The curtain rod is skewed, the kitchen cabinet is not hanging in the best way... The reason is that the dowels do not hold firmly in the wall. Such problems require urgent elimination.

Fastening with dowels has become commonplace in our time. Whether you need to hang a cabinet on the wall, tighten a cord for window curtains or fasten the sheathing - dowels of a wide variety of designs are at your service.

However, these fasteners do not always withstand the loads placed on them. Especially if we are talking about a fragile base, for example, from modern lightweight and porous materials. In these cases, under the influence of high loads, the dowels often fall out of the base.

You should immediately make a reservation: when moving the attachment point to another place (if the dowel fails at this point), you need to correctly select a new dowel and install it properly.

Eventually, the fallen dowel can be reattached in the same hole using quick-setting cement or plaster. But first you need to thoroughly clean the hole from stone chips and dust. The best way to do this is with a vacuum cleaner.

You should select a screw for the dowel that would not excessively expand it when screwing it in, and therefore the binder. In this case, the dowel will be held in the hardened mass, and not due to frictional locking.

Selection of dowels taking into account the base material

For fastening heavy objects or objects that create a high load to a porous or relatively weak base, for example, foamed concrete, ordinary plastic dowels are not suitable. In this case, the reason why dowels fall out of the walls is not so much the insufficient strength of the dowels themselves, but the strength of the base material, which cannot withstand the loads that arise when the dowels expand. Often similar cases are observed when attaching objects to masonry made of hollow materials.

In these conditions, it is necessary to select dowels correctly, taking into account the material of the walls. We can talk, in particular, about the so-called injection dowels. They are a combination of a fastening element (for example, a screw or bolt) with a mesh sleeve inserted into the hole and a cartridge of filler solution. The purpose of the mesh sleeve is to prevent the mortar from spreading into the wall cavity. A fastening element is inserted into the solution that has not yet hardened, which can also be a threaded bushing, in particular a plastic one.

In recent years, professional builders and home craftsmen have increasingly used dowel-nails to perform various installation work; we will tell you how to use this product in this article.

1

A dowel-nail is a special product used to perform fastening work. It consists of two elements - a special nail and the dowel itself, and is used for mounting objects to concrete, brick, stone, and other solid, dense materials. There are also types of the described fasteners designed to work with chipboards and drywall.

The design of the dowel-nail is very simple. It is made in the form of a cylindrical rod, which consists of a spacer part (it expands during installation and allows for reliable fastening) and a nail that is familiar to everyone. In some cases, the fastener we are interested in may be additionally equipped with a special cuff that acts as a limiter that does not allow the fastener to fall into the hole made. The shape of this cuff can be different, for example, cylindrical or hidden.

Also, modern industry produces dowel fasteners with a thread applied to the nail and a slot, which is located on the head of the product. This element can be mounted using a screwdriver. Working with it is quite simple, since the process of inserting a nail into a dowel is made easier due to the presence of a “smoothed” thread in the product. Let us add that the top of the thread of this mounting device is directed towards the head. Purely externally, the dowel-thread is no different from the standard thrust thread.

Most often, dowels are made from polyethylene, polypropylene or polyamide. But the dowel-nail itself is made from steel alloys with a zinc coating. To be fair, we note that there are many fasteners of the described type on the market without additional coating. Standard dowel diameters are 5, 6, 8 and 10 millimeters, and their length ranges from 30 to 160 millimeters.

2

If you are installing a fastener in a brick structure, you should follow these steps:

• We choose the optimal place for the dowel (usually this is understood as the center of the brick).
• Using an impact drill, we begin to drill into the material. This process must be performed very carefully (especially when starting drilling) so that the masonry does not crack under the influence of the tool. You can increase the speed of the drill after about 10 millimeters of brick have been drilled.
• From the resulting hole, we blow out brick crumbs and the resulting dust with a vacuum cleaner, after which we boldly hammer in the fastener using a hammer.

When working with concrete surfaces, the fasteners are mounted as follows:

• A hole is marked with a punch and a hammer.
• A hole of the required depth is punched (with a hammer drill). Please note that the marking of the dowel-nail, which indicates its cross-section, must coincide with the marking of the drill. It is also important that the length of the dowel is 5–6 mm shorter than the hole being punched.
• Using a vacuum cleaner, concrete dust is removed, and then the dowel cartridge is deepened with a hammer.
• After all these steps, the nail is driven in. It is advisable to leave 2-3 millimeters of free space from its head, which will be required for hanging.

