How to secure VJ panels onto besser bricks?

[houdeanie79]

Hi everyone 

Need help on what cordless nail gun would be best to use for putting vj panels onto besser bricks. I like my ryobi one + brand ive put vj panels up before but found it hard to secure them onto the wall even with sealant on the back of them. I want to make it more secure whilst the glue dries on the back instead of finding some sort of support to hold it up in place whilst it dries.

[Jason]

@houdeanie79, 

A very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're pleased to have you join us.

Apologies for the slow reply. I'm sure our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL will be more than happy to assist you when he is back on the site on Friday. Thanks for your patience in the meantime. Let me also tag experienced member @ProjectPete who might be able to share his thoughts on what approach to use. I suspect that to avoid damaging the panels and the gun, you might need to consider putting up timber battens first. Here's a link to the Easycraft installation guide that should be a helpful reference. 

Jason

[houdeanie79]

Thanks jason

[EricL]

Hello @houdeanie79

Thank you for sharing your question about attaching VJ panels onto Besser bricks.

The Easycraft installation guide for attaching VJ paneling to masonry or Besser block walls requires you to put up timber battens for you to use a finishing gun to hold the panel in place. Using a finishing gun on Besser blocks may produce undesired results and damage the VJ panel and the gun.

Using concrete nails is not ideal as it tends to shatter the surface of the Besser block. This produces an unsecured anchor and will not hold the panel in place. I suggest building a temporary timber brace to hold the panel in place while the adhesive cures. 

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to install masonry fixings 

Let me tag our experienced member @tom_builds for his recommendations.

If you need more advice and information, please let us know.

Eric

[tom_builds]

Hi @houdeanie79 ,

And thanks for tagging @EricL

I would be leaning towards attaching battens to the Besser blocks and then attaching VJ panels directly to the battens with nail gun if I were doing this myself, however I understand that setting battens up for this would increase the project time significantly and the cost to a smaller degree.

While I would try avoid nailing into the besser blocks if possible, if the nailing is only intended to secure the panel while a construction adhesive cures, maybe you could instead try using screws and wall plugs to hold the sheets in place temporarily. If you leave the screw proud of the panel by a few mm, you should be able to use a hammer claw to extract the screw once the adhesive has set, and then could use a wood putty to patch the hole before painting.

I have a retaining wall made of Besser blocks and found it a real pain to attach a post to it for a gate I installed as the blocks don't have much substance for most ordinary fixings to grab into.

Hope some of this helps, best of luck.