How to Install Concrete Anchors

Brief 

It is challenging to securely attach items to concrete since concrete is rock-hard, prone to cracking, and difficult to drill into. But with just a small handful of the right tools and materials, it’s possible to do so—efficiently and safely.

 

Insight

What Are Concrete Anchors?
A concrete anchor is a steel fastener that is embedded in concrete to fix another item in place, allowing the concrete to carry the load.1

 

Concrete Anchors vs. Concrete Screws

Concrete anchors and concrete screws both can be used to fasten items to concrete. Concrete anchors, generally speaking, expand in a pre-drilled hole, while concrete screws tap or cut threads in a pre-drilled hole.

 

Concrete Anchors

Concrete anchors fit into a pre-drilled hole and expand within the hole either by hitting the anchor with a hammer or by turning it with a wrench. Use concrete anchors for heavy items like framing members, deck ledger boards, signs, security cameras, and porch railings.

 

Concrete Screws

Concrete screws insert into pre-drilled holes in the concrete and self-tap the surrounding material as they are turned clockwise. Use concrete screws for lighter-weight items like hose reels, drainpipes, electrical boxes, conduit clamps, furring strips, and window and door framing.

 

Types of Concrete Anchors

 

Drop-in Concrete Anchors

Drop-in concrete anchors consist of two pieces: a male threaded bolt and a female threaded sleeve with a knurled end and slits. The slits allow the lower part of the anchor to expand. The sleeve is dropped in and then set solidly in place with a metal set tool. After the sleeve is in place, it cannot be removed from the concrete, though the male bolt can be removed from the sleeve.

 

Wedge Concrete Anchors

A wedge anchor is a male threaded bolt with a shielded wedge on the lower part that expands as a nut is turned against a washer on the bolt. The bolt and the shielded wedge are one piece, not two separate pieces as with the drop-in and sleeve anchors. Wedge concrete anchors are easy to insert, yet they hold very firmly in concrete.

 

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