Designing With Architectural Salvage

Go figure why people buy stuff. I had no idea what I would do with an 80-pound cast-concrete head, but she now graces a retaining wall in my garden.

Securing the Occasional Stone Head
Most architectural salvage is so interesting that it looks great just lying around. But if you want to mount it on a wall, that will take a little sweat, a few tools and a spare friend or two.

First off, if your salvaged treasure is relatively light—say 20 pounds or less—it's much like hanging a picture. If you're mounting it on a plaster wall or drywall, find a stud and anchor the object with an appropriate fastener. If you have a masonry wall, you can support a salvaged item of any weight.

Holes in Her Head
Our lady was weighty, so we decided to "pin" her to a concrete retaining wall using 1/2-inch steel rebar and an epoxy compound. (If you can't scrounge rebar from a work site, any metal fabricating shop can cut some for you.) Threaded rod is also available at most hardware stores, and it's easy to cut with a handsaw.

First, we predrilled holes for the rebar pins in the back of the piece. (Use a level to establish a vertical axis for those drill holes.) Then we placed her facedown in the kids' sandbox so her features wouldn't be damaged by the drilling that followed.

We bought a 1/2-inch hammer drill because we planned to do a lot of drilling into our retaining wall that spring. A bigger tool speeds the job up considerably. But if this is the only time you'll drill into masonry, it makes more sense to rent a drill.

Using a 3/4-inch carbide-tipped masonry bit, we drilled two holes, 10 inches apart. To avoid cracking the piece, we drilled into the thickest parts rather than along the edges. Because drill bits tend to skitter on hard surfaces, start by drilling perpendicular to the surface. When the hole is around 1/4 inch deep.