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I'm trying to put up a coat hanger into a brick wall. The house is an old apartment block in Berlin and the coat hanger is quite heavy and sticks out from the wall so it will need quite a lot of support. Especially to hold up all the clothes.

I have tried to drill at several places but either end up hitting something that I can't get through or the opposite, the wall is weak and crumbles and the hole becomes too big and too lose. I've tried inserting screws with plastic anchors into those lose holes but they simply won't hold. I also don't have another place for the coat hanger.

So my plan is to refill the lose holes and drill again. As far as I can tell I have two options but both with their cons.

Option 1: Fill the lose holes with epoxy and stick in the screw before it sets. Con: I won't be able to get the screw back out and take my coat hanger down in the future.

Option 2: Fill the hole with hydraulic cement. Con: I'm afraid I won't be able to completely fill the hole and that it will leave air pockets. (The holes are 8 mm wide and quite deep).

So, is there anything I'm missing here? What would be the best way for a layman to fill a small drill hole in his brick wall so that he can drill again in the same place and later remove whatever he stuck in that hole?

All the best, Eythor M.

P.S. I've tried doing my research and seen similar questions here. But none of them address the cons I mentioned above.

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Variant on 1) Fill the hole with epoxy, let harden, drill pilot hole in epoxy for screwed, mount the coathanger.

You might want to make the original hole slightly oversize so a good ring of epoxy remains after drilling pilot holes. Using this method, the screws will be removable.

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  • Ok thanks! So I should leave the anchor altogether and just screw the screw the by hand through the pilot hole in the epoxy? And how wide and deep should the pilot hole be, if I have an 8mm (1/3 in) wide screw that is ca 8 cm (3 in) long.
    – Eysi
    Oct 28, 2014 at 14:39
  • Pilot hole should go full screw length. Metric? This chart should help you pick the right diameter.engineeredpartsinc.com/pdf/pilot-hole-sizes.pdf You want the pilot hole to be just slightly larger than the shank, but obviously less than the thread diameter.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Oct 28, 2014 at 14:49
  • All right. One more question though: What kind of drill bit would I need for epoxy? Should I switch from the one I used to drill into the brick to a drill bit for wood?
    – Eysi
    Oct 28, 2014 at 14:57
  • Yes, use a wood bit on the epoxy resin. A typical masonry bit would rip it up badly.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Oct 28, 2014 at 14:59
  • Sorry if I keep asking stupid questions. Just moved into my first apartment and most of these things are new to me. But just to be sure, do I put a plastic anchor into the pilot hole in the epoxy and then insert the screw as usual? Or simply skip the anchor and only use a screw?
    – Eysi
    Oct 28, 2014 at 22:24

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