I have been planning on making an upholstered headboard for a while now, but most instructions I have for it require mounting it on the wall with a Z clip. This would be fine, but the wall in question is brick that’s been plastered over.
So. How hard is it to drill into brick? Will my black & decker power drill do the trick? Some sites said I’d need a heavy duty drill and I’m not sure what that looks like nor am I inclined to buy one. I’ve read that I need a masonry bit, which is fine, but I’m afraid I’m going to drill into mortar because the brick is plastered over and I can’t really see where it is. Is this do-able or going to be a huge nightmare?
Also, I don’t have a jig saw (it would take up a little too much room in the apartment…) and don’t know if I know someone who does. Will home depot cut plywood to size?
Any good drill with a masonry bit should be fine. Drilling into mortar isn’t going to be a problem for the bit, but obviously, you want your stuff mounted in the brick, not the mortar.
You might knock a chunk of the plaster away to make sure you’re hitting a brick near the center. You can always patch that up later once you’ve sunk your mount.
If the drill starts to smoke or smell funky, then it’d probably be a good idea to stop.
Home depot will typically give you a cut or two for free, but if you act helpless or ask nicely they’ll do a few more. Been there, done that.
Oh, and I rent. Is patching this up going to be a huge problem? I have an extremely forgiving and kind landlord but I don’t want to cause any big problems.
Your headboard is going to be on the same wall as a fireplace?
Anyways, to figure out what you’d dealing with, I’d chisel away the plaster near the floor in a corner. See what kind of thickness of plaster, see if there’s any material (lathe) between the plaster and brick, etc.
Probably best to discuss your plans with your landlord ahead of time.
If you need a somewhat complex cut on your wood (a curved pattern or something) and that’s why you need a jigsaw, I wouldn’t count on a big box hardware store doing it for you. I think generally they are more for doing straight linear cuts - say, cutting 30 inches of an 8 foot 2x4, or even cutting a 4 x 8 foot piece of plywood in half. If all you need is to cut a large rectangular piece of wood into a smaller rectangular piece of wood, you’re probably ok. That said, a friendly female asking for help at the cutting center may be able to get something a bit more complex done.
Jigsaws aren’t that expensive ($30 or so?) so you might still consider buying one or checking with neighbors/colleagues to see if you can borrow one.
I don’t think I’ve drilled into brick. I HAVE drilled into cement (the foundation of our house - I was trying to mount something on the outside). I think I used some special bit but I don’t really remember. Anyways, I wasn’t very successful. The cement sort of crumbled and I didn’t get a nice clean hole. IIRC, someone told me later that I needed a special, expensive drill (reciprocating drill, maybe?). I didn’t get that drill. I don’t remember what my solution was. (Possibly, I mounted higher where I could drill into wood).
When it comes to brick, a hammer drill will do in 5 seconds what will take 5 minutes with a regular drill and masonry bit. Beg, borrow, or steal one, and you will be glad that you did.
Just like you want a specialized bit to drill, you’ll want masonry anchor screws, and you’ll need to drill a hole slightly larger (about 1/16") than the screw.
If the brick is plastered over, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to find the brick. It might be possibly to drill another hold an inch or so above a test hole and check what kind of materials falls out.
If you’re renting the drill, you’ll get way more cred if you call it as “mason-airy” rather than “mason-ree.” That’s how the good old boys pronunciate it.
