Metal rod sticking out of internal brickwork

[Dpg91]

Hello all, first post!

I’ve just started work on my girlfriend’s new to her terraced red brick. In the process of getting the living room ready for paint, I’ve discovered this oddity!

It was poking through and sloppily painted over, I thought it was a stripped screw. But after a bit of digging it looks a lot more substantial than that. Any ideas?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

It is a screw in a wall plug but the head of the screw has either been cut off or has come off when they try to remove it, you can probably remove it by unscrewing it with a decent pair of pliers or mole grips, then the plug can be pulled out of just cut off so it's below the surface allowing you to fill the hole. You could try giving it a whack with a hammer to ensure it's beneath the face of the wall but that's not guaranteed to work.

 

[JohnD]

If you pull it out, it will probably leave a big crater.

So try to unscrew it.

If not, try tapping it with a small hammer to try to get it below the surface.

If you manage to get the screw out, the best way to deal with a protruding plasplug is to tap it in. You put the point of a screw a couple of turns into it, finger tight so the plug is not expanded, and tap it with a hammer. Afterwards, you just unscrew the screw and fill the hole.

If necessary, you can cut screws and nails off with a multicutter, buf it is quite slow and will blunt the blade.

 

[Dpg91]

Thanks gents, thought that was a mangled wall plug once I did some digging, but thought I’d ask for a second opinion!

I think mole grips should be able to get it out.