Concrete fasteners loose?
So I started securing 1×4 strips to concrete basement wall. I have 4in fasteners going through 2in rigid foam and the 1×4. There is no size between 4 and 5in screws and according to instructions I shouldn’t go deeper than 1 3/4 into concrete. Some screws went in snug a few were loose enough I could pull it out if I pulled hard enough. I took foam board adhesive and glued the whole piece of wood and then secured what I could. I can pull hard on wood and it doesn’t detach but I bet I could get it out with a claw hammer and some effort. Do I need to worry, it’s only hanging drywall. I could go back with some 5 inch tap cons if necessary I mean it’s only a “1/4 too deep”
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Replies
Hammer,
Ditch the Tapcons. They are finicky and fragile. Buy a few of these instead.
https://www.grkfasteners.com/specialty-accessories/caliburn-concrete-screw
Go back and re-read the original advice I gave you: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/tapconning-furring-strips-into-concrete-wall-what-are-the-minumum-tools-i-need
:-)
Patrick,
There is something strangely endearing about Hammer repeatedly asking a barrage of questions about small routine tasks and then ignoring the advice he gets.
Thanks I reread the advice, grk fasteners at least a concrete version is very hard to get around me. My options would be to wait a few days to a week for the fasteners to come in or I can try:
A. Using a multi purpose grk fastener with copper wire as Patrick mentioned
B. Or I was thinking Is it possible to use copper wire with the concrete screws I have now (they aren’t tapcons, something called confast). You can buy bare copper ground wire at the big orange guy for about $25. It would just save me the hassle of buying more screws
Tapcons work OK but you absolutely must drill the hole properly. "Properly" means you use a correct size drill bit, and it ESPECIALLY means you DO NOT rock the drill while drilling -- if you enlarge the hole even a little, you'll have problems getting the tapcon to hold.
My recommendation would be to use an SDS-plus ("plus" is the smaller shank version of the SDS system) rotary hammer, and a Bosch masonry bit. This will do a good job. My second recomendation if you're having trouble is to use 5/16" or larger tapcons. 1/4" tapcons are the most fussy, the larger ones hold better with less issues. I've found the 3/8" tapcons to be near invincible (I mounted a shelf for a water tank with some of those), for example. 1/4" tapcons are very, very fussy about their holes, and there is very little room for error. Any larger size tapcons seem more tolerant of less than perfect holes.
Bill
This morning after searching everywhere for the grk concrete screws, I saw I had Simpson star drive concrete screws. Gave it a shot and went it smoothly. I have come to a conclusion, I hate tapcons and Amazon knock offs. I’m sure the grk fasteners would have worked as well if I had time to order them.
You'll probably hate Amazon knockoffs of any type of fastener. There are a lot of of questionable products on there, and for anything critical (structural screws, etc.), I would buy only from reputable construction suppliers.
Bill