Skill level

Apparently we live in a historically significant house because our Fair City said we could buy a bronze plaque that said something to that effect, which we did. My ever-loving wife, “Victoria” (not her real name), was excited because she likes awards, gold stars, and such as. (If you are not familiar with the phrase, “and such as,” the following video will be educational. Please show a little respect and try to keep a straight face.)

Attack the plaque

I had always vaguely wondered how those big metal plaques were (permanently!) attached to the walls, especially brick walls like ours. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a bronze plaque fall off the wall of the First National Bank (motto: “Greed is good”) downtown. Not to take anything away from Super Glue, which I’m sure is a very fine product, but we were going to need something a little more heavy duty. The plaque came with four bolts about 3″ long that screwed into the back side. After marking the four spots on the wall (two in mortar and two in brick due to the bolt spacing) I used a 3/8″ masonry bit to drill holes about 3″ deep. The bolts were 3/16″ in diameter so that left some wiggle room in each hole.

The secret is epoxy

Here’s the fun part. One of the most closely guarded secrets for home repairs is epoxy. I think the NSA (No Such Agency) is totally in the dark on this one. Victoria and I were introduced to epoxy when we were helping someone repair a racing shell and then we used it to repair the blisters on the bottom of our sailboat. You can form it into any shape and sand it to perfection after it dries. It is hard and permanent. Continue reading Stain pain; plaque attack →