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How to install a chemical anchor before you load it

Updated: 22 October 2026

You have a cartridge on the bench and a solid concrete or solid brick base, and you are about to drill a hole for one stud. This is the sequence for that job: check the tube, clean the hole, waste the first mix, inject from the back, insert the rod, and wait. Dust, an unmixed nozzle, and a nut tightened too soon are the failures this page is written to prevent. Product choice stays on the [chemical anchor comparison](/hub/screws-and-accessories/chemical-anchor). Peter F. followed public UK method sheets from Ceresit, Sika, Rawlplug, and The Rivet Company, plus the review notes on these listings. There is no test installation. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a cartridge on the bench and a solid concrete or solid brick base, and you are about to drill a hole for one stud.

Our top picks

Rawlplug Rawlplug R-KEM-II 300 ml

Best overall

Rawlplug Rawlplug R-KEM-II 300 ml
8.6/10about £12.10
View offer
fischer fischer FIS P Plus (Tubo 290)

Best value

fischer fischer FIS P Plus (Tubo 290)
8.4/10about £11.28
View offer
fischer fischer FIS P Plus 380 C

Alternative

fischer fischer FIS P Plus 380 C
6.0/10about £13.29
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Check the cartridge before you drill
  2. 2.Drill and clean a solid hole
  3. 3.Waste, inject, and insert
  4. 4.Wait, then stop if the mix is wrong

Check the cartridge before you drill

An injection anchor only works if the cartridge is in date, the mixer is present, and the gun can move the resin. Missing nozzles are a repeated complaint on these amazon.co.uk cards: Rawlplug buyers report one nozzle or a cracked one, Bond It reviews mention a missing nozzle, and the Metalmate review says the straw was not in the parcel. If the nozzle is absent, stop. The FIS P Plus 380 C is the listing reviewers say will not extrude in a standard silicone gun. They describe a coaxial body and a specialist gun with a ring-shaped drive. The fischer RM II capsule pack is not part of this sequence. That listing says processing without drill-hole cleaning, and the rods are not in the pack.

Drill and clean a solid hole

Drill the diameter and depth the rod and the resin sheet require, in solid concrete or solid brick. Stop if the drill suddenly drops. That is perforated brick, and the solid-wall sequence will dump resin into the cavity. Move to the chemical anchor hollow brick page and use a sleeve. Blow and brush from the back of the hole. Ceresit’s UK tutorial uses four blows, four brushes, and four blows. Rawlplug’s datasheet asks for brush and pump at least four times each. If the hole is wet, follow the cartridge sheet rather than guessing.
Rawlplug Rawlplug R-KEM-II 300 ml

Testsieger

Rawlplug Rawlplug R-KEM-II 300 ml
8.6/10about £12.10
View offer

Waste, inject, and insert

The first resin out of a new mixer is not a mix. Pump until the colour is even. Ceresit says discard until the resin looks grey. The Rivet Company talks about 5–10 ml to waste until grey. Rawlplug and Sika talk about an even colour. A different colour on your cartridge means you wait for a consistent colour, not for a grey that product will never show. Waste goes onto cardboard, not into the hole. Fill from the back. Ceresit says about two-thirds. Rawlplug says about 70 percent. The Rivet Company says about half to three-quarters. Use the figure on your cartridge if it prints one. Insert the rod with a slight turn and leave it once the gel starts. Short working time is a review theme on these listings.

Wait, then stop if the mix is wrong

Gel time is how long you have to place the rod. Load time is how long before you may tighten the nut. The Bond It listing carries a 2 hour full-cure attribute. The Rawlplug card carries a 4 week cure attribute. Do not average them. Read the table on the cartridge at the temperature of the base. Stop if the resin goes sandy part-way down the tube. Reviewers of the FIS P Plus describe a second half that stays sandy. A fresh mixer can clear a blocked nozzle. It does not repair resin that has already gone off. A competent person should take over for a handrail, a fire escape, a structural connection, or a wall you cannot name. BS 8539 is the code of practice. This sequence is one stud in solid material you can identify.

Common questions

How do I clean the hole?
Blow and brush from the back, with a brush larger than the hole, then blow again. Ceresit’s UK sequence is four blows, four brushes, four blows. Rawlplug asks for at least four brushes and four pumps. Use oil-free air or a blow-out pump. A quick puff from the mouth, or a vacuum only at the opening, leaves dust for the resin to stick to. Do this on solid concrete or solid brick. A void behind the dust means you are in hollow masonry.
How much resin goes in?
Fill from the back of the hole until the sheets you are following are satisfied, which on the public UK notes sits around half to about 70 percent, or about two-thirds. Ceresit, Rawlplug, and The Rivet Company each print a figure in that band. Your cartridge sheet wins if it prints its own. The aim is a full bond along the embedment without a trapped air pocket. Resin running down the face means you have overfilled, not that the hole was cleaned especially well.
How long before I can tighten the nut?
After the load time on the cartridge table for the temperature of the base, not when the surface skins over. Gel time is only the window for inserting the rod. The Bond It card’s 2 hours and the Rawlplug card’s 4 weeks are listing attributes. They are not a range you may average, and they are not a substitute for the table printed on the tube you are using. Torque before that time loads an uncured anchor.
What if it goes sandy?
Stop injecting. A sandy or grainy second half, which reviewers report on FIS P Plus, is a failed mix. A new nozzle can help if the old one blocked. It will not fix resin that has cured inside the cartridge. Remove soft sandy resin from the hole if you can do that safely, then drill and clean again with a fresh mix. Do not tighten a nut onto a sandy plug and call it cured.
What if the nozzle was not in the box?
Do not drill, or stop if you already have. Rawlplug, Bond It, and Metalmate reviews in this set all include a missing or damaged mixer. The FIS P Plus listings that state contents include one MR mixer, which can still be missing in a review. Resin squeezed from the open cartridge is not mixed in the ratio the nozzle was built to give. Buy a mixer that fits that cartridge, then start the waste step.

Related pages

Chemical anchor buying guide

Best chemical anchor

Chemical anchor

Chemical anchor for hollow brick needs a mesh sleeve

Polyester vs vinylester resin anchor for your base

Sources

Public UK and manufacturer sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the seven amazon.co.uk listings captured on 20 October 2026. BS 8539 applies particularly where a failed fixing could hurt someone. There is no laboratory pull-out test.

  1. BSI, BS 8539:2012+A1:2021 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. fischer UK, FIS P Plus (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. ETA-11/0419, FIS P Plus masonry (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. Rawlplug R-KEM II concrete datasheet (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. RAIB, Balcombe tunnel (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Ceresit UK, chemical anchor in concrete (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. fischer UK, FIS VL 300 T article 539461 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. Bond It BDAB310 Anchor Bond sheet (retrieved 20 October 2026)