wrote SNIP
I'd love to do that except as my Q above states..The drilling STOPS about
1/2" down.. THATS the problem--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---
Well, *something's* different about the layers. Are you using the throwaway bits that often accompany the package of Tapcons? I know people who say the Tapcon bits are junk compared to the much more expensive Bosch bits. What diameter are you using? Do you have any different sized bits? Have you considered using the .22 powered ramset fasteners? Since you know something about the initial pour, do you know the composition of the mix? Have you tried irrigating the troublesome holes with water to cool the bit and clear away the dust?
My best advice would be to get a different bit and use the slowest speed possible while keeping a stream of water, even if only from a squirt bottle, on the drill bit.
HTH
-- Bobby G.
All good ideas. I had a similar bad experience with TAPCON bits on my poured foundation wall. Thinks that's when I bought my hammer drill. Some concrete is *really* hard to get through. I decided then that if I did it often I'd buy a ramset, although those aren't foolproof either for stuff that shatters. My foundation wall is so hard I expect a ramset would have cratered it. I've decided not to hang anything else on it. For the sole plate the OP is doing I recommend just getting a couple good holes drilled per 8 foot plate and gluing it down. If there's wrestling matches going on down there the wrestlers will go through the wall before they knock the sole plate loose.
--Vic
I saw the title of your post and all sorts of bizarre things went through my warped mind before I looked more closely. I will never learn to stop reading with my peripheral vision. 8-)
TDD
The thing is, I CAN drill a 1.5" deep hole in several places beneath the sole plate area, but a foot over "that way" or "this way", no luck..3 tries get me three holes only 1/2" deep..then a foot over there, back down to 1.5" again with the SAME TAPCON supplied bit.
THEN I tried a BOSCH bit..same dia..same thing..Cant drill in the 1/2" deep holes either.
the size specified for those particular TAPCONS
2500 -3000 lb standard FLOOR concrete
I blow the dust out..havent tried water but what I'm concerned with is WHY I can drill 6 holes fine and CAN'T drive 6 others in the same area.
As I said, I must be hitting aggregate/stone or rebar ^@!#@#!#@1!
Its "borrow the RAMSET gun" next I guess
--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---
Rebar will usually trash the bit. Is this a hammer drill or a regular drill
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I used to be a steel erection contractor, installing and fixing lots of gates and fences. With a 1/4" or larger hole, you can put a star bit in there, and whack it a few times, and it will either break the rock, or the ding will tell you if it is steel.
Not so with the smaller TapCon holes. For that, I used the small cold rolled steel rod that comes in a Bommer spring for tensioning that spring. About three inches long. They won't bend, but will snap. Grind it down to a point, and use it to break up the rock that won't let you pass. As I said, you will get a definite ping if you have hit rebar. Not sure where you can get these pins without buying a whole Bommer spring assembly, but surely, there is something you have that is small enough and tough enough so you can make an icepick probe. Don't drive it in there, because you want to get it back out. Use a pair of visegrip pliers to extract.
Yer welcome.
Steve
Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.
Stick a cut nail or other hardened nail in the hole and see what happens. Like Steve B said, hitting rebar you will hear a ping, that's a bitch because the concrete around it will dull a metal steel bit. If it's a stone, there is a chance the cut nail will go in and hold. Hit it with a 2 or 3 pound hammer. (wear safety goggles, those suckers can fly) My last house with a poured foundation had stone in it that was hard as all hell. It's not always easy but you can get a cut nail in there if it isn't hitting rebar.
Get a long concrete nail, too. Easy to find.
Steve
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