3

When installing drywall, you should take into account in advance the weight of the load that is attached to it. In cases where the weight of the load is quite high, it is impossible to use a dowel fastener, since it will simply destroy a fairly light plasterboard surface. In other situations (light load weight), driving a dowel-nail is a very simple procedure:

• a hole of the required cross-section is made in the drywall;
• the fastener is inserted all the way into the hole (in this case, you should not hit the fastening element with a hammer with all your strength, but only lightly tap);
• The screw is tightened manually or using a screwdriver.

When working with tiles made of tiles or ceramics, installation of fasteners is also simple, but the work should be done with extreme caution, given its high fragility. The fastening diagram is as follows:

• a marker marks the point of entry of the fastener into the tile (this can be either a seam or the surface of the material);
• Lightly tapping a metal screw using a self-tapping screw makes a hole on the surface of the enamel (up to 0.5 millimeters), and only after that use an impact drill, which drills through the tile (ceramics) to its entire thickness.

Do not forget that you will also need to make a hole under the tile in accordance with the instructions for brick or concrete (they are outlined above), and then install the fastening device into the tile and brick or concrete surface.

4

All the previously described options for driving dowel fasteners imply that the nail is driven into the dowel. But there is another way to install the mount in question, which involves using a construction gun. This modern mounting device allows you to “shoot” the structure being fixed to the base using a dowel-nail.

In this case, a special dowel fastener is used, which by and large does not involve the use of the dowel itself. The presence of a special washer on the nail ensures a tight fit of the fastener into the solid material. The essence of the technology for operating the gun is that after shooting the dowel-nail, the washer on its tip moves to the head of the fastener and is tightly fixed there.

This dowel-nail is used when fastening metal structures to solid bases made of natural stone, concrete, steel with low carbon content, and brick. The gun and the described type of fastener are very often used when installing canopies on the balconies of buildings. They produce “nails with washer” with a length of 30 to 80 millimeters, a cross-section of 4.5 and 3.7 millimeters from steel coated with zinc. It is extremely rare to find nails with a cross-section of more than 4.5 millimeters on sale.

I think you already understand how to use a dowel-nail. Humans do not encounter any particular difficulties with this fastener. In this case, it is very important to choose the right type of fastener, since dowel-nails, which, for example, perfectly connect the surface and the concrete base, are absolutely not suitable for fastening chipboard or plasterboard.

It is enough to contact the consultants (sellers) of a hardware store that sells various types of fasteners (for example, or) to obtain comprehensive information about the types of dowel devices. They will also advise you on how to use dowel nails. However, after carefully reading the article we have prepared, you will probably no longer need this information. You can easily mount fasteners into any type of surface without outside help!

Nails, screws, studs, nuts, dowels... You cannot do without fastening hardware either in construction, or in production, or in everyday life. The dowel-nail is one of the most popular products in this group, since it provides reliable fastening when connecting various structures to concrete, brick and other types of bases.

What is a dowel-nail and its varieties

According to the technology of installation and purpose, dowel-nails are divided into two main types:

• For driving by hand. The product is made from a special nail and the dowel itself. Models can be equipped with a locking edge and have a spacer zone. During the process of driving a nail, the spacer elements create a rigid and reliable fixation of the attached object to the base structure. Dowels are used during finishing work when fastening lightweight structures made of wood, plastic and other materials.
• For a construction pistol. Mounting dowel-nails for professional tools consist of a nail with a wide head and a movable washer located in the tip area. Used when mounting massive heavy structures.

Dowels are represented by plastic and metal products. A specific option is chosen depending on the degree of hardness of the base material.

To make a synthetic body, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyamide are used; nails are made from steel alloys with a protective galvanized layer. They are suitable for mounting light and small elements.

