David001

@Onoff, I think you did a wonderfully caring thing for your dad.

@FuerteStu, I've written to Plasplugs, advising them of my situation, and that my doors are just 34mms thick. I'll see what they recommend. However, just because they make plastic plugs for "hollow doors", I don't think it follows that the metal rawl-plugs for hollow doors made by the other company will not work as well, if not better.

@FuerteStu, I think that I should use your method but with some variation. I'm used to using metal rawl plugs, so I could drill a hole at each end of the board of the coat-rack, then place the board exactly in position on the door (using a spirit-level), insert a bradawl through the two holes so as to mark the position of the two holes on the surface of the door, then put the board aside and at the holes made by the bradawl drill two holes sufficiently big to be able to take the two rawl-plugs, then squirt some wood glue into the hole, also coat the rawl plug with some wood glue, then screwing the rawl plugs in and leave them for 48 hours to set thoroughly. After 48 hours, place the coat-rack board in position and screw two screws of correct length through the coat-rack board to secure the rack firmly in position. I formed this method after merging your suggestion with my discovery that metal rawl plugs are actually sold as "hollow-door anchors" in the USA. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G2PK7G I searched B&Q for "hollow-door fixings" and found something similar but made of plastic. But I think metal would be more secure. https://www.diy.com/departments/plasplugs-dr-308-hollow-door-fixings-10-/5010047103089_BQ.prd This should work well, shouldn't it?

@Onoff, thanks for that solution. You have made me consider that I could drill a couple of holes, pop in some wood glue, then fill the holes with dowels of a fairly wide diameter, sufficient to be able to drill a hole into their centres and screw into them. In essence, much the same method as you used. Thank you.

@FuerteStu, thanks. After seeing the earlier messages last night, I wondered if using adhesive might be the way forward, combined with screws, and you, tonight, have advised that this method has worked for you. Could you show me a pic of the kind of "thick thread wood screws" you used, please? And what kind of glue did you use? Something as 100% certain and reliable as Araldite? I've noticed that the adhesives like "Stick like S***" don't always produce a bond that lasts. Thanks again.

By a "toggle type fixing", do you mean what I call a butterfly screw, as in the following image? The advantage of this fixing is that the two wings could be drawn hard and fast against the interior surface of the door, however given that this kind of door is filled with a kind of honeycomb made of rigid cardboard, I fear that the two wings may not be able to open. They may not be able to force their way into the honeycomb. What do you think?

Yes, that would be the easiest thing to do. I've done on the same kind of door, but between the utility and pantry where the two give-away tabs which appear on the other side of the door don't offend. The problem in bedroom case is that the bedroom in question is entered via the living-room, so two shiny aluminium tabs being visible over the door would be unfortunate. Even if they were painted the same colour as the door, they might still be discernible. I wonder if I could modify such a "hanger", by cutting off the two overhanging tabs, and drilling holes through the metal that runs across the top of the door, so that screws could be inserted downwards into the door, to keep the "hanger" in place.

Yes, I can see that one of these might work, if the entire length of that fixing is no longer than 30mm, and if the initial section of the shaft is narrow enough to allow the widening part of the fixture to snuggle up against the internal surface. Thanks.

We've bought a house in which all the doors are of the inexpensive, moulded, five-panelled, grained-appearance sort, as at the following page at Wickes: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Geneva-White-Grained-Moulded-Cottage-Internal-Door/p/9000218647?_br_psugg_q=door In one bedroom I want to attach to the back of one of these doors a coat-rack board, with just two or three coat-hooks on it, for hanging a couple of dressing-gowns, but I believe that the interior of these doors is composed of something like honeycombed cardboard. So the challenge is to attach the board of a coat-rack securely and permanently to such a door. I want to avoid the possibility of inappropriate fixings becoming loose over time. The front and rear surfaces of the door are firm and strong, but I don't think they are much thicker than 5mm. The total width of the door is 1 and three-quarters of an inch. Has anybody had experience of firmly attaching a coat-rack to this rather flimsy sort of door? Thank you.

The previous owners of our house were required by the planning department to fit sprinklers before they could have their building works signed off and certificated so as to sell it to us. Beside the massive inconvenience of channelling pipes throughout the floors and ceilings of a big house the owners had to install a large, dark green, bunded, plastic oil-tank just outside the back door to keep the water in. We had hoped to evade sprinklers when buying an old house, but that wasn't to be the case . . . in Wales. It's connected to electricity and does a noisy self-check once a week. But we are at least safe from a fire burning the house down. Let's hope the climate emergency doesn't result in the surrounding woodland catching fire: the sprinkler system wouldn't save the house then. 🔥

