Drilling a hole for an outside socket

[ARW]

Just fitted an outside socket at my friends daughters house.

I failed at my first attempt. I then got my mate Dave to double check why the drill bit never entered the kitchen.

We both double checked the measurements (ie following the brick line from the back door around the corner of the kitchen to the bottle of washing up liquid that he had placed on the windowsill for a vertical measurement so that I did not hit the incoming cold water supply or the washing machines water supply.

In the end we drilled from inside to out and we were both 12 inches out on the vertical. The kitchen floor is reasonably level so what went wrong?

[spuorgelgoog]

Mrs Copper nee-Handyman "tidied" the bottle?

Owain

[Brian Gaff]

Your friend lives in a tardis?

Brian

[Bill Wright]

I could write a book called 'Misdrilled holes'.

Bill

[Brian Gaff]

She was a nice lady, im sure.

Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

ARW submitted this idea :

Your measurement and assessment was wrong, or too much Christmas spirit perhaps?

[F]

The brick line wasn't horizontal?

Merry Christmas by the way.

[Brian Gaff]

Now that is cruel. I'd like to know where the first hole came out, not in the kitchen, but presumably somewhere. I'd have ascertained this before even attempting a second hole. Also how did you fix the old hole? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

It is more likely to be that the hole was not in fact at the point you imagined. Its hard to follow the brick lines when a door frame is in the way.

The question is why start from the outside in the first place if te pipes are inside start from there and you will be sure not to hit them. Brian

[charles]

You get a neater finish to the hole if you start on the outside. The final "breakthough" can be quite messy.

[Andrew Mawson]

Drill a pilot hole from inside to exactly determine location, then drill full size from the outside. If using a core drill stop before all the way through and resume drilling from inside.

Andrew

[Jethro_uk]

Life ?

BTDTGTTS drilling a hole for an extractor fan. Managed to be a foot out :(

If it had been horizontally, I'd suspect a hidden cavity like a priest hole :)

[Dave Liquorice]

Access is easier outside but then I'd like the hole on the inside to have as easy access as possible in relation to any obstructions.

Only if you blast through full size with an SDS going full tilt. If you back off the pressure for the last inch or so you won't knock a great chunk off the face of the wall. Or go through with a small drill first, then reverse drill that for most of the way (so most of the dust ends up outside) and finish from the inside.

[Dave Liquorice]

You counted brick courses up from the floor in the kitchen and up from from the paving/ground level outside but forget the step up into the kitchen.

[Tim Watts]

+1

Starting with a TCT core without hammer will get a neat hole both sides, even if you switch to a full sized SDS bit to take out the bulk. I usually take an 8mm (or whatever the pilot for the TCT bit is) long drill to go right through.

[charles]

I have a 1 metre long 8mm drill for just that purpose.

[ARW]

Both of us?

The bricks are not level.

[ARW]

The drill bit was into the kitchens concrete floor.

There is no need to fix a 16mm hole.

On 25/12/2018 08:37, Brian Gaff wrote: .

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sounds like a use for one of those self levelling laser thingies. Got one from Lidl earlier this year and have only used it once - but was very useful. Not sure how well it would stand up to be thrown around in normal pro use, though.

[GB]

It sounds like a job for one of those tape measure thingies. Measure inside and outside from some fixed point like the window sill. It may not be spot on, but it won't be out by 12".