Metal dowel-nails for concrete are used when connecting heavy and complex structural elements is required. The basis of the fastening is a powerful rod with a pointed end, which is equipped with a lock washer. The presence of a massive head on the nail prevents it from sinking deep into the base. High-strength steel grades are used to make nails. Metal dowel-nails with threaded rods or bolts are produced for structures that have a particularly large mass (up to 5 tons).

A conventional dowel sample is not suitable for fixing to surfaces made of hollow bricks and cellular concrete, as well as materials with similar structures, since the spacer element is not fixed in the body of such structures. But special modifications of products have been developed and produced, aimed at fastening in aerated concrete and even in plasterboard sheathing. They have a large thread on the spacer body, and the tip is made in the form of a feathery drill. It is convenient to use such fasteners; they are simply screwed into the structure with a screwdriver without pre-drilling holes.

Manufacturers also produce facade dowels designed specifically for fixing the thermal insulation layer. Such products are equipped with a toothed plate at the base.

In addition to the usual universal fasteners, such a new product as an injection dowel has appeared on the market. They use it as follows. A special anchor in the form of a mesh is inserted into the drilled hole, a dowel is driven in, and a composition is injected through the sleeve using a syringe, which quickly hardens and exerts pressure, as a result of which the mesh in the body of the structure straightens.

How to drive a dowel into a brick structure or concrete

Installation of manual dowels is absolutely simple. It consists of the following sequential operations:

• Drilling holes at attachment points. The drill must match the diameter of the dowel. The holes are made with a depth equal to the length of the fastening element plus 5 mm.
• Removing any remaining material from the hole.
• Installing the dowel into the prepared cavity. By hitting it lightly with a hammer, it is gradually immersed into the hole. The part should fit tightly to its walls.
• nail. If it has a thread, then screw the nail in using a screwdriver.

When using a mounting gun, there is no need to make holes in the wall. It is used to shoot a dowel-nail through the structure being fixed, securely fixing it to the base surface. This method not only speeds up and simplifies the work, but also eliminates dust and debris that appears when working with a drill or hammer drill.

What factors are taken into account when choosing products?

When choosing fastenings, focus on the following points:

1. The magnitude of the load directly on the dowel-nail, the base structure and the mounted element.
2. The nature of the load, which can be stationary or dynamic.
3. Type and properties of the material (brick, stone, concrete, aerated concrete and others).
4. Fixation type.
5. Type of structure (ceiling, load-bearing walls, partitions).

Standard sizes

When choosing a fastener, an important role is played by its dimensions, which are marked with a digital designation. The first number indicates the diameter of the product in millimeters, the second - its length. The variability of these parameters is quite large: from 5×25 to 10×160. Each dowel-nail option has maximum load restrictions.

Various parameters and technical characteristics of dowels are regulated by GOST 28457-90. Some changes in technical specifications are allowed, but there are standards and regulations that must be strictly observed. These include:

• production material;
• minimum and maximum value of rod curvature indicators;
• the thickness of the protective galvanized layer that covers the nail;
• compliance with the standards of misalignment of the rod and washer diameter.

Changes in other characteristics specified in GOST are permissible if justified and verified technical conditions exist.

The most popular among consumers are nylon dowels of different diameters (2 - 16 mm) with threads. They are used for standard base surfaces made of brick and concrete. They can easily withstand stationary loads ranging from 200 to 450 kg.

When mounting a profile, the best option is considered to be fasteners of size 6×40 mm. To fix various objects to wall and ceiling structures in large-panel houses, it is recommended to use dowel-nails 6x60, 60x80 mm.

How to remove a dowel

Apartment renovations necessarily include wall finishing: plastering, wallpapering. Before starting such work, you should clean the surface of protruding nails and dowels. In the case where the dowels protrude from the body of the wall along with the nail, such an operation is not difficult. First, the fasteners are loosened and then sharply pulled out of the structure with pliers.

Often, owners are faced with the fact that structures previously attached to the wall have long been removed, the nails have fallen out, but the plastic elements remain. To remove them, you can act in various ways. For example, screw in a self-tapping screw of suitable diameter and try to perform actions similar to the previous method. Or try to drill it out with a drill. But often such maneuvers do not lead to the desired result: the dowel is not removed. Builders often leave the plastic element, driving it into the wall, after cutting off the cap, and then putty the surface.

