gouged-out wall

[msh...@math.wustl.edu]

I have no idea what my wall is made of, but I can't get into it with a
standard drill and bit or with a "self-drilling anchor". All I
managed to do is gouge out a hole in the wall. Any idea what it may
be made of, or how to get into it?

Another wall has a similar problem: I can't hammer a nail into it
deeper than a coupla mm. Presumably made of the same stuff, but this
time I didn't try much harder than that to get into the wall.

Thanks,

Michael Hamm
not much of a DIYer (obviously)
msh...@math.wustl.edu
http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/

[JoeSpareBedroom]

<msh...@math.wustl.edu> wrote in message
news:1189954783....@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

>I have no idea what my wall is made of, but I can't get into it with a
> standard drill and bit or with a "self-drilling anchor". All I
> managed to do is gouge out a hole in the wall. Any idea what it may
> be made of, or how to get into it?
>
> Another wall has a similar problem: I can't hammer a nail into it
> deeper than a coupla mm. Presumably made of the same stuff, but this
> time I didn't try much harder than that to get into the wall.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Michael Hamm
> not much of a DIYer (obviously)

How old is the house, and where is it located?

[dpb]

And what does the texture seem like where you tried drilling?

My guess is it's lathe and plaster, but other possibilities exist...

--

[Edwin Pawlowski]

<msh...@math.wustl.edu> wrote in message
news:1189954783....@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Post a picture someplace. Could be plaster, could be brick or block behind
it. Could be a lot of things. When was the house built?

[Rudy]

>I have no idea what my wall is made of, but I can't get into it with a
> standard drill and bit or with a "self-drilling anchor".

Concrete ?

[Joe]

On Sep 16, 10:22 am, dpb <n...@non.net> wrote:

>snip<

> My guess is it's lathe and plaster, but other possibilities exist...

Nobody can hammer a nail into a lathe. After all, most of them are
made of cast iron. OTOH, he may have plaster over lath, which could be
rock lath, metal lath or wood lath strips.

Joe

[msh...@math.wustl.edu]

This is from an old thread. I'm using Google Groups (alas) which was
acting up, so I couldn't see (at that time) that my post even went
through to Usenet. I assumed it didn't until I just came across it
now and read the responses. Here's my followup.

Me, back in September:

> I have no idea what my wall is made of, but I can't get into it with a
> standard drill and bit or with a "self-drilling anchor". All I
> managed to do is gouge out a hole in the wall. Any idea what it may
> be made of, or how to get into it?
>
> Another wall has a similar problem: I can't hammer a nail into it
> deeper than a coupla mm. Presumably made of the same stuff, but this
> time I didn't try much harder than that to get into the wall.

JoeSpareBedroom:

> How old is the house, and where is it located?

1948 (I think), and St. Louis County, Mo.

dpb:

> And what does the texture seem like where you tried drilling?

Sandy. More precisely, like a rock that's been pulverized. Perhaps
like concrete or cement that's been pulverized, but I don't know
enough about them.

People have answered what they think it may be -- and thanks -- but
any idea how I can get into it?

Michael Hamm