hole very tightly. Friction then takes care of holding everything in place for all eternity; handy stuff friction… and it’s free!

And therein lies the problem. I am using rawlplugs (large brown ones), but they aren't working. They spin in the holes, and if they do grip enough to get the screw in, they pull out very readily. I currently have them at (approx) 60cm intervals, and they simply aren't holding. The usual method is to drill a hole of the correct size and then insert a plastic wall plug to screw into.

Masonry Definition

You can see the wider end on the Masonry Drill Bit (top) compared with the Normal Drill Bit (bottom) If that’s not the case well, then it’s odd! Logic dictates if there is a hole and it’s the right diameter and depth, it’s got to go in! When it comes to what to use, today there is a great range of different construction adhesives available that will securely fix timber battens and other objects to masonry surfaces, in most cases as strongly as any screw.

Position the item to be fixed over the hole and put the screw through it and into the plug, twisting the screw a tiny bit by hand till it bites. We are using a size 8, 50mm screw so we need a 6mm masonry drill bit and a red wall plug to fit into a hole (see the colour coded size guide above). Clean the wall surface with a stiff brush, to remove all loose material, paint, varnish and plaster. You may need to sand the area if the surface is very flaky Timber battens are used to allow you to get a level surface to fix plasterboard or other sheeting material to the wall. It is important that this framework is fitted accurately so that you can get a good final finish.This is the gauge number of a screw and is measured using the head of the screw rather than the diameter of the shaft.