Is it possible to hammer a nail into a concrete wall. What's the best way to drive a nail into a wall? Is it possible to drive a nail into a brick wall?

In everyday life, we often encounter this problem, especially new residents when moving or during renovations - we need to drive a nail into the wall. While a gypsum block or brick wall can still be easily dealt with, problems arise with a concrete wall. As a rule, no nail will go into concrete. Therefore, based on what item we are going to hang, we act accordingly. We hang a light picture or photograph like this: using a drill, we drill a hole, cut a wooden peg under it and drive a nail into it. But for heavier objects we need to have dowel-nails. We drill a hole, drive in a dowel and then a nail. There is no other way.

For that. To drive a nail into a concrete wall, you first need to prepare a hole. Electric drills with a hammer drill function cope best with this task. When using conventional drills, you need to use a hammer. In Soviet times, they were sold in sets for new residents. In principle, it was possible to knock out a hole in the wall with one hammer, but with an electric drill with a Pobedit or diamond drill it is more accurate. Without a hammer, the drill simply warmed up, sometimes until it glowed orange.

If this is a dowel - a nail, then it can be driven into the wall using a special construction gun. There is no other way to drive a nail into a wall made using factory molding, and this has been verified. Previously, during the times of mass construction, the floors were covered with cartridges from blank “small guns”, just from such construction guns that drive such thick nails into the wall, up to the very head, and also through the part or part being nailed.

But if the wall is homemade, that is, concrete is poured into the wall with your own hands, and has low density and high porosity, then a strong, hardened nail, or better yet, a dowel, can still be driven into the wall. And this, again, has been proven, but here it is necessary to very precisely and strongly hit the head with a small sledgehammer with all its might, and so as not to bend the nail, and so as not to crumble the edges of the hole.

I once saw how they hammer a nail into a concrete wall. You must first drill a hole there using a drill, then make something out of wood in the form of a plug so that it can fit into this hole, then drive a nail in there so that holes and cracks are not visible, you can plaster the place where the nail was driven in. Instead of a nail, you can drive in a dowel.

In everyday life, from time to time the need arises to hammer a nail into a concrete wall. This may be needed in a variety of cases, for example, if you need to hang a picture on the wall, secure a cornice, hang furniture or install a wall slab. However, logic dictates that it is impossible to hammer a nail into concrete.

Hammer a nail into a concrete wall

At the very least, it will not be possible to hammer a nail into a concrete wall efficiently, so this tactic is not justified. It is better to instead resort to other types of fasteners that are more suitable for a concrete wall. And there can be a lot of options here.

For example, instead of a regular nail, you can hammer a dowel into a concrete wall. It is just as fast, but unlike traditional nails, such fasteners are truly reliable and sit firmly in the body of the concrete.

True, you can only drive a dowel into concrete if you use a special mounting gun. Of course, if the concrete is from Soviet times, you can try to do it manually, without resorting to a special tool, but it’s unlikely to be done efficiently anyway.

In order to hang small cabinets or shelves on a concrete wall, take small dowels that have a diameter of eight or ten millimeters. The length of such dowels is usually about forty millimeters.

In order to hang more massive structures, heavy attachments, furniture or exercise equipment from a concrete wall, the dowel needs to be deepened by one hundred millimeters; only in this case can such fastening be considered reliable.

You can also use so-called dowel nails. They are especially advantageous to use in cases where you need to hang something really heavy on the wall. Under such a dowel you need to drill a hole of the appropriate diameter, then clean it well of construction dust, then install an anchor and hammer a nail into it.

There may be several materials from which such anchor nails are made. In general, in most cases this does not matter, but it is worth knowing that anchors are metal, plastic or synthetic resin based.

In order to make the fastening more reliable, before driving anchor nails into the concrete wall, the anchor shell can be dipped in PVA glue. This will give the fastening additional strength, due to which the fastener can withstand heavy loads.

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If you need to hammer a nail into concrete, you can use several tactics. Of course, it is unlikely that you will be able to directly drive a nail into a concrete wall, and even if you do, it will not hold firmly and such fasteners cannot be called reliable. In other words, you will have to find workarounds and ways to solve this problem.

