Stairgate and crumbly plaster- what to do?

[lotuseener]

I have seriously destoyed my wall because of the stairgate and I am in a rented house. The wall is very crumbly plaster, has the texture of sand. The top of the stairs is so narrow that the only stairgate small enough to fit in that space is the one that you have to screw into the wall.

I have screwed it into the wall, then over a few weeks it gradually popped out and took part of the wall with it. I then filled the hole with polyfiller and sanded that down and after it had dried, I put the stairgate back in. Same thing happened. I then used the polyfiller again and did the same procedure and then used No More Nails as an insurance.

Well, that lasted about a week and now I have a big chunk missing out of the wall and a stairgate that isn't secured to the wall anymore. It's a neccesity to have a stairgate and that is the only place we can put it at.

Is there anyway I can fix the wall and have the stairgate secured safely to the wall.

Help me please!

are you using rawplugs?

Well, they came with the stairgate but dh didn't think they were important so he didn't use them. We used raw plugs the second time but I think it was too late by then.

you should drill into the brick a bit
then place a rawplug, replaster round it
then use a screw that will reach the wall eg 3 inches

Our house is like that. We ended up putting a gate on the bedroom door frame and just not letting him wander about upstairs unless in his bedroom

Hi TheBlonde,

Not trying to be dumb, but if I drill deep enough will I get past the plaster and hit brick? Then put the rawplug into the brick?Plaster over that and then reattach the stairgate?

I thought I was handy at diy, until this disaster. DH can't even hammer a nail into the wall, so I've got to fix this asap.

Yes, if you go deep enough you will get past the plaster to brick

You need to drill into the brick a bit so that your screw will go into it and attach securely

Rawplug just goes into the plaster to help site the screw

So, get v long screw, drill into brick, check screw attaches etc is long enough
then polyfiller with your rawplug and screw in place

allow 24 hours to set
remove screw
attach gate

hope this makes sense!

If you're able to do this in your house, another suggestion would be to fix batons (lengths of wood) to the wall first (using rawlplugs, no more nails, etc) and then fix the stairgate to the batons - you see similar methods with curtain poles. May work?

Thanks again for the advice!