Stan in Oly, WA
Well-known Member
I have to strengthen a very short section of concrete block wall in a situation where I can't increase the thickness of it by even a quarter of an inch. That's the amount of clearance I have with a steel security door I'm trying to install. More than a quarter inch of additional thickness will cause the door to bump into a garden window, and removing that would entail what would essentially be (or soon become) a kitchen remodel.
One way I thought of attaching the sheet metal to the concrete block would be to drill and insert steel fasteners in the block, grind them flush, and plug weld the sheet metal to them. Would this work? I know that exposing concrete to welding temperatures can result in popping and spalling. I suspect that heating metal to similar temperatures in a hole in concrete would do even more damage. I have all the materials I need to do a practice run, but it would save time to get the information here.
Thanks, Stan
One way I thought of attaching the sheet metal to the concrete block would be to drill and insert steel fasteners in the block, grind them flush, and plug weld the sheet metal to them. Would this work? I know that exposing concrete to welding temperatures can result in popping and spalling. I suspect that heating metal to similar temperatures in a hole in concrete would do even more damage. I have all the materials I need to do a practice run, but it would save time to get the information here.
Thanks, Stan