Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Wall anchors pulling out!

hi folks –

My sister showed me her little iron garden gate that she had installed a year or two ago. It’s hung on an opening in the brick garden wall (sorry no pics). She noticed that it’s already starting to pull away from the brick.

The top two wall anchors actually pulled out of the wall about 3/8 inch. Could that mean that the anchors were undersized or else maybe the brick is flawed? Was wondering if I could just reset the same anchors in the same holes by filling mortar around them? Or would it be proper to use larger anchors ?

Don’t see how moving the gate and drilling all new holes would be an option?

OK! I just saw some good info on another thread. Says you should be drilling into the mortar between the bricks and not the bricks themselves. Don’t remember now exactly where the anchors were located on her wall.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

It is possible to anchor into brick or the mortar between but not with any structural strength.
A mailbox, sign, small brackets for a planter or similar would be ok but a gate would place too many forces on the anchors.

A way to attach a gate would be to install a piece of wood or metal and use multiple anchors to distribute the force and then attach the gate to the wood or metal.

You could try larger or different anchors but there is the possibility you could dislodge the brick if the gate is heavy.

Thanks Greg! Got your point about the structural strength. I’m not sure but maybe they did use a piece of metal with multiple anchors and attached the gate to it. But I’m not sure and I can’t picture it right now. But I’ll probably see it again in the next few weeks. I’ll check out the anchor distribution, whether the gates attached to a metal/wood strip, and the weight of the gate.

Thanks for a good starting point!

how old is the brick garden wall? if it's old, then it's possible that the mortar simply failed over time.

you could grind out the old mortar, install anchor sleeves or bolts with some epoxy, and then repoint the mortar around them.

I would suggest 2" or longer Tapcon™ screws. Probably 3/16 or 1/4". You must use the specified Tapcon™ size drill bit. I would go in to the brick. Try to center as much as possible.

The best way would be to drill all the way through and if you can't find bolts long enough make them from all-thread with cap nuts for the head.