Im replacing base boards in an old brick house — the original stuff has been too painted over to save. The walls are solid brick so I’ll nailing into plaster covered brick. The craftsmen 90 years before me seemed to have no probs wacking 2 1/2″ finish nails into the brick but I cringe at the thought of messing up the trim or jamming my nailer, or both.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thx
Listeners write in about ventilation and radon control and ask questions about tightening basement garages, ventilation solutions, and safer paint stripper.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
I usually shoot the nails at an angle, and if it does not go all the way into the wall I clip the remaider with a nipper and then nail set the rest. It works pretty good, but I end up using twice as many nails as I would normal. And as far as jamming goes you just got a deal when it happens.
Jason
What about contact cement. I have used it for small and large jobs with great success. There is some wait time and the plaster needs to well adheared to the brick. H2O Cement with a soft block and shot mallet to tap the trim for contact stick will hold most time as well as nails. Just be careful with how you spread it.
Scott T.
Have seen Gorilla Glue, or any other of the poly glues like PLPremium I suppose, used for this. They used long pieced of what looked like lath to wedge the wood in place. If it slips before the glue hardens and sets up in an odd position you might be in trouble. You will likely destroy the wood before the glue gives up.
Maybe this would be a good spot for hot melt. Maybe even those fancy polyurethane hot melts. Run bead, or two, down the back and hold in position for a few seconds. Might work. Maybe a combination. PL for holding and hot melt to tack it in place.
No real experience here just brainstorming.
same as you no experience, but wouldn't the Gorilla glue expand to much? guess you could always use it sparingly.
My customer asked me to place a small piece of moulding against the brick of his chimney chase of the home theatre I built him.
I used PL Premium on the backside and followed the instructions to the letter. Once I got it in place, I wedged some scraps against it and screwed a few screws into the floor, holding the baseboard tight against the brick.
24 hours later I came back, removed the wedges and walked away, happy.
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
what you will propbably find is small wooden wedges in the vertical mortar joints for nailing to.
the chances are that you'll never be able to find them or that they are in shreds.
2" cut nails should do the job ok
construction adhesive also works but you have to prop it all in place
drywall screws
A shortcut is the longest distance between two points.
Had a condo trim job once where the homeowner didn't want "alot of banging".
I cut and fit the baseboards, and cut a bunch of long 1x2 the width of the room plus 1".
PL to the back of the base, strips wedged the base in place, and next day it was done. Maybe this will work for you?
rg
You could use some tapcons with wood plugs or filler for the holes.
As mentioned, hard to beat construction adhesive.
For clamping, small pieces can be held with some hot melt while the adhesive dries.
For larger pieces [if it's going to be painted anyways] you could use some tapcons with fender washers (or sacrificial blocks) to secure while adhesive dries, then remove and fill holes.
Gorilla glue or even the heavy duty construction adhesive would be severe overkill for such a thing.