Replace the nail with a dowel

So, hammering nails directly into concrete is not a very rational choice. The best tactic is to use dowels. You can use almost any dowels that are available in the store. These can be plastic, nylon, or metal dowels. The point is that you first need to drill a hole in the concrete, then insert or hammer a dowel into it and tighten it with a screwdriver.

Hammer a nail into concrete using a wooden chopper

If for some reason you need a nail and no other fastening element, you can make a chop under the nail.

The chop used to replace the dowel. This is a wooden stick or a kind of “blank” that is hammered into a drilled hole. You can hammer any nail into this wooden chop, screw in any screw or self-tapping screw.

How to make a chop to drive a nail into a concrete wall? First you need to drill a hole in the concrete wall. It is better if this hole is located slightly diagonally from top to bottom. The fact is that if you drill straight or from bottom to top, over time the chop (like any other fastener) may fall out. And if the hole is drilled from top to bottom, then even if the chop becomes very loose as a result of some disaster, it will not be able to fall out of the wall. It will not fall out even if you put too much weight on it. Rather, the nail itself will break.

So, when the hole in the concrete wall is ready, a wooden block is hammered into it with glue. The main thing is to take high-quality, solid wood. There is no point in hammering rotten wood into the hole. Therefore, the blank must be of high quality and strong. It is dipped in PVA and carefully hammered into the concrete wall.

Actually, now you can hammer nails into a concrete wall without any problems. You can even hammer several nails into one chop if necessary, or screw several self-tapping screws into it.

Such a mount will be very reliable. Craftsmen always used it until more modern fasteners in the form of plastic dowels came on sale.

Using special nails for concrete

You can find special concrete nails on sale. They can be of different designs, sizes and shapes. But they were all designed in such a way that they could be driven directly into concrete. Such nails are called concrete nails or dowel nails.

Working with concrete nails is easy. In principle, there are no special secrets. The nail is simply driven confidently into the concrete with a heavy hammer. The material and design of concrete nails are chosen so that this will not be a problem. In addition, such nails, unlike ordinary nails, will stick much better in a concrete wall.

It would seem that what could be easier than hammering a nail? If we are talking about a wooden surface, even a teenager can handle it. But furnishing an apartment with concrete or brick walls is a completely different matter. An inexperienced craftsman takes up a hammer and finds that he is unable to do anything. You shouldn’t give up; if you want, you can overcome any obstacles. You will learn how to hammer a nail into a concrete wall from this article.

Deciding on the sizes

I want to decorate the walls of any home. Pictures, lamps, shelves - you never know what needs to be attached, and in such a way that at the slightest draft it does not fall on someone’s head. Before you drive a nail into a concrete wall, you need to decide on the size of what you will hang your shelf or picture on. However, you should do the same if you are dealing with any other material:

1. Measure the thickness of the surface you will be nailing.
2. Divide it by 4 - this will be the cross-section of your nail.

Important! You can take a nail of a smaller cross-section if the object is light, but you shouldn’t take a larger one, the board may simply fall apart.

We measure the length

At the hardware store you will find dozens of types of nails - all possible sizes, from very tiny ones that are used to fasten thin wooden frames to huge ones that can be used to hang a large metal plate. The length of the nail must be taken very carefully. The point should not stick out from the other side of the wall, but at the same time, the length should be sufficient to hold the object that you are fastening in this way.

Determine the length as follows:

1. Measure the approximate thickness of the wall you are going to drive the nail into.
2. Divide the result by 3 and multiply by 2 - the nail should go into the wall two-thirds of its thickness.
3. Add to this number the thickness of the item you are going to hang.

What else will you need?

What else should you think about before hammering a nail into the wall? Of course, about the tools. You need:

• hammer;
• drill with a drill bit for concrete;
• small diameter drills;
• pliers;
• pencil or marker.

You may also need a level and a tape measure (or a folding meter), but this depends on what exactly you are going to attach. Of course, there are ways to drive a nail without a drill (for example, into a wooden partition), so this tool is not always needed.

As for the hammer, of course, you can’t do without it. And you need to choose it carefully:

• the handle should be comfortable;
• The head should fit tightly and not jump off.

