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In order to hang a TV wall mount* onto a hollow clay bricks wall, I decided to use chemical anchors to ensure the mount will endure with the TV weight.

(* originally came with 3 50mm Fischer wall plugs and 70mm hexagonal screws)

I injected the chemical resin into the socket and then pushed the Fischer plug inside. The problem I found then was that the screw needed a 70mm depth hole and the Fischer plug is only 50mm. From my understanding, those plugs are meant to be shorter than the plug, as long as the hole is big enough, but now that the wall plug is filled around with the resin the screw will only be able to use the 50mm depth of the plug. The picture below illustrates the problem:

wall-side-cut schematic

So what are the options?

  1. Find a smaller screw (~50mm) that can fit the plug (I'm afraid that it will reduce the strength that it can hold)
  2. Remove the plug from inside the resin using a drill, and then drill a hole until I reach the 70mm depth. Insert a new plug. I'm not sure if it's possible to drill through a chemical anchor. Would you recommend doing so?

socket, plug and screw

Many thanks

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2 Answers 2

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Yes, you should be able to drill the resin/epoxy/plastic with a general purpose drill bit.

If you use a smaller drill bit you should be able to just drill screw-tip clearance beyond the plugs installed, rather than drilling them out and replacing them.

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  • Thank you for your answer! Just to clarify, should I remove the inside plug and then drill enough resin so the screw can fit? Looks like there is no other option... since if I try to drill through the plug it will damage the plug itself...
    – a--m
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 12:42
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    @a--m the plug is plastic. The steel of the drill bit and/or screw will crush/destroy it, so don't worry too much about the plug. You do, however, want to drill the smallest pilot hole necessary (the bit should be about the size of the solid shaft of the bolt, but smaller than the diameter of the threads. This will make clearance for the solid shaft, while leaving material for the threads to bite into so the bolt can hold in place.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 13:25
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Shorter screws would also be fine in this application, unless you’re planning to use the TV as a pull-up bar.

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  • I think this is also a perfect valid solution. Upvoted! I'm already halfway done on drilling the holes, but I had my doubts if it was worth the trouble.
    – a--m
    Commented Nov 30, 2022 at 22:07

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