How to Drill a Concrete Wall with a Drill

The repair process in an apartment includes a lot of work related to creating holes in the walls: for this, a tool of various designs and capacities can be used. Many craftsmen and those who are going to carry out repairs themselves want to learn how to drill a concrete wall with a conventional drill and whether this is possible at all. A puncher is usually used for such work, but it is not always suitable for this, moreover, if you have to buy a tool, its cost is much higher than that of a drill.

Tool Selection Features

In most cases, it is better to use a hammer drill for drilling concrete: it has an increased power, is designed for punching hard surfaces, and allows you to make large diameter holes. The use of the tool is impractical in the following cases:

• the need to drill the wall to a depth of 10-12 mm;
• work with foam concrete, which crumbles during processing with a perforator;
• no more than 10-15 holes are required in the work.

Concrete Drill

Before drilling the wall, it is important to choose the drill itself: it should not be shockless, since such a variety is ineffective when drilling concrete, the nozzle and cartridge almost immediately become unusable. The nozzles themselves must be victorious, designed for concrete work, the tip. with carbide coating.

In some cases, a good solution would be to purchase a hammer drill: the device is more expensive than the classic model, but has a high power that can be adjusted.

What nozzles to choose?

Before you drill a hole in a concrete wall, you need to choose a nozzle of the appropriate design. The following varieties are used for work:

1. Impact-type toothed crowns for drilling. When working with concrete, it is recommended to use varieties of separate soldering teeth made of the most durable metal alloys. Many crowns are equipped with SDS tails for installation in a drill with a quick chuck. Drills are well suited for concrete walls, but they can begin to break down when in contact with metal, so before drilling a reinforced concrete wall, it is necessary to check that there are no reinforcing bars in the place of work.
2. Diamond crowns, which are designed for hammerless drilling. Such nozzles are more modern, with their help to make a hole in a concrete wall easier. The edge of the crowns has an abrasive structure and special cuts, in the production it is processed by spraying diamond chips or corundum. Before making a hole in the wall, it is only necessary to choose the desired nozzle length: varieties with a diameter of up to 100-120 mm are used in everyday life, larger crowns are used in professional works. A distinctive feature is the ability to drill without risk of damage to the fixture fittings.
3. KS-crowns that have a cutting edge with crystalline diamond particles. Such nozzles are used for most solid walls, including drilling concrete slabs, external walls and stone structures with them.

Before working with drilling equipment, you need to choose a nozzle suitable in composition, thickness and length

Видео: How to Drill a Concrete Wall with a Drill

Before drilling a load-bearing wall or partition, it is necessary to make sure that during the work no wires or cables, if any, are laid inside.

How to drill concrete with a drill?

Typically, such work is performed in the following cases:

• rough finishing of premises;
• installation of built-in furniture and appliances;
• installation of wiring and plumbing when communications are required to be concreted.

When using a winning nozzle during work, it is necessary from time to time to use a metal punch, which is selected to fit the size of the hole being formed. Such a tool allows the drill not to jam during deep immersion of the drill: the punch is placed in concrete and deepened by hammer blows to make a hole in the wall, breaking the seal.

This process is quite long, the use of diamond