Hammer sizes

It is very useful to have several hammers of different sizes on the farm:

• MST-1. The small MST-1 hammer is suitable if you need to connect two wooden boards and the length of the rod does not exceed 4 cm. It weighs approximately 250 g, has a relatively small and comfortable handle - 25-28 cm, and a working surface - 9 cm.
• MST-2. The MST-2 hammer with a handle length of 30-32 cm and a working surface of 11 cm is convenient for driving in medium-sized nails. It weighs approximately 500g. It is almost universal, so if you want to have only one hammer, it is best to choose this one.
• MST-3. MCT-3 is quite heavy, weighing 1000g or so. They are inconvenient to drive small nails into. It has a large working surface of 13 cm and a long handle of 35-37 cm.

If you can hammer a nail without a drill

You can hammer a nail into a wooden wall in the most ordinary way. But, if you have never done this, you will immediately discover that this seemingly simple work has its own subtleties. First of all, the question arises: how to place a nail and how to hold it so as not to hit your hand with a hammer? So knowing some subtleties will not be superfluous:

1. Mark the location where you are going to drive the nail.
2. Take the nail by the middle of the shaft - you need to take it in your left hand (if, of course, you are right-handed), with your thumb and index finger.
3. Place the point at the intended location.
4. Place the rod perpendicular to the plane (although there are exceptions when they are driven in obliquely).
5. Take the hammer in your right hand (a left-handed person, of course, will do everything the other way around).
6. Apply 2-3 confident blows - they may not be particularly strong, but should accurately hit the cap.
7. The nail should penetrate the surface by about a fifth of its length, sometimes this is enough.
8. If the rod needs to be driven in deeper, apply a few more blows so that only the head or a small piece of the rod remains outside (if something needs to be hung, and not nailed tightly).

Important! Please note that your not entirely confident actions may cause the rod to bend. This is extremely inconvenient, and the question always arises of what to do in this case. You can, of course, straighten the nail and try to hammer it in again, but don’t be surprised if it bends again in the same place, or even breaks. Unfortunately, high-quality metal is not always used to make fasteners, which causes similar problems. There is another way out - drive the nail in as it is, that is, in a bent form. But this method is not always suitable.

Trouble with a tree

There are times when the wood seems to be soft, but it is not possible to break through it, and it is not a matter of the force of the blows. Most likely, you did not quite correctly determine the location and the tip got into the seal. There are two ways to deal with this situation:

1. Pull out the tip and drive it in nearby.
2. Pull out the nail, make a small hole with a thin drill at the same mark and insert the tip into it, and the diameter of the hole should be less than the cross-section of the nail.

Important! The more accurate the blows and the less the tip moves during the process, the stronger the connection will be.

We hammer from the end

The end of any board is a vulnerable place. Sometimes you have to hammer nails in there too, but there is a fairly high risk that the product will split. The fibers in this place are easily torn. But you can make them diverge, and then the connection will be stronger. The smartest thing to do to drive a nail into a wall is as follows:

1. Grind down the tip a little to dull it - a regular file is suitable for this.
2. Mark a place for the hole at the end.
3. Drill a small hole at the mark - the drill should be thinner than the rod.
4. Drive in a nail.

If you want to firmly connect wooden surfaces, consider a few more points:

1. If you lubricate the tip with soap, the risk of splitting the board is reduced.
2. There should be gaps between adjacent nails; you cannot drive too many nearby - this reduces the strength of the board.
3. If the surfaces are thick and the nails are large, it is best to grip the fasteners with pliers.
4. It is convenient to attach various objects to the plaster using a punch.
5. To pierce a wall covered with wallpaper, paper or non-woven fabric is cut with a cross, the corners are opened, a nail is driven into the hole, and then, if necessary, the edges are glued.

Concrete wall

With wood everything is clear, it is a soft material, so additional devices are rarely needed. Is it possible to hammer a nail into a concrete wall? Nothing is impossible, but you have to try. First, try doing this with a drill. Mark the place where you will drive in with a hammer or center punch. As for how to drive a nail into a concrete wall without a drill, everything is a little more complicated - you still have to make a hole for the dowel with something:

1. Take a drill of a suitable diameter (you will find it on the marking), the dowel should be the same size.
2. Drill a hole.
3. Remove dust (a household vacuum cleaner will do).
4. Insert the dowel.
5. Immerse its cartridge to the desired depth.
6. Drive in a nail.