There are situations when a nail breaks when driven into a concrete wall and partially remains in the dowel. How to be in this case? You will need a soldering iron or gas torch. The plastic element of the dowel is heated so that it becomes soft, plastic, and the fasteners are pulled out until the polyethylene hardens again. It is not always possible to achieve the desired result the first time, so the operation can be repeated again and again.

A huge range of different types and sizes of dowel nails allows you to use them for various purposes. And make reliable fastening of metal structures or wooden beams to concrete, brickwork, fix plaster mesh, mounting strip, plinth and many other elements.

Driving a nail into wood or drywall is easy, but driving nails into concrete is a different matter. Of course, such a procedure is not performed often, because in most cases, to secure something to a concrete base, we prefer different types of anchors or quick-installation dowels. However, one should not exclude the possibility that one day it will be necessary to use nails with concrete, so we have prepared some tips on how to do this job correctly.

This may seem strange, but the tools used to drive nails into concrete are exactly the same as when working with other materials. Most often, a construction hammer is used, with a head weighing at least a kilogram and a fairly long handle. Using a lighter tool, you are unlikely to achieve success, because in our work we will need a large supply of energy, and a long handle will serve as an excellent lever.

The easiest way to secure a nail in a concrete wall is to use a pneumatic, electric or powder nailer gun. By properly setting up the equipment, you can quickly complete a fairly large amount of work without much effort. Before using a powerful tool, be sure to read the user manual - not all nail driving devices allow you to work with concrete. If the manufacturer allows such use of its product, it is worth clarifying the necessary settings and requirements for fasteners in the passport.

Needless to say, trying to hammer an ordinary nail into concrete is unlikely to be successful? To work with this dense building material, special nails made from special grades of steel are used. Also, nails for concrete, which are also called dowels, have a special shape - they are thicker than usual, have a massive head and, very often, a notch - longitudinal or spiral. Dowels for construction guns, produced in recent years, can also be equipped with a special ballistic tip, which facilitates the penetration of hardware into the thickness of dense material. Many types of dowel-nails are produced with a washer pressed onto the rod.

Depending on the shape of the working part, nails for driving into concrete and brick can be of the following varieties:

• Grooved - for the heaviest concrete;
• Flat – for fixing parts of small mass;
• Round is the most common classic type;
• Square - used when performing specialized work.

Hardened stainless steel is most often used as a material for dowel-nails, so corrosion is not a problem for such fasteners. Fastening using concrete nails is extremely durable, provided the installation technology is followed. A dowel hammered into a wall can perform its functions without reducing its load-bearing capacity for decades, even in the open air. It should also be mentioned that removing a nail, especially one hammered by mechanization, is a very difficult and time-consuming task. During dismantling, there are often cases of serious damage to the surface around the fastener, therefore, when choosing a place for the dowel, you need to be extremely careful.

It is hardly worth stopping at driving nails using a mechanized method, since this work does not require any special tricks. But if you plan to fix the dowels manually, you need to know a few important nuances:

Hammering dowels into concrete structures is a last resort, which is resorted to in the absence of alternatives. If possible, it is recommended to hammer nails with construction guns or use quick-installation dowels, as well as expansion and chemical anchors installed in holes prepared with a hammer drill.

Useful tips

You can attach a small photo frame or plywood shelf to a plasterboard sheet using a regular screw or self-tapping screw. However, fastening heavier structures requires the mandatory use of one of the existing types of plasterboard dowels.

How to choose dowels for drywall sheets, so that you can find the same compromise in both price and quality?

There are many types of fasteners used when installing drywall products. But it is important to choose the most appropriate products for a particular case. In addition, you should know the rules for installing the described fastening elements, which will ensure the reliability and durability of the structure being formed.

The dowel used for fastening gypsum plasterboard products must meet a number of requirements:

• have an anti-corrosion coating;
• be made of high-quality and high-strength metal;
• The spacer elements of the part must ensure high-quality fixation of the plasterboard base to the base surface of the building.

All drywall dowels are distinguished by the fact that they are made according to the harpoon expansion principle, which ensures strong and reliable fastening.

There are two main groups of drywall dowels:

• checkpoints;
• unclenching.

