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Exterior and interior brick surfaces provide a low-maintenance and durable building material, but hanging decorative items requires special nails and correct installation procedures. Masonry nails have grooved shafts that cling to the brick joint masonry so that they don’t slip or loosen under the weight of the hanging object. These nails are simpler to install than masonry screws and usually leave behind a smaller hole. Properly install these nails so that they remain sturdy and don’t cause permanent damage to an otherwise attractive brick surface.
Mark the location for the nail with a pencil. Select a location in the masonry joints between the bricks, not into the actual brick because the brick may crack or shatter.
Select a masonry drill bit slightly smaller than the diameter of the nail shaft. Drill a hole in the joint with the masonry bit.
Place the masonry nail into the drilled hole. Hammer it into place, keeping the nail straight throughout the process. Use a nail that penetrates 1 1/4 inch into the joint.
Pull down on the nail after installation to ensure that it’s in the masonry firmly and doesn’t wiggle.
Things You Will Need
Masonry drill bit
You can repair the nail hole later if you must remove the nail. Simply fill the hole with a masonry repair filler after removing the nail.
Warning
Wear protective goggles when drilling and nailing into brick masonry. Cement shards can cause injury.
Last Updated: May 29, 2020 References
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The toughness and durability of concrete makes it a popular building material for walls. Concrete walls can also add a modern, industrial aesthetic to a room. However, their strength and durability can make it difficult to drive nails into them. Fortunately, there are specialized tools and materials you can use to make the job easier. To minimize the risk of cracking the concrete, you’ll want to use a hammer-set anchor nail. You could also drive masonry nails into the wall for an easy and convenient option.
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u00a9 2020 wikiHow, Inc. All rights reserved. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. This image is not licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.
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Tip: If you don’t have a hammer drill, you can use a standard power drill, but you must use a carbide-tipped masonry bit and it will take much longer to drill into the concrete wall.
Any number of home remodeling projects may require that you attach wood framing members to concrete or masonry surfaces. For example, if you are building a new partition wall in a basement or on a concrete slab, you’ll need to anchor the sole plate to the concrete floor. This can be a tedious process if you are driving nails by hand, requiring you to drill pilot holes with a hammer drill and masonry bit. But the task becomes exponentially easier if you use a powder-actuated concrete nail gun.
If you have more than a couple of concrete nails to drive—or if you just like using gadgets designed for specialized tasks—you should buy or borrow a nail gun designed for concrete. Officially known as a powder-actuated nailer, this tool goes under different names, including gun nailer, .22 nailer, power nailer, or by the trademarked brand name Ramset.
A concrete nail gun is a dead-simple tool consisting of a hollow metal barrel and a firing pin. Actual gunpowder from a modified .22-caliber shell propels specially designed nails through the wood and into the masonry. Either with a hammer blow or a trigger pull, a firing pin strikes the back of the shell, setting off a controlled explosion safely contained within the tool. Gas from the detonation escapes through the barrel and drives a nail that has been placed there.
There are several manufacturers of this tool, including Ramset, Dewalt, and Hilti. Some styles work by striking a hammer to the end of the tool, which sets off the gunpowder charge; others have a trigger that is pulled to fire the cartridge.
As a do-it-yourself homeowner, you may want this tool for:
- Basement finishing, when you want to attach sole plates to the concrete floor to create walls
- Attaching metal electrical boxes to a concrete wall
- Securing metal or wood studs to concrete
- Hanging cabinets to masonry walls
- Attaching brackets to the mortar between bricks in order to hold shelves
Safety Considerations
While you are more likely to get hurt on a ladder or by electric shock, any tool that uses gunpowder warrants attention.
- Always load the nail first, then the cartridge. If you have the cartridge loaded before inserting the nail, there is a chance that the charge may detonate accidentally and fire the nail into you.
- Treat the nail gun like any gun and keep the barrel pointed away from you and other people. The gun is designed so that it will only fire when the tip is pressed down against a work surface, but accidents have been known to happen.
- When using a hammer-blow type of nailer, remember that significant force by a hammer is required to drive the firing pin. If you cannot provide that force in one decisive blow, a trigger-style tool may be a better choice.
- Professional tools like the Ramset XT540 use a 10-shot strip of powder loads that automatically advances after each shot. As a do-it-yourselfer working on a limited scale, it may be better to choose a tool in which each shot is loaded individually.
- Keep the nail gun perpendicular to the work material and never at even the slightest angle.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that most powder-actuated nailer injuries happen when a body part is placed in front of the barrel. The second most prevalent type of injury comes from blowback or projectile debris. Be sure to always use safety glasses.
- You will need hearing protection since the nail gun produces a very loud bang that can harm your ears.
- OSHA requires that employees who use a concrete nail gun take a test and be licensed to use the tool. However, as a homeowner user, you do not need to be licensed. You should, though, carefully read the manufacturer’s instructions and follow them precisely. And the OSHA guidelines offer good information for DIYers using this tool
Using a Concrete Nail Gun
Unlike when you manually drive nails into concrete, a concrete nail gun does not require that you drill a pilot hole. In fact, it is unsafe to fire into a pilot hole.
Beginners can find it tricky to get nails to penetrate to the proper depth. Either the concrete is too hard and the nail fires only partway into the material, or the masonry and workpiece are too soft, and the nail penetrates right through the wood. Remember that the depth of the nail will be controlled by several variables: the length of the nail, the thickness of the wood, the hardness of the masonry surface, and the size of the powder load.
Manufacturers offer several different powder loads to match different needs. Ramset has a simple-to-follow, color-coded set of guidelines that tells you which charge to use in conjunction with nail length and work material. One powder load manufacturer offers six different powder loads—gray, brown, green, yellow, red, and purple—in order of increasing power.