If there is no drill

A drill is a very useful thing in the household, but a novice master may not have one. In this situation, a bolt will help out - a metal tube, one end of which is hardened and sharpened with teeth:

1. Mark a spot on the wall.
2. Place the sharpened end of the bolt on the mark.
3. Hit it hard with a hammer - it's better to use a heavier tool.
4. Turn the bolt slightly and hit again.
5. Proceed in this way until you get a hole of the desired depth.
6. Remove dust periodically.
7. Drive a wooden plug into the hole.
8. Drive a nail into the cork.

How to make a chopik?

The question arises, what is the wooden plug that is inserted into the hole? It's done like this:

1. Cut out a block of wood according to the size of the hole - the harder and denser the wood, the more reliable the connection will be.
2. Give it the shape of a cone - the narrow end should fit into the hole freely, and the wide end with difficulty, that is, its diameter should be a little larger (about 3 mm).
3. Make a cut at the narrow end.
4. Insert a wedge from the same breed into the cut.

Important! The wood must be dry.

Screws

Some items are attached to concrete walls with screws. They also need holes. You can also insert them into wooden plugs. But there is another way - the holes are filled with alabaster or cement, and wire is wound onto the screw threads.

Brick wall

Brick is softer than concrete, but harder than wood; this material has its own characteristics that must be taken into account if you want to hang something on the wall:

1. Choose a place - this must be approached carefully, since the bricks are attached to mortar, which can spill out from strong impacts. It is best if the nail goes into the middle of the brick.
2. Carefully drill the holes - start at a slow speed, and then increase the speed when the drill reaches a depth of 1 cm.
3. Carefully remove crumbs and dust from the hole - brick crumbles much better than concrete.

Your question:

What's the best way to drive a nail into a wall?

Master's answer:

There is nothing difficult about driving a nail into a wall. There would be a wall, a nail, a hammer and strong hands. The main thing here is not to spoil the surface of the wall, and for this you just need to choose the right tools.

All you need is a hammer and a screwdriver. nails, screws and choppers. In addition, you definitely need to know what material the wall you are going to drive nails into is made of. Wood, concrete, brick can be used for wall materials in houses and apartments, most often their surface is plastered.

The simplest and easiest way is to drive nails into the wooden surface of the walls. A hammer, nails and a stepladder (if the nail needs to be driven in high) is all you need for this. Mark the point on the wall where you need to hammer the nail and place its point against it. Hit the head of the nail with a hammer. If the wall is made of “dense” wood, such as walnut or ash, the point of the nail should be soaked in ordinary oil or turpentine. This will make it easier for him to enter the surface.

Nails must be driven into a plastered wall at a right angle, that is, perpendicular to the surface of the wall. Any wall can be plastered with a fairly durable mortar. To check how true this statement is, hit the place where you will drive the nail with a hammer. This way, you can somewhat disrupt the structure of the plaster surface, and further driving in the nail will be much easier. In addition, with this approach to business, the nails will not bend at all.

Surely, you can guess that driving nails into concrete, stone or brick walls is much more difficult and problematic. In addition to a hammer and nails, you may probably need wooden choppers (special wooden rods) and an impact drill. Using a drill, you need to drill a hole in the wall and hammer a plug of suitable diameter into it. To achieve the desired result, choose a drill whose diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the chopper. If you don’t have a suitable short piece of wood on hand, a pencil stub can easily replace it. After you drive the chopstick into the wall, drive a nail into it.

Before you drive a nail into a wall, think about the load it will have to withstand. In this case, there is a directly proportional relationship: the greater the load, the thicker and longer the nail should be and vice versa. If necessary, nails can be replaced with screws, which do not need to be driven in, but screwed into the surface of the wall.

If you plan to hang a fairly large load on the wall, for example, a stand on which a TV will stand or a shelf for books and flowers, it is better to use screws of the appropriate size. They will fix the item you need on the wall much more reliably.

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