boring through tile?

[Mike]

I have this brick/tile stuff that is structural for this build. The building is 70+ years old. Home Depot has a bit that I can bore through the brick/tile that is just a hair over 4" OD. I have a scrap of steel pipe I want to put through the hold to reinforce the brick/tile after I bore the hole. This steel pipe is about 4.5" OD. I can rent the bit and drill from Home Depot to make the initial hole, but still need to increase the hole diameter for the steel pipe. I thought of using some sort of grinding stone to make the hole bigger for the steel pipe. Is there a better way to make the hole or to widen the hole for the pipe?

Once the pipe is in the hole I plan to concrete around the pipe and fill the voids in brick/tile. Once the concrete (Sackrete Sand Mix) hardens I'll run a 3" schedule 40 septic pipe through the steel and spray foam the space between PVC pipe and steel pipe.

TIA

Mike

[DerbyDad03]

re: "brick/tile stuff"

You might want to be just a tad more specific so that we know what kind of hole saw you should be using.

If you are willing to settle for a 6" hole, Lowes has this hole saw, which supposedly works for granite and masonry, for under $20.

If 6" is too big, try contacting a rental shop in your area and see if they have a kit of hole saws that you can rent for a day. Typically this businesses have a much bigger selection than Home Depot.

[Paintedcow]

I'd first see if you can get a 5" bit. Maybe even a 6" which would be common for heating ducts. You can always mortar it in. Thats better than trying to break it out with a chisel, which could damage the tile. Grinding will probably work, but it will be real slow and likely eat up several wheels.

If the tile is that hollow red clay type of stuff, it may grind fairly easy. It depends on the material, and whether it's solid or hollow.

You could probably just run the PVC by itself, and mortar around it also. You dont need more than that to reinforce the wall.

If you use foam around it, I'd buy the rodent proof type so mice dont chew it, or even poke some metal screen in the hole before the foam.

[philo]

[trader_4]

+1 A hole saw the correct size is what I'd do. Trying to chip out from a smaller hole is not only a lot more work, it may crack the tile.

[gfretwell]

diamond bit in a router or rotozip. Wear a respirator.

[Mike]

For the folks that asked, here are some pictures (I hope this works) of the brick/tile. Also, these tiles are 5" thick.

Mike

[dadiOH]

You could drill a series of smaller holes, close to each other but not touching, around the perimeter of the circle you want then just knock it out. That's what I did in a 4" concrete slab when I needed to enlarge a shower drain. I used a 3/16 bit with holes about 1/2" - .3/4" apart.

[dadiOH]

Hell, just use a hammer.

[LenJP]

I have exactly that type of terracotta masonry in all of the exterior structural walls of a property that I own. I posted pictures of it previously when you had a different question in the past.

I have no doubt that you can just cut the hole however you want and just put the PVC through it without the steel pipe or anything else. There will be no structural problem in doing it that way. On one of my exterior walls, there used to be a large kitchen vent fan through the wall to the outside. The hole was about 12 inches in diameter and the vent fan went through the hole and there was no special structural support around the kitchen vent fan hole. There was no problem at all with that in terms of structural integrity.

You can use the hole saw that you have now or even just carefully chisel out an opening, and then use whatever mortar etc. you choose to close up the hole around the PVC pipe.

Again, the steel pipe is not needed for any structural purpose.

Good luck.

[Mike]

That's a great tip, thanks.

Mike

[Mike]

Thanks. I bought a hole saw. I couldn't get it to work well, so I rented a "small bore drill" and a 4"x17" bit or hole saw. These are the pictures of boring through the tile. I bored a hole that is

12.25" long. In two of the pictures is a small hole. This hole is from using a mortar bit from the inside. I mueasured right and the 4" diameter hole I bored covers and takes out the hole from the mortar bit.

Because of the internal structure of the tile I won't try to grind the tile bigger to accept the steel pipe. I still have some sand mix concrete that I'll use to stuff the tile voids. When that concrete is cured I'll start installing the septic system.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Mike

[LenJP]

Wow, you were really serious about doing this and about cutting a perfectly round hole!

What I wrote before about you not having to worry about structural issues still holds. That's because it is a continuous solid-but-hollow block wall. And you were not drilling through a joist etc. So, the whole rest of the wall provides the support structure. And, if you also fill the block in around the pipe, there will be way more than enough structural support.

[Mike]

Thank you. I had a left over partial bag of sand mix (guessing about

25% of the bag). I mixed it and tried to fill hollow spaces near the bored hole. When the concrete sets I'll start the septic connections. Hopefully there won't be any issues, but ... I had some concrete left over ... :)

Mike