Sika AnchorFix 2 for mounting safe in Solid brick

[BBT]

Hi all,

I have looked and have not found a chemical anchor by name that is recommended for mounting a safe into brick.

All the products I could find online specially mention Concrete, and very few mention Solid Brick.
Originally I was looking for a hammer in resin capsule for ease, but none i could find mention brick, only concrete.

I also see there are all sorts of Chemicals, from Epoxy to Vinyl ester Polyester. My understanding is that Epoxy is the most heavy duty, followed by Vinyl Ester , and that Polyester is an economic use product, good for light duty, but most of them are not recommended for structural /overhead use.

Now, im not sure what is considered light duty or heavy duty in the construction world. But I figure erroring on the side of caution is better.

I found Sika AnchorFix 2 , it specifies it works on both brick/masonry as well as concrete.
Has a relatively quick curing and use time.
Used for both 'medium' and 'heavy duty'.

I also see that threaded rod from the big yellow store is considered weak, so a good structure / industry rated anchor / threaded rod is the way to go.

Can anyone confirm if Anchorfix 2 will be good enough to securely mount a safe into brick, providing prep / install is correct.

https://zaf.sika.com/en/36913/renewa...chorfix-2.html

If you want, I could give you 2 or 3 of the Akfix polyester resin chemical anchor to try out.
All you have to do is pay the courier

[griffin]

I always get info from Upat, good services and they supply top notch products.


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[zguy]

I used Anchorfix to secure three safes so far. I drilled the holes in the safe bigger to allow thicker treaded rod.I also use a thick washer under the nut- the square type.

Thanks, sounds like you trust it.

[zguy]

If you want, I could give you 2 or 3 of the Akfix polyester resin chemical anchor to try out.
All you have to do is pay the courier

Hi BBT, That is a generous offer, thank you very much.

[Dick]

I installed quite a few safes. I've also been in construction all my life. There are many suppliers of anchors of all sorts. You can rely on good quality from most of them, so it doesn't much matter which make you use. Of the top of my head I can think of Ramset, Hilti, Upat, but there are others. Yes its true that most anchors are aimed at concrete not so much brick. This was my experience. It is not true that only hollow bricks are problematic - you'd think that very hard bricks would drill a clean "to size" hole, but I've had them end up oval and oversize. I have encountered bricks so soft that an expanding anchor just crumbled them. Those are both situations that suit chemical anchors. Nonetheless, its true enough that the biggest headache is bricks with holes in them. Many bricks are manufactured like that to save material and weight, but the problem is that in most of the brick there isn't enough material for the anchor to adequately grip. The only answer to that is to drill very deep so that you drill through enough solid material. Normal expanding anchors are too short for that, so that's where chemical anchors score again. But be aware that you might have to buy extra length if you can find them. If you use a "loose" chemical that you mix and shove into the hole you can cut threaded bar as long as you like. Six 10mm threaded bars in chemical grout will be plenty strong enough to resist most thieves. Another problem with hollow bricks is that the chemical will drip down the holes. Some manufacturers can provide a sleeve that you shove in the hole before the anchor. The sleeve is porous enough to let the chemical bond to the brick but not so porous as to let the chemical drip down the cavity.

Brickwork, whether hollow or solid bricks, needs to be thicker than single skin. Single skin walls which you typically see dividing rooms inside houses is 110mm thick (traditional bricks) or 90mm (maxi bricks). That's too thin to hold a safe securely. You need double skin, known in the trade as "one brick." That will be 220 or 180mm. That's both much more resistant to breaking down and provides plenty of drilling depth. I built my previous house with one portion of a wall between bedrooms 180mm thick, and because the bricks were hollow I filled the holes with fine concrete. External walls are usually cavity walls ie two single skins with a 50mm gap between. That's another case where the drip preventing sleeve is needed.

Small handgun safes can usually be bolted to the a concrete floor. But rifle safes can be a headache precisely because of the nature of the walls. I've done some that installed in an hour or two, and some that took all day. Walls are seldom straight and tightening the bolts can pull them to the curvature of the wall; then the safe door won't close. The only answer is to shim them which is itself a fiddly and time consuming business.

Bottom line - you can expect rifle safes not to be straightfoward nine times in ten. There's no short cut to getting it right.

[zguy]

Hi Dick, that's quite the write-up thanks. I'm sure it will help many people.

[zguy]

So, I eventually got around to installing the safe.

Alcolin Chemical Anchor is safe for masonry. So is Soudal CA1400.

I struggled to find a brush to clean the holes with, landed up finding an online supplier that delivered.

Thanks to all the feedback, I thought i would provide feedback on products that work in masonry.

When i finally find a good deal on a rifle safe, I will gladly use the Chemical anchors again.

[paulnb]

I struggled to find a brush to clean the holes with, landed up finding an online supplier that delivered.

I used the 9mmP nylon cleaning brush and rod that came with my Glock to remove the dust and debris from the drill holes before inserting the chemical anchors - it worked well for this application. Obviously I thoroughly cleaned the brush before reusing on the Glock.

[oafpatroll]

I used the 9mmP nylon cleaning brush and rod that came with my Glock to remove the dust and debris from the drill holes before inserting the chemical anchors - it worked well for this application. Obviously I thoroughly cleaned the brush before reusing on the Glock.

Turning the drill so that it's cooling fan vents into the hole often removes enough fine debris for a clean hole.

[Vaal]

I have used a straw or a piece of 8mm tubing to blow the dust out. The problem might be that the dust blows back into your face, you just have to hold a rag in front of the hole while blowing.