If you have anything to do with home projects you will most likely have come across expanding bolts. These are very useful things to have lying around if you are likely to be asked to do some DIY work and have very thin walls. The question you may be asking is how and when should you be using expanding bolts.

You use expanding bolts when you need to fasten some kind of lightweight thing to a wall that is hollow. You can get these bolts in sizes that range from an eighth to a half of an inch in diameter and all the way up to eight inches long.

How to use expanding bolts is also quite easy. The first thing you do is drill a hole into the wall and insert the head of the bolt. Then you hammer it in, first gently then more firmly, until is if firmly lodged in the hole. Then you remove the setting tool and place the item that needs to be hung over the bolt and use a nut to hold it in place.

There are a few things that you need to note though before you get going. Lag Bolts

When you are drilling the hole for the bolt to sit in you should use a drill that is a quarter inch larger than the diameter of the bolt. You know you have made the hole too large if the bolt does not grip the edges properly which you will notice if the bolt moves when you tighten the nut.

You also need to make sure that you get the head of the bolt right to the bottom of the hole when you are hammering it in. If you do not do this then the bolt will not have enough grip on the wall. You also need to make sure that the hole is cleaned out properly so that the expanding bolt is gripping the actual surface of the wall not dust and dirt.

When you are hammering the bolt in make sure that you get it settled properly. If you do this often enough you will learn to feel when the anchor is properly set. It will start to sound more solid and will stop moving.

When you are fastening the load into the expanding bolt you need to make sure you tighten the nut enough. If you do not then the expanding bolt has to deal with holding a load that moves. This can cause the bolt to tear loose.

You also need to make sure that the wall you are using the expanding bolt in is of good enough quality to hold the bolt. If the concrete cracks then you can be sure that it is most likely going to break and crack around the bolt as well over time.

The use of expanding bolts is not the most difficult. The secret is in using it correctly the first time around. If you think it is not going to hold then you will be better off trying again in a new portion of the wall.