Walk-throughs are very convenient for mounting on the ceiling. They are most often used for installing massive chandeliers, interior spotlights and sports equipment. The spring pass-through dowel consists of a threaded metal rod, folding locking wings and a spring mechanism. In the void on the inside of the plasterboard structure, a spring mechanism opens the locking hook-wings, thereby creating a reliable fastening.

The end of a spring drywall anchor can be made in the form of a ring, half ring, screw or rod. The required type of tip is selected based on the type of object that needs to be attached (for example, a tip in the shape of a ring is usually used when attaching electrical wires, and a tip in the shape of a half ring of a hook is used for hanging various lighting equipment). The spring dowel is ideal for installing elements to plasterboard walls lined with tiles. To decide which type of fasteners of the described type is suitable for your design, it is worth taking a closer look at the advantages and features of the use of each type of dowel.

Dowel molly

The molly dowel definitely cannot be classified as a cheap fastener; the price for it is really high, but there is no doubt about the quality.

How the molly dowel works:

• Under this dowel, a hole with an eight-millimeter diameter is made with a drill;
• After this, the molly is inserted into the gypsum board, the two-pronged side is pressed tightly against the sheet, which helps prevent the anchor from twisting during the fixation stage;
• Then, using a screwdriver that comes with the molly dowel, the structure is pressed against the sheet along the internal thread.

It should be noted that the central part of the sleeve is twisted, which ensures reliable fixation of the molly in the drywall. The rivet will be in place.

Advantages of molly:

• Ability to withstand fairly high loads;
• There is an option for dismantling if necessary;

Molly screws come in one set with dowels.

Driva

Driva is one of the most popular types of fasteners. Driva is available in two types - plastic and metal.

Driva plastic dowels are purchased more often, and there are more of them on sale.

How to attach a doweldriva:

• Drill a 6mm hole;
• Insert the dowel;
• Using a cross bit, cut it into the gypsum board like a standard self-tapping screw;
• After this, screw a screw or self-tapping screw with a diameter of 3.5 or 4.5 mm into the internal cross-shaped slot of the driva dowel.

That's all. The only difficulty that can arise is in selecting the right self-tapping screw. When choosing a self-tapping screw, keep in mind that driva has a length of 23 mm (plastic) and 33-44 mm (metal).

For the price, such dowels for any drywall look very attractive, and what else distinguishes the dowel is that it does not require free space within the sheet.

It remains to mention one more well-known brand of fasteners - fischer.

Fischer p.d.

Otherwise, fischer pd is called a butterfly dowel. This is a little erroneous, since butterfly dowels for plasterboard are also produced by other manufacturers, but it is fischer pd that is more associated with this type of dowel for plasterboard sheets.

The fischer pd consists of a plastic base, that is, a butterfly into which a screw is screwed. During installation, the butterfly is pressed against the joint and tightly adheres to the screw. Thus, the element is protected from falling out.

Fischer pd is not difficult to install, and the price is quite attractive. Fischer is one of the most popular fastening brands.

Dowel nail

The most popular and widely known expansion dowel-nail is used to fasten the product to a concrete base. The spacer part of this dowel is nylon and consists of three sections. In the tail part there is a passage hole, which facilitates screwing and ensures sufficient axial travel of the screw. The dowel is held securely due to the expansion of its walls in three directions at once.

The product is used for through installation:

• cornices;
• window frames;
• door frames;
• slats;
• skirting boards and other products.

Steel dowels for shooting are used when installing heavy structures, carried out with a special dowel mounting gun.

This type of fastener described, along with dowel-screw, dowel-mungo, dowel-bolt, anchor-dowel and other fasteners, is used quite rarely for installing plasterboard sheathing. Experts justify this by the fact that the spacer element does not provide a sufficient level of fixation of the base of the wall to the gypsum board.

Self-tapping screw

The self-tapping dowel used for installing gypsum boards can be:

• nylon (TT22 grade);
• metal (DRIVA).

Such dowels are used for attaching necessary items to multi-layer or single-layer plasterboard sheets that have an insulating or decorative coating on the inside. They vary in size. When selecting the desired parameter, pay attention to the fact that the fastening element is not too long - it should not stick out from the other side of the hull layer.

