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CASE STUDY: Should you fix into the brick or the mortar?
This question tends to lead to robust debate, there is however a simple answer to this question. Read below where we take a quick dive into what our customers have discovered by trial & error.
In the particular case pictured above we are looking at downpipe brackets fixed into the mortar with a green plug & screw. Whilst this is not a highly load critical application it does highlight the point that there is a problem here. We’ve all seen this somewhere, a light pulling out from the wall, a gate post half hanging off, the list goes on. We are alarmed, however, to hear of some cases where heavy air conditioning units or hot water systems are only held to the wall by plugs or even worse, sleeve anchors into the mortar. This is where some dangerous incidents and costly liabilities are at stake.
We do get the whole methodology around fixing to mortar. It seems feasible, where bricks can be unpredictable due to being potentially hollow or liable to crack when hammer drilling the mortar seems the more solid ‘concrete like’ element. This is where the confusion comes in, mortar is not concrete! Mortar is in fact the crumbliest, weakest link in a brick wall & was never meant to be fixed or drilled into. Brick walls have to be repointed over time, which is the mortar wearing away, a telling sign that mortar is not as strong as the brick!
The solution:
- Use a brick rated plug or anchor and fix into the brick rather than the mortar
- Plugs like our Qfix Nylon Universal Plugs & our Qfix Framegripz heavy-duty plug and screw combos are ideal for brick, including hollow brick or hollow concrete block. These plugs will simply twist-knot in the hole of the brick leaving a perfect bond
- Screws like our Qscrews are also suitable for brick. Simply drill a pilot hole and screw straight in. The unique Qscrew double thread ensures a decent bite into any brick wall thickness. Ideal for mounting conduit saddles, lights, switches, downpipes & more. Effectively replacing green plugs and screws as well as Nylon Nail-In Anchors.
To conclude, no, you should never fix to the mortar, there are no serious load-rated anchors that are recommended for fixing to mortar. If you use the correct fixing for brick, you won’t have any issues and the question, ‘do I fix to brick or mortar’ will no longer arise. In fact, you will find anchors like our Framegripz & Qscrews such a breeze you will never consider going back to basic plugs, sleeve anchors or nylon nail-in anchors.
To be fair to some of the commonly used anchors in these applications; green plugs & screws, sleeve anchors, nylon nail-in anchors, it’s not that these anchors are rubbish. The issue is where they are used in the wrong application. All 3 anchor types mentioned were designed for solid concrete, not for brick. In concrete these anchors will of course work flawlessly. See the points below which explain why these anchors struggle in brick:
- PVC Red, Green, Blue & Orange Plugs are a hard plastic plug that work simply on expansion. In crumbly materials (e.g. mortar) the plug expands and cracks the material leaving little to grip to. In hollow brick the plug may have little wall thickness to grab to and simply spin when you try to screw into it
- Where PVC plugs will mostly still work in brick with very mixed results, Nylon Nail-In Anchors will rarely bite at all in brick unless you’re lucky to hit solid brick. They are again hard plastic which makes them very brittle, as brittle as the brick itself and the one expansion zone has a tendency to end up sitting helplessly in the hollow of the brick
- Sleeve Anchors, great as a concrete anchor but not for brick! Even in solid brick metal expansion anchors cause too much expansion stress as there is no give between the hard brick and the hard metal. Issues like cracking, working loose over time or simply spinning uselessly in the hole are common. In hollow brick sleeve anchors are a disaster! The one expansion zone is almost always in the hollow of the brick meaning your anchor is doing nothing! All the while your lulled into a sense of security because you’re using a big heavy duty anchor.
Many will still argue they’ve used green plugs etc. for years and never had a problem. Truth is you’re either being very careful or you’re just lucky!
Luck however isn’t a strategy. Especially when you may not be the person installing, it may be down to an inexperienced apprentice. The cost of a few extra cents per anchor when you use the right gear far outweighs the cost of one call back due to an anchor failure. Also remember, using anchors outside of the manufacturers ratings all unfortunately comes back on the installer.
Tell us about your challenges and solutions you have found to your unique projects, this is how we develop better products and more accurate real-life advice to our customers!
