Nail in wooden dowel?

[MatteBerg]

We are doing some small fixes in a finished basement. In some rooms, there are plastic moldings that aren't very nice, and in a corridor, moldings are completely missing. So we plan to install new wooden moldings. It's concrete walls, so I'm pondering a bit on how to fasten them. Plug+screw is what I'm leaning towards, but I considered another (perhaps completely crazy) option. Drill holes, use wood plugs, and then nail into them. With white moldings and white nails, it would be less visible than with screws, I thought. Is this possible or just a bunch of problems? Risk of mold? Difficult to fit the plug? Not secure enough? Or are there other possible issues?

 

[rävlyan]

Are there expansion plugs yellow drill 5.5 mm

 

[Jan271]

Will work well, glue the träplugg with pre-mixed tile adhesive, a great glue, sticks like a rock.
Have installed an interior door with that method in lightweight concrete. Used a sawed-off broom handle as a plug.

 

[andersda]

Or you glue up the trim.

 

[MatteBerg]

Finns spikplugg gula borr 5,5 mm

Special plugs to nail in? Link? Or "regular" nail plug? Because in that version, you can't choose the nail yourself, it comes with it, right? I've never tried it, but looking at pictures, it seems it would be a bit difficult to remove the moldings afterwards?

 

[MatteBerg]

Will work well, glue the wooden plug with pre-mixed tile adhesive, a fantastic glue, sticks like a rock.
I have installed an interior door with that method in lightweight concrete. Used a cut-off broom handle as a plug.

Sounds good. I was thinking of using slightly smaller plugs so that the drilling doesn't take several days... But if it works with a broom handle, then standard wooden plugs should work too.

 

[MatteBerg]

Or you can glue up the moldings.

That's an option too. Can you recommend a glue that both adheres quickly, so you don’t have to hold it in position while it dries, and doesn’t tear away half the wall if you want to remove the moldings?

 

[cpalm]

If you mean regular wooden dowels used for joining, keep in mind that they are rock hard and might not work very well for nailing into.

 

[andersda]

That's an option too. Can you recommend a glue that both adheres quickly, so you don't have to hold it in place while it dries, and doesn't tear half the wall off if you want to remove the moldings?

I don't know about removal, but there are plenty of quick-grab adhesives available. Check the nearest hardware store or Clas Ohlson or another store.

 

[Stefan N]

Run spikplugg.

 

[Mazen]

We're doing some minor fixes in a finished basement. In a few rooms, there are plastic moldings that aren't very nice, and in a corridor, there are no moldings at all. So we're planning to install new wooden moldings. Since the walls are concrete, I’m pondering how to fasten them. Anchors and screws seem to be the preferred method, but I was considering another (perhaps completely crazy) option. Drill holes, use wooden dowels, and then nail into them. With white moldings and white brads, it would be less visible than with screws, I thought. Is this possible or just a bunch of problems? Risk of mold? Hard to fit the dowels? Not secure enough? Or are there other potential issues?

I've done exactly that, 10mm dowel fastened with PL 600 in hollow concrete.. works great. The easiest way is to measure on the molding (backside) where the dowel is located. I drilled with a 2.5 mm drill to know where to place the brads.

 

[Jan271]

The comment about the dowel for joining being hard is true. Buy dowels made of pine and cut them into appropriate pieces. Available at any hardware store.

 

[heimlaga]

Nailing into birch plugs was common in the 50s. You're nailing into end grain, so it's not a problem that birch is hard.

I've never done it myself but have often seen it done in older houses.

 

[richardtenggren]

https://www.elbutik.se/product.html/spikplugg-tcp-1-gul-100-st/fp

I have used these before, and also the ones Stefan N posted a picture of. The advantage of these is that you can use dyckert and avoid filling, in our apartment I used regular spikplugg and filled all the holes.

 

[Cheesen]

We are doing some small fixes in a furnished basement. In a few rooms, there are plastic moldings that aren't very nice, and in a corridor, moldings are missing entirely. So we are thinking of installing new wooden moldings. The walls are concrete, so I'm considering how they should be attached. Plugs and screws are probably the most likely option, but I was considering another (maybe completely crazy) variant. Drill holes, plug with wooden dowels, and then nail into them. With white moldings and white brads, it becomes less visible than with screws, I thought. Is this possible or just a bunch of problems? Risk of mold? Difficult to fit the plugs? Do they sit too poorly? Or are there other possible problems?

The crown molding in my last rental was nailed with brads directly into the concrete. It held like a rock. I think it was 18ga it was nailed with.