Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles? What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ? thanks Rich Westerly 2219 DAVICO
Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were right. It's very scary for a novice to attack a newly tiled wall with a drill; however it's actually incredibly hard to break a tile while drilling it!
One other tip is to stick a piece of insulating tape over the proposed site of the hole, then mark up the exact position of the centre of the hole on the tape. You then drill through the tape, which stops the bit from skating around all over the place.
hth David
And a good idea to buy extra tiles at the time they are fitted ... Stuart
I agree, but leave the hammer off until you have pierced the glaze.
No hammer *at all* IMO. N.B. some flooring tiles are bloody vitreous abstrads. Lots of sharpening needed.
Another tip to add to that is to take it verrrrry slowly until you have broken the glaze on the tile.
Cheers, Mike
It's very easy with most wall tiles. ;-(
Drill at the slowest speed and no hammer action.
The spear-type tile drills are good for starting the hole where you want to, rather than where the drill skates over to. I find that by pressing on the drill before starting rotation you get a little crunching noise as it pierces the glaze and then it'll drill into that spot. After drilling a little conical hole I usually swap to a cordless bit (called something like multi-purpose bits in the Screwfix cat.
In message , Rich writes
Piece of cake. Never broken a tile yet. If you've got a good vari-speed trigger on the drill, I find you _can_ leave the hammer action on from the start, just take it slowly as you break through the glaze, up the speed in the tile body, then full blast into the wall. (Ordinary cordless hammer, standard masonry bit, not an SDS !). If you're near the edge of a tile, its worth opening up the hole in the tile thickness with the next size up drill (if necessary) so that you can push the plug all the way through the tile, and thus there's no radial expansion forces from the screw + plug to crack the tile later.
Anytime I used a masonry drill to drill tiles I held the drill at an angle and used it that way to break the glaze then straightened up the drill to complete the job
Stuart
Yup. The other way is to use one of those tungsten tipped glass scoring tools to break through the glaze. This also acts as a guide for the drill.
Two things:
- It depends on your tiles.
- Tiles have two layers, and you really notice this.
Tiles have a layer of hard surface glaze. For some tiles this is _very_ hard. Some are easy to drill with a blunt drill, like a masonry drill. Others need a sharp edge, like a glass drilling bit or a real (expensive) tile drill. You can also get them started by scratching at the glaze with a hard scriber. Centre punching can work well to break the glaze, except when it cracks the tile!
Sticking a piece of masking tape down gives you something to mark onto and can avoid some skidding before the drill bites.
You don't need hammer action. It's bad for going through the glaze and you just don't need it through the softer body.
Tiles are hard to drill when they're on walls. If the tile adhesive beneath is uneven and unsupported near the hole, then they'll crack. Certainly don't drill freshly set tiles until the adhesive is hard, otherwise they'll move.
My recomendation would be to buy a carbide leaf glass bit (cheap from Axminster) and use that to drill the tile glaze and maybe the back, then switch to a normal masonry drill for the rest of the hole.
Be careful with hammer! Tape the selector down, or use two drills. Unexpected hammer when starting will cost you tiles.
Read the tiles and glass drilling sections here:
I've found if at all possible to drill where the grouting is failing that make sure your drill is extremely sharp. Once you're through the glaze it's not too bad
I've found if at all possible to drill where the grouting is failing that make sure your drill is extremely sharp. Once you're through the glaze it's not too bad
Or a sharp nail and very gentle tap, rather than a centre punch.
Agreed, i've never hammer drilled (sds or normal) on a floor or wall tile, or a porcelain sink.
I just went through the entire tile with the carbide leaf, then switched to masonry when I exited the back of the tile.
Yep.
Cheers
Paul.
Make sure the bit is sharp. New ones are not expensive. Good tip on the crunching sound. (whilst even rotating by hand).
I like to have a larger hole through the tile and then the plug is unlikely to burst the tile.
John
Yup... variation on the same idea: I normally stick the screw in the plug and tap it with a hammer so the plug goes past the tile and into the wall. Then unscrew the screw and fix as usual.
(having said that - on light loads with small plugs and screws, you can often get a better fixing into the tile and its adhesive than you can into the plasterboard if that is what it is stuck to).
Pierce the glaze with a spring loaded centre punch and use hammer action. It doesn't work if the tiles are not stuck firmly.
MBQ
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