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How Concrete Fasteners Work

September 3, 2015

Anchor_bolt_in_concreteConcrete fasteners are the easiest way to fix objects to masonry surfaces, i.e. concrete or brick. They often come in the form of a heavy-duty anchor or screw.

Concrete fasteners are unique in their installation compared to other materials such as metal or wood due largely to being difficult to install and use. Concrete is the most widely used base material in the world, however, and once installed correctly, concrete fasteners are extremely difficult to remove.

The process of using concrete fasteners is simple in design:

  1. A hole is drilled into the concrete
  2. The fastener is placed into the whole
  3. The fastener is expanded in the hole via a setting tool
  4. The increased volume of the fasteners creates friction, which allows the anchor to maintain it’s position.

There are many different types of concrete fasteners available, and each has it’s own mechanism that increases its strength, durability or ability to be removed. We’ve listed the types of concrete fasteners available below, and briefly explained how they are installed.

Wedge Anchor

Wedge anchors are only designed for concrete, and will fail if installed into brick or any other base materials. They are a permanent fasteners which cannot be removed once installed. They are fitted by simply being inserted and rotated, which expands a clip that wedges between the anchor and the concrete.

Concrete Screws

Concrete screws are popular options when fitting windows or doors, however they are not ideal for crumbly concrete. These do not use expansion as a holding technique, rather, they have hardened threads that can be tightened into the concrete – and removed easily if required.

Sleeve Anchor

Sleeve anchors are ideal for concrete or concrete blocks that will be fixed to weight-bearing frames. The expander sleeve expands when the anchor nut is turned, causing friction against the concrete – it’s important not to overtighten the nut or the anchor could break free.

One of the most important tools to have before attempting to use any of these is a hammer drill, which cope best with harder materials than a standard drill. There are many types of concrete fasteners that can be used depending on the weight of the fixture or the type of base material, so sometimes talking to a professional is the best course of action.

Here at Roadmaster Concrete Mixers Europe, we’re specialists in volumetric concrete – providing concrete trucks and efficient onsite mixed concrete for our customers at a high quality standard.

Contact us today to find out more on the services we offer, and we would be happy to help.

 

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