Although the method is not perfect, you can roughly gauge the penetration needed with this test: Hit a nail onto the concrete or masonry surface, then examine the point of the nail. If the point of the nail flattens, the material is quite hard and will require a more powerful charge. If it penetrates easily, the masonry is soft and will require a less powerful charge. Poured concrete is typically quite hard, requiring a powerful charge to sink the nail, while cinderblock or other forms of brick are relatively soft.
Trying to screw or nail into concrete sounds like a near-impossible task. But attaching to concrete really isn’t much more difficult than fastening to wood—if you use the correct tools and specialized fasteners. These four types of fastener are specifically designed for attaching to concrete, and most can also be used in brick, stone, and concrete block as well.
Before installing most concrete fasteners, you must first drill a hole using a carbide-tipped masonry bit. The quickest, easiest way to drill into concrete is with a hammer drill, which uses both bit rotation and concussive blows to bore holes. If you don’t own a hammer drill you can use a standard drill, but it’ll take two to three times longer to drill each hole.
It’s also important to blow or vacuum the concrete dust from the hole before inserting the fastener. Fasteners grip much more tightly to clean, dust-free holes.
For attaching something relatively light to concrete, it’s hard to beat the speed and ease of hammer-set anchors. Each anchor consists of an unthreaded pin set into a metal sleeve. Simply drill a hole into the concrete, hold the fixture you’re fastening over the hole, then use a hammer to tap the anchor into the hole. As the pin is hammered in, the sleeve expands outward, trapping the anchor in the hole.
Hammer-set anchors, also known as nail anchors, typically require a 1/4-inch-diameter hole and come in lengths ranging from 1 to 2 inches. A 50-piece box of 1-1/4-inch-long anchors costs about $8.
Hammer-set anchors are perfect for attaching metal electrical boxes, wood furring strips, conduit, and shelf brackets to concrete, block, and brick. Keep in mind that they are not removable.
The soft-metal shield is one of the oldest and most effective concrete fasteners available. It’s little more than a ribbed, slightly tapered metal sleeve that fits into a hole. Because the shield is made from soft, almost lead-like material, it provides the perfect surface for threading in a sheet-metal screw.
When installing a soft-metal shield, it’s important to drill the proper-size hole. If the hole is too large, then the shield will spin in the hole. If it’s too small, the shield will crush when you tap it in. Also, be sure to clean all dust from the hole prior to installing the shield.
Soft-metal shields are commonly available in lengths ranging from 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches. Expect to pay about $6 for a box of 50 shields. Sheet-metal screws must be purchased separately. The shields can be used in concrete, block, and brick.
The concrete screw represents the newest and most popular way to fasten to concrete, and it’s easy to see why. All you need to do is drill a hole and drive in the screw. There’s no hammering required or additional anchor or shield to install. And the screw can easily be removed if needed.
Concrete screws feature high–low threads that bite tightly to the sides of the hole. To ensure a solid attachment, be certain to use the drill bit recommended by the screw manufacturer, and bore the hole about 1/4 inch deeper than the screw length to avoid bottoming out when you put in the screw.
Concrete screws come in 3/16- and 1/4-inch diameter, in lengths up to 3-3/4 inches. Both hex-head and Phillips-head styles are available. They can be used in concrete, block, and brick. Expect to pay about $6 for a box of 50 screws.
If you don’t think fastening to concrete can be fun, then you’ve never used a powder-actuated fastener. This tool is essentially a .22-caliber pistol that fires hardened nails into concrete. How cool is that? (Some tool manufacturers also offer .25- and .27-caliber models.)
Powder-actuated fasteners are ideal for securing 2×4 sleepers to floors, furring strips to walls, and plywood subfloors to slabs. They provide a strong and fast way to attach to concrete—but you can’t remove the nails once they’ve been fired in.
The gun accepts a wide range of nails, called pins, ranging from about 1/2 to 3 inches, and various charges, also known as loads. The larger the load, the more gunpowder it contains. Loads are numbered and color-coded for easy identification, ranging from Gray No. 1 (least powerful) to Purple No. 6 (most powerful). Which load to use depends on several factors, including the nail length, thickness of material being fastened, and hardness of the concrete.
Be aware that, like a nail gun, a powder-actuated fastener is a potentially dangerous tool. Use it only to fasten to poured concrete—never to concrete block, brick, or any other surface. And always wear safety goggles and hearing protection.
Powder-actuated fasteners come in a wide range of prices, starting at about $75, but you can also rent one for about $40 per day, not including pins and loads. Expect to pay about $12 to $20 for a 100-piece box of 3-inch pins, and about $8 for the same number of Yellow No. 4 loads.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that for about $20 you can buy a manual powder-actuated fastener that you hit with a hammer to fire the load.
Masonry nails will not go in neither will picture hooks. Years ago I had some good nails that went into concrete with a K on the end, someone must still sell these nails, or is there another way? I live in UK.
8 Answers
buy some masonry nails to be specific. you can buy them at any hardware store. some come with a little washer on the end of them. or for hanging pictures you can also get plastic hooks with a sticky side facing the wall. im sure you can get these in hardware stores too.
Nails For Concrete Walls
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How do I bang nails onto a concrete wall?
Masonry nails will not go in neither will picture hooks. Years ago I had some good nails that went into concrete with a K on the end, someone must still sell these nails, or is there another way? I live in UK.
you cannot knock a nail be it a masonry nail or any other type of nail into solid concrete . you must use either a nail gun or you drill a hole first . show me a man who says he can and i will show you a liar ..Ive been in construction for over forty years and never seen it done yet !but a hilti cartridge gun will soon sort it out
