Hey there - I'm not an expert but wanted to chime in in case other DIYers plan to do this. Proper anchor depth is going to depend on your home's construction. In Florida, you will find a lot of Concrete Block construction which is typically then top coated/covered in stucco (I believe this is OPs situation as well by the looks of it). This stucco layer can be up to 5/8 inch thick. For these anchors to secure panels properly, code states these need to be set entirely in the concrete block and not in the stucco - so, in these cases you don't want the anchor to sit flush in the wall as most of it will then be sitting in the stucco. Good luck.
Great info, super helpful! I need to install a few of these anchors for a project and I’ve been concerned about my hole depth - ie. hitting cinder block void, blowing out the back when setting the anchor, etc. My initial thought was to set them flush w/ the stucco to make sure to keep them as shallow as possible & avoid blowout - which is wrong as u pointed out. I guess I can just look at the other Hurricane shutter anchors that came pre-installed w/ the house to see thickness of the stucco.
How many holes can you drill with the Bertha drill bit before you need to replace the Bertha drill bit with a new drill bit? I assume that the drill bit becomes too dull after a number of drilled holes. I agree that it looks better when it’s flush to the surface, but the other commenter pointed out the fact that the anchor has to be driven into the concrete block, not just the stucco surface. I assume that the critical thing is to have the compression part of the anchor in the concrete block, not the stucco. I think a shop vacuum would be more effective to clean out the dust from the drilled holes.
Note....its very important to blow or vacuum out the dust. Otherwise ...you will be compressing all the cement dust in the hole...causing issues. Ask me how I know !!!
That would be fine. Might want to test what works best in a random place. They sell stuff in a caulk tube that sets studs and what not that is really tough but a little pricey.
The Ertha tube setting tool sucks. If you hit it hard enough to set the anchor, there is a high probability you will mess up the threads. Also it has too much wobble in it, and you need to keep it perfectly square while hammering else you will get crooked screws. Check out the greenlee 868 setting tool. It will not do this. If the threads get damaged, you will need to buy a tap to re-thread the inside or otherwise, drill out the entire thing and start over. The combo drill-bit sucks also. The way it is built, there is a lot of slop between the ring and the outside bit causing it to wobble while drilling, resulting in a hole that is larger than it needs to be. I wrapped the bit with some tape to help make this better.
I did about 100 without any thread damage. Also hammered it in further when a few got loose after category 5 hurricane direct hit no thread damage. The 868 setting tool looks nice, but it's $24 Amazon with an ideal 1 day delivery and no local option. Bertha setting tool is $3.18 at Lowe's and readily available. Drilling in concrete is always tricky with sometimes too small, sometimes too large. I did about 100 with no issues. I've completed jobs using Craftsman tools and also used the same Snap-On tools that are easily 5 to 10x the cost of Craftsman. If you have a champagne & caviar dreams budget then go for it.
I have had them pull out some and usually I pound them back in with the tool. They are a little deeper but usually not so much that you would not be able to use the screw still.
There are always better methods and worse methods . This is relatively inexpensive and easy compared to putting up plywood or hiring a company to install rolling shutters, etc.
