Thread: Putting nails in concrete

This is not something that I have done but you could try marking location of holes, drill a hole for a wall plug and then nail (or my preference) screw into the plugs. Other members may have a different idea.

You can do as handyjack says (may need to use a dowel instead of wall plug depending on size of nail) or alternately glue the strip down with a construction adhesive, eg maxbond or sikaflex 11fc or even neutral cure clear silicone and cut the nails down or bend them over so they fit under the strip.

Yes I would do as above, if you wanted to make sure of the plug you could araldite it. You can get a 2 pack self mixer for a calk gun but thats about $30 and is 2 uses only so a standard two pack would do. Countersink the screws and its done. I have never had sucess with nails in concrete, I believe if they were shot in it would be OK but hammered with several blows I dont think works too well.
I would only use glue because its on the floor and your strip is liable to be kicked and come loose, though that may just be overkill.

Concrete Anchors, Fasteners, Masonry Screws - Concrete Fasteners.com

Just for an idea of what to look for or ask about, i'd use the nylon cased nail (1st on left) if its a must hammer in type thing (beware of the tiles nearby) or a tapcon type deal (the blue screw in one) it depends on the ammount of traffic the strip will have, how high above the surface it is (the room the anchor head has to fit into), also how wide the area is between the actual tiles on both sides you have (drilling sizes before you hit tiles). I'd still use an adhesive as well.

Neal.

Originally Posted by mic-d

You can do as handyjack says (may need to use a dowel instead of wall plug depending on size of nail) or alternately glue the strip down with a construction adhesive, eg maxbond or sikaflex 11fc or even neutral cure clear silicone and cut the nails down or bend them over so they fit under the strip.

I need to clarify the last bit about bending or cutting the nails. you'd only need to do that, if you glue the strip down, for cosmetic reasons. eg to have a nail head filling a hole.

In the old days you'd drill and set the nails in melted sulphur. These days, I'd prefer to go with epoxy.

Originally Posted by AlexS

In the old days you'd drill and set the nails in melted sulphur. These days, I'd prefer to go with epoxy.

Yes, too true.....I remember my dear ol dad using melted sulphur to set wrought iron balustrades on porches. Sets really hard but probably toxic............but it works!!

Billy

Just fix it with 11fc you don't need it nailed as it is not on a carpet, if you want to nail it down just buy a length of spagatti as in this stuff
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drill the hole blow out the dust and hammer in the nails

There would be a danger of cracking tiles with Drilling & nailing and it would be difficult to remove should you need to in the future. I would suggest gluing the cover strip to the tiles with liquid nails or similar.

Regards

Originally Posted by JillB

I have a metal cover strip to put in a doorway on tiles between two rooms with different tile patterns. The join needs to be covered up, and the floor is a concrete slab.

The cover strip comes with harded 2.2mm diam nails, but they are not that hard as one easily bent when being nailed in to the grout.

I now propose to drill a slightly larger hole ( 3mm) through the grout between the tiles, and put some glue and then insert the nail.

Can anyone please recommend a suitable glue, and a method of inserting it in a small hole like this?

regards,
Jill

Why not drill a slightly undersized hole? That is what the carpet layers did recently at my place. They said the slab was too hard and an indersized hole would let the nail go in and grip also.