Tried hanging up some sign frames today (roughly 4'X8' sheets of pegboard bordered by 1"X2" furring strips backed onto each other) on the exterior wall (10" conc.) of the building.. My better judgment said wedge anchors, the boss said concrete screws. Longest I could get at HD were 1/4"X4" flat heads with fender washers. Would have preferred hex but no joy.



After discussing renting a hammer drill (after failing to drill holes using a cordless drill and masonry bits three months ago) the boss went out and bought a Hilti TE-2 last week.



The Hilti had good luck drilling with the 3/16" 4" long bit (had 3-4 holes that wouldn't go deep enough) but when it came time to put in the screws (originally with the cordless drill and Tapcon driver bit, later with a cordless impact driver) I had nothing but trouble. Snapped off screws on maybe 4 of 9 holes drilled and stripped out probably 8 screw heads. I had 4 signs to hang, got one done, but only 5 screws  for that 14' X 4'
frame, and had to take the second one down when both batteries were
dead and I still wasn't done putting in screws. Nearly 8 hours and only got one sign hung and that one not nearly as secure as I would prefer.



I drilled the holes a half inch deeper than needed, cleaned out the holes as good as I could without a bulb syringe, even ran the Tapcon 3/16" bit into the hole made with the Hilti 3/16". Did check the depth with the depth rod.



Granted, I was 15' in the air on a scissor lift holding the frame with one hand while standing on the rails of the lift so I was having difficulty drilling anyway but is there something I can do to make it easier?

Next time to clean the holes up in the air, take a can of dust off up there.

I went looking for the comp. air that the office folks should be using on their keyboards but no luck.

Wedge anchors.  Fuck the screws.

Are they permanent signs or temporary?




replace the screws with whichever length you need
You could also use lead anchors if you get the kind with the screw head you unscrew the screw, grab the head of it with your dykes or channel locks and twist it out leaving the 1/4" hole in the concrete, you can get them at Platt electric supply type stores also to around 2 inches long






or in plastic






they look similar, after you have one corner drilled slide the anchor though the hole in the sign give it a smack with a hammer so that it bites but will still wiggle don't set it all the way solid and use it as a hinge to rotate up the next corner of the sign level once it's drilled slide the anchor in that corner set it and you can do the rest at leisure

frames are permanent, signs on them will change. Doubt the boss will want to buy some other fastener until the mastaps are gone.

Duct tape and gorilla glue?

After the 4th screw in 4 holes I did consider epoxy

I"ve been fastening stuff to concrete for a while. Only once have I seen a concrete screw, and it sucked donkey balls compared to the other options.

There are other options for you unless your boss is stubborn and/or just wants to make your job more difficult than it needs to be.

1/4" expansion anchors are the standard.

Use a lead head. It'll come out with a cats paw or screwdriver if needed. otherwise it won't.


Hilti expansion anchors are another option. drill the hole deeper than the fastener and you can drive it home if you want to take the sign down.