Holes in block foundation wall
 

We had a problem at the house and I had to unfinish the basement. It's
now just block wall with some kind of paint on it.

The electrical aspect is a mess. The service panel needs to be secured
and nomex running to switches and outlets is hideous. Everything is
just hanging down the wall.

So, my question is, can I drill holes in the block or morter for
concrete anchors to allow the securing of the panel, the mounting of
raceways and new outlet boxes, etc.

I found some nice blue concrete bolts (they call them anchors)
but it's basically just an 1/8th inch diameter bolt that tightens into a
drilled hole. No 1/4 inch hole for an anchor insert needed.

Is it ok to put these holes in my block basement walls?

TIA

Holes in block foundation wall
 

Mark Sherman wrote:
We had a problem at the house and I had to unfinish the basement. It's
now just block wall with some kind of paint on it.

The electrical aspect is a mess. The service panel needs to be secured
and nomex running to switches and outlets is hideous. Everything is
just hanging down the wall.

So, my question is, can I drill holes in the block or morter for
concrete anchors to allow the securing of the panel, the mounting of
raceways and new outlet boxes, etc.

I found some nice blue concrete bolts (they call them anchors)
but it's basically just an 1/8th inch diameter bolt that tightens into a
drilled hole. No 1/4 inch hole for an anchor insert needed.

Is it ok to put these holes in my block basement walls?

TIA
I would attach an over sized piece of plywood and attach your panel to
that. The blue things are called tap-cons. Attach them to the mortar
joints. Make sure you do not make the hole over sized. It needs to be
precise for those things to hold.

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Holes in block foundation wall
 

No wrote:
Mark Sherman wrote:

We had a problem at the house and I had to unfinish the basement.
It's now just block wall with some kind of paint on it.

The electrical aspect is a mess. The service panel needs to be
secured and nomex running to switches and outlets is hideous.
Everything is just hanging down the wall.

So, my question is, can I drill holes in the block or morter for
concrete anchors to allow the securing of the panel, the mounting of
raceways and new outlet boxes, etc.

I found some nice blue concrete bolts (they call them anchors)
but it's basically just an 1/8th inch diameter bolt that tightens into
a drilled hole. No 1/4 inch hole for an anchor insert needed.

Is it ok to put these holes in my block basement walls?

TIA

I would attach an over sized piece of plywood and attach your panel to
that. The blue things are called tap-cons. Attach them to the mortar
joints. Make sure you do not make the hole over sized. It needs to be
precise for those things to hold.

Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita
http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

I did build a wooden mounting panel to mount to the wall for the service
panel to mount to.
I can see that the hole needs to be precise. The pack of tap-cons I
purchased came with a long drill bit included.
It would also appear that over tightning these things would be a big no-no.

I wonder how strong they are. I was going to use 6 (3 each side)
for the heavy service panel.

I guess it's ok to drill the holes?

Holes in block foundation wall
 

I would use the larger size, 1/4" for a service panel. Ignore the advise to
drill into the mortar joints, they are often soft compared to the actual
concrete block, easy to drill but also easy to strip the threads as you
drive the screw in. You need to drive into something hard to hold the screws
solidly.

"Mark Sherman" wrote in message
news:vM59g.807$UY6.235@trnddc08...
No wrote:
Mark Sherman wrote:

We had a problem at the house and I had to unfinish the basement. It's
now just block wall with some kind of paint on it.

The electrical aspect is a mess. The service panel needs to be secured
and nomex running to switches and outlets is hideous. Everything is
just hanging down the wall.

So, my question is, can I drill holes in the block or morter for
concrete anchors to allow the securing of the panel, the mounting of
raceways and new outlet boxes, etc.

I found some nice blue concrete bolts (they call them anchors)
but it's basically just an 1/8th inch diameter bolt that tightens into a
drilled hole. No 1/4 inch hole for an anchor insert needed.

Is it ok to put these holes in my block basement walls?

TIA

I would attach an over sized piece of plywood and attach your panel to
that. The blue things are called tap-cons. Attach them to the mortar
joints. Make sure you do not make the hole over sized. It needs to be
precise for those things to hold.

Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita
http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

I did build a wooden mounting panel to mount to the wall for the service
panel to mount to.
I can see that the hole needs to be precise. The pack of tap-cons I
purchased came with a long drill bit included.
It would also appear that over tightning these things would be a big
no-no.

I wonder how strong they are. I was going to use 6 (3 each side)
for the heavy service panel.

I guess it's ok to drill the holes?

Holes in block foundation wall
 

EXT wrote:
I would use the larger size, 1/4" for a service panel. Ignore the advise to
drill into the mortar joints, they are often soft compared to the actual
concrete block, easy to drill but also easy to strip the threads as you
drive the screw in. You need to drive into something hard to hold the screws
solidly.
snip

I guess it's ok to drill the holes?


I suggested the mortar joints because the block is hollow and can be
crumbly and tapcons may not hold. Don't ask me how I know.

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Holes in block foundation wall
 

I used about 600 of those tapcons to secure my walls and subfloor to
the concrete.

About 1 in 10 snapped below the torque required to drive them in.

This probably had more to do with the hardness of the concrete than
the bolt.

If your block is softer than mortar, you have bigger issues.

Why not run a few 2X4's floor to ceiling to temporarily secure your
electrics to.