We have a Ryobi electric drill. The case says 12.0 .... anyway it's about 8 years old I think. It is the kind with a rechargeable battery....and it works o.k. for most things. One thing I have never been able to do is drill holes in concrete. I want to put up a hose hanger -- and the drill won't do it. My question is -- should this drill work on concrete? Am I doing something wrong -- it doesn't sound like it's fully charged -- but I'm not sure that is the reason. Any suggestions before I ask someone down the street to do the holes for me? Thanks.
Need a 1/2 hammer drill and mason bit for concrete. The combo will go through most concrete and mortar like butter. If you buy another cordless buy an 18 volt with lithium ion battery.
Others already told you that it is not up to concrete work. You also mention it does not sound fully charged. Given the 8 years it has been around, some of the cells may have died and will not hold a charge; a common malady. Either buy a new battery or have the old one rebuilt by someone like
Get yourself an inexpensive star bit for a couple dollars. You buy the size you need for the holes. Simply hammer on it and it will easily break through concrete, a bit tougher when you hit stones, but still easier than a masonry bit in a little drill without the hammer option.
Hard to find a picture of one due to so many people calling "Torx" bits "Star" bits, which they are not.
Here is a poor picture of a star bit that you simply hammer on:
Thank you for the picture. I will look tomorrow at Home Depot. I had thought about going ahead and buying a new drill - just hated to spend that much so I could drill a few holes. It's not something I need very often. The house was built in 1983 - it's stucco over concrete block. And I actually need to hang several of those hose hangers.
You don't want to drill through block or brick if you can avoid it. Drill through the mortar joint. Might have to measure to find the joint. I wouldn't pound on stucco with a star drill.
No experience with stucco, but you should be able to get through that and mortar easily with your drill and a masonry bit. But if your drill is shot, you don't need to spend a lot on a drill for that if you go electric. I have this. Tossed about 4 cordless drills/drivers because of bad batteries. No comparison to the battery junk I had.
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can find cheaper. But that's a good one. You'll use it for other things. Since I'm leery of getting zapped outside using 120v I usually stand on a rubber car mat or piece of plywood. Always do in damp or wet dirt.
Look at HD for a package with a masonry bit and plugs/screws to fit.
1/4" or 5/16" bit should do. Like this
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make sure it's a masonry bit. Think I got a pack with a 5/16" masonry bit when I hung a hose reel on my brick wall. Or just buy a bit and plugs separately. I don't how thick or strong stucco is, so you judge how long the screws should be.
The hose carrier holes didn't line up with the mortar joints when I hung it, so I put 1"x"4 wood strips on the wall, then screwed the reel assembly to those.
Thank you. I was afraid I would have to buy an expensive drill --- I have Bookmarked those two web sites and tomorrow I may buy myself an early Christmas present.
Why is it that when I try to (hammer) drill a series of 6-8 holes in my basement floor slab to use TAPCONS (for 1 1/4" concrete penetration) to anchor a bottom plate, HALF of them will only go down about 1/2" and then thats it.. no further. I 've even moved the bit 1"-2" side to side and started new holes but no luck..
Am I hitting ROCKS in the concrete mix or maybe REBAR ?
Drill the hole deeper than the screw and blow out the dust with canned air or your compressor if you have one. A screw gun works better than manually running them in. Once they stop, it is hard to get them going again.
I bought a Craftsman electric drill today and went to Lowe's (next door) for the drill bit. The star drill bit was very small and fragile -- and I couldn't see using it for what I wanted. I bought a masonry drill bit. I was able to drill the hole I needed and to enlarge the old hole where the old hose hangar had been. So it's up there. Of course the drill came without any drill bits -- I was going to use the ones left over from the old drill that we used to have but I decided it will be a whole lot easier to just go back and buy a small pouch full of drill bits and start over. I cannot tell exactly what size the old ones are.
Tip: Don't just throw drill bits in a pouch and then have to hunt for the right size later: treat yourself to a proper drill index, a case for bits that holds them and identifies them so it's easy to pull the one you want. Not expensive (I prefer the metal ones, but they're getting hard to find--everything's cheap plastic these days).
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