When we were buying our current house we discovered that the owners had not signed off building work which they had done in 2012. Our solicitor required the owners to get the work signed off for our peace of mind and so that the documentation will be complete whenever we come to sell. So the owners had to go on their knees in penitence to the county council. The planning department said they would need to inspect the work. They came and found that the work that was done not only infringed the terms of the planning permission which was given but it also infringed terms which had been introduced after the owners had applied for the planning permission! So the owners then had the choice of either quickly getting contractors in to modify the work that was done to bring the building up to the planning officer's requirements, or lose us, their buyers, and probably other potential buyers also. They chose to get the modifications done. And went through hell! For example, one of the completely unexpected things they were required to do was fit a fire-extinguishing sprinkler system throughout the whole house, which meant taking up all the carpets on the first floor and making holes in the ceilings above the first floor so that the pipes could be laid to sprinkler points above each floor. They also had to prepare a huge space inside what was a well-shelved lean-to for a huge tank in which to store the standby water-supply for the sprinklers. So, the moral is: keep completely to the planning permission that has been given, or reach a new written agreement with the council.

@saveasteading, a Technical Advisor at Ejot has advised that they don't offer any TEK screws wider than 6.3mm, and I haven't noticed larger ones on other sites, so I'll order new 19mm washers+neoprene, then just take the screws out, change the washers, and then carefully put the screws back in. I'll be using a spanner, so I guess I need to make sure that I insert the screw only so much that the neo-prene is very slightly compressed. If you have a tip on doing this by spanner, I'd welcome it! Thank you.

@saveasteading, thanks. I should have photographed my screw from another angle to show the gash in one side of the bottom of the thread, which I think is the "self-cutting point" you have referred to. At several online stores I haven't found a Tek screw with a width larger than 6.3mm. There's smaller (5.5mm). I have found that there are replacement washers for Tek screws for sale, and some are the right size for my existing screws, but so far I've only found them with "bonded rubber" rather than "bonded neoprene". What would be the disadvantages of only replacing the current washers with these (i.e. using the same screws as have already been used)? The number of "turns" or "rings" in the thread of my screw is 12. Fastco.co.uk offers a same-sized screw with a neoprene washer but 14 turns in the thread. I imagine this is not a "coarser" screw? Tcfixings.co.uk offers a same-sized screw with a rubber washer and 10 turns in the thread. So is this "coarser" than my screw, even though it's not wider? Thank you.

@saveasteading, many thanks for your above advice. I have taken out one of the screws, as in the two pics below. Without the plastic cap, the total length of the screw (from top of the hex head to the sharp tip of the shank) is 3.7cm. The outer width of the thread on the screw (directly under the washers) is either 6mm or 7mm. The diameter of the plastic cap is 1.9cms. Is this a screw which is well-known? Bearing your advice in mind, I think I need now to find a supplier of similar screws which are 3.7cm in length, but which are 7mm or 8mm in diameter at the widest part of the shank. Would that increase of just 1mm be sufficient? When you recommend a coarser thread for the "repair screw", does that mean a shank which has slightly fewer "rings" forming its thread? An USA page includes the following: "a neoprene washer (already light years better than traditional rubber) . . . is independent from the screw head allowing overcorrection during install. They also have a slightly larger and slightly domed metal washer stacked on top which creates an umbrella for the neoprene that guards it against the UV rays that cause cracking. We are seeing screws that at this point can live roughly 50 years if not longer without failed washers. Some companies are now even offering screws with oversized heads and washers with military grade strength that are guaranteed for life" Are neoprene washers available here in the UK? Although the roof would look a bit peculiar with only a handful of its caps being of a different kind and size from the rest, maybe I should use them anyway. I live 90 minutes' drive from the nearest big town, so unfortunately I can't easily visit a specialist fixings shop. Can you recommend a helpful online supplier? Thank you.

@saveasteading, it's been a busy summer for me and only today have I finally put up a ladder to the roof referred to above and investigated the nearest fixing. Then coming back to your information and images (above) has been most helpful, because your information now makes sense to me. I prized off the plastic cap and saw the metal hex head. I gave that a few anti-clockwise turns with a spanner and then discovered that the round metal washer and a rubber washer are separate from the screw. At first it seemed that the metal washer and rubber washer were fused together, but this must just be the effect of pressure and time. It seems to me that the black rubber washer is so much thinner than the one in your image, above, and in similar images of such screws on the web. Is it likely that the rubber washer shown in my photo below has become thin over time? For this kind of roof is it correct that each hex screw consists of four parts: the screw with its hex head, a metal washer, a rubber washer, and a plastic cap? Would it be unwise for me to remove the screws suspected to be letting in water, change their rubber washers, and then screw them back in? Are rubber washers supplied separately for these hex screws? If so, then as there seem to be different sizes of these hex screws, I would need to find out what size the screws which have been used are. The diameter of the lowest (round) part of the plastic cap is 2cms, or perhaps 19mm, but perhaps that won't help identify the screw. Thank you.