Such parts are especially suitable for working with durable gypsum fiber material. Self-tapping screws are also indispensable for screwing any heavy object to a plasterboard wall. In order to do this, you simply need to tighten the self-tapping screw in a pre-marked place using a screwdriver or screwdriver. Typically, the fastening element can be screwed into gypsum boards of any thickness without any problems.

If the sheet thickness is greater than 15 mm, a hole must be drilled before screwing in the self-tapping screw.

"Butterfly"

The dowel, called the “butterfly”, has a universal purpose. This is a part that, when screwed into the back side of the sheet, forms a kind of drop-down stop that can withstand a significant load while providing maximum expansion. To prevent the dowel from turning, it is equipped with a special cuff. Before installing the butterfly dowel, you will need to pre-drill the mounting hole.

When planning to use a butterfly dowel, keep in mind that the thickness of the product being fastened should not exceed 5 mm.

"Umbrella"

As the name of this dowel suggests, it works on the principle of a real umbrella, that is, it opens in the space behind the stove, thereby providing a reliable support. The umbrella dowel will also require pre-drilling a hole before installation. It is great for GC ceilings. For example, when installing a heavy chandelier, the stops opened in the space behind the sheet will evenly distribute the load over a large area.

To make it more convenient to work with dowels of this type, it is necessary to use auxiliary tools, for example, special pliers.

Dowel with drill for drywall

You can also find a dowel for any drywall with a drill at the end. This is a self-tapping screw that is designed to be screwed into the material.

It is better to attach this type of plasterboard dowels to single-layer and multi-layer slabs of material, if there is an insulating or decorative coating on the inside of the partition. The length of such dowels for drywall should not extend beyond the other side of the partition.

For double drywall

The above dowel is suitable just for double drywall. Double plasterboard is used in structures of particular strength or structures that must be well soundproofed.

Dowels for such drywall must be strong, reliable, and rigidly fixed in the material.

Screw

Dowel-nails, as they are commonly called, consist of an expansion dowel and a nail with a screw thread. They are often used for ceiling hollow structures.

Dowel nails for drywall should be screwed in well, but not twisted, so compare the size and complexity of the work.

Metal

The metal dowel is usually made of zinc alloy. In terms of price, it is almost always more expensive than its plastic counterpart, but this is understandable - metal screws are stronger, less likely to deform during fixation, and last longer.

In bulky structures, it makes more sense to use metal fasteners, while small or lightweight structures can easily be assembled using plastic parts.

How to attach a spring dowel

A dowel with wings folded together is inserted into the drilled hole. The built-in spring should spread the wings of the dowel as soon as they reach the void.

The wings perfectly fix the structure, and the screw can be secured with a screwdriver or screwdriver. This dowel is often used to hang a chandelier.

Chemical anchors

Such drywall anchors are not subject to stress when fixed into the material.

A chemical anchor is a capsule or cartridge with an adhesive mixture. When you begin to attach the anchor, the capsule is crushed and its composition is mixed. A chemical reaction occurs and a monolithic fastening is formed. This anchor is complemented by a mesh sleeve, which makes the fastening super strong.

Installation Features

Even a novice master can screw a dowel into a gypsum board. To do this, it is enough to know a number of simple rules:

1. The hole in the drywall drilled for the umbrella dowel and any other type of dowel fastener must be larger than the diameter of the part itself, otherwise the sheet may be damaged during the installation process.
2. If you use an electric screwdriver when installing a dowel, then try to prevent the fastener from turning in place at the end point - this may negatively affect its tightness. To do this, you need to tighten the part not completely. It is better to do the final turns manually or with a cordless screwdriver with the necessary settings.
3. After the umbrella dowel is inserted and the required item is attached, the hole around the fastener can be covered with acrylic (if the distance is large, then also with putty). Acrylic has a rubber base - this will help reduce the fastening pressure on the gypsum board.

In order for the butterfly dowel to be securely fastened, you must first drill a hole of the required diameter, then firmly press the folding wings of the part with your hand and carefully insert it inside the hole. The spring dowel can be screwed to the desired position using a regular screwdriver or screwdriver.

Fasteners are presented today in a wide range, and the price variety is also attractive. The choice of dowels depends on the complexity of the design, its functionality and ease of installation.