All about wedge anchors

The wedge anchor is a stud-shaped fastening element. Such a part can withstand heavy loads and, therefore, provides maximum reliability of fixation. Let's dwell on the description of the anchor, tell you about how this wedge works and how to properly attach the clamp, and also give advice on choosing the optimal hardware.

When performing construction and finishing work, sometimes it becomes necessary to securely fix any structure on a solid foundation. If it is made of wood or drywall, then you can use simple screws or nails. If it is necessary to fix this or that building block on a base, for example, made of concrete, such simple means will be unsuitable. This will require the use of more complex hardware - clamps. The modern industry offers a wide range of different types of anchor devices:

• hammer-in;
• mortgage
• rod;
• screw;
• wedge.

Wedge bolts are used to fix heavy structures on stone, as well as in masonry or concrete. The wedge anchor is made from high carbon steel. It looks like an ordinary metal stud, which has a thread on one side, and a built-in wedging mechanism on the other. It includes a sleeve that, during the expansion process, ensures the clamp is able to be fixed as firmly as possible in the base.

Unlike all other anchoring devices, the wedge mechanism does not have a protective jacket. The convenience of working with wedge anchors lies in the fact that working with them allows you not to control the drilling depth: when performing many works, it is simply impossible to do this.

It is also worth noting that when performing any work on the installation of weighted objects, it is always necessary to take into account the parameters of the pressure, which will further affect the fasteners. This is important in order to correctly calculate the number of anchors and their size.

The use of a wedge bolt is widespread in capital construction, as well as in the implementation of some household repair work. Hardware of this type are indispensable for fixing dimensional structures on the walls, in the floor, on the ceiling and other planes made of especially strong materials. It is known that high-strength steel, processed by galvanizing, is used to create wedge anchors. Such processing allows the fasteners to withstand large elevator shafts, as well as congested staircases, bulky cable routes.

Ceiling Wedge Anchors can be used to anchor heavy chandeliers and some other massive ceiling structures. The demand for fasteners is natural, since wedge anchors have undoubted advantages:

• safety of the structure;
• resistance to mechanical stress;
• minimum parameters of the hole for fasteners;
• a wide selection of anchors, so there is no problem in choosing the optimal fastening element;
• ease of installation: the installation of blocks using anchors does not take much time and does not require any special skills and special tools from the master performing the work;
• affordable cost.

Of course, the wedge anchor also has its drawbacks:

• limited scope of use: such a part is intended for installation in strong bases, which means that it cannot be used to fix modules on a surface made of wood or drywall;
• the anchor cannot be dismantled and reused.

Wedge anchors are available in different sizes, they are indicated by marking. For example, the parameters of a bolt for concrete 15x12x100 mean the following:

• 15 - body diameter, respectively, the drill must be selected of the same size;
• 12 - the size of the stud itself, according to the size of which the nut is selected;
• 100 - the size of the anchor itself, it is selected depending on the thickness of the wall.

The most demanded are anchors, the diameter of the body and the length of the fasteners of which are: 6x40, 10x100, 12x100, 6x60, 8x80, 12x120, 10x120, M12, as well as 10x95 and 12x150. Fasteners of various lengths are fixed to the optimum depth. So, reinforced fasteners, the length of which is 40 mm, must be mounted in a hole with a depth of 25 mm or more. It is very important to understand that the length of the hardware should depend on the thickness of the module that will be fastened with this fastener.

In accordance with the current GOST, the smallest length of the wedge anchor is 40 mm, the rest of the parts are increased in increments of 5 mm. The maximum size is assumed to be 100 mm; longer items are extremely rare.

The anchors presented for sale have different characteristics of the maximum permissible mechanical load and the highest leveling load indicator. Nevertheless, both of these indicators are directly dependent on each other: the first parameter for anchors can exceed the second by no more than 1/4. When choosing a product, you should take into account the maximum permissible load. The concrete base, due to its technical and operational characteristics, is very strong and dense, so it needs the most reinforced anchor.

When buying an anchor, it is very important that it exactly meets the established requirements of GOST. To make sure of the high quality of the product, it is imperative to request a product certificate from the representative of the trading company: if the documentation is in order, you can safely make a purchase. Such a check should not be neglected, since this small mechanism is assigned a rather significant role, and the safety of users' life will entirely depend on the quality of the fastening.

The modern industry offers a huge selection of analogs of wedge bolts, which can also be used in finishing work. The most common are:

• anchors of a typical structure: these are universal and widely demanded hardware for any repair and finishing work;
• rod clamps: indispensable when working when the holes for fixing are of sufficient depth;
• brass fasteners: indispensable when you need to fasten various objects on the basis of concrete and brick structures;
• chemical fasteners.

To install the latter type of hardware, you do not need to make any special physical efforts. The principle of operation of these clamps is that a small capsule with an adhesive base is placed in the holes intended for mounting fasteners. A metal pin screwed into the hole breaks through the outer shell of the capsule, and also crushes its inner partition. As a result, the adhesive is mixed with the hardener, and the resulting solution passes into the cavity of the hole. As it cures, this solution forms a very reliable and very strong bond.

All of the listed fasteners differ from each other, since the design of each of them is developed specifically to solve a specific problem of securing structures of different weights, different shapes and sizes on bases of different types. Fasteners must be selected in exact accordance with their main purpose, only in this case they will be able to provide maximum strength and stability of fixation.

The installation of a wedge anchor is not difficult, therefore, even those craftsmen who have never encountered such work before can perform the installation. The only tricky part is choosing the right hole diameter. During installation, it is extremely important to control its depth. It is advisable to prepare the hole in advance, otherwise the structure will be fragile. Wedge hardware differs in that in the process of tightening the nut, the coupling moves along the shank and activates the spacer mechanism - due to this, the part is securely attached to the base.

In general, the installation of a wedge device includes a number of sequential steps.

1. First you need to prepare holes with a diameter of the desired size.
2. All debris and construction dust should be removed from the hole. The surface does not require more thorough cleaning and degreasing.
3. After preliminary preparation, you need to drive in the anchor. To do this, you can use a simple hammer, which is always available in the arsenal of any master.
4. The anchor is fastened to the landing element and the fastener is secured with a nut.
5. The nut is tightened tightly and the surface element is pressed as much as possible. After that, the inner clamp is launched, it opens and connects to the inner walls of the hole.

When installing a wedge anchor, it is important to remember that sooner or later it may be necessary to dismantle the entire structure. To do this, the hardware will have to be removed as carefully as possible, without damaging the surrounding concrete surface. Therefore, it makes sense to make holes in advance with a greater depth than the length of the hardware itself. This measure will allow you to carefully twist the top nut. After that, you can hammer the structure to the very top and fix the holes with cement or putty.

The following can be seen tells about the types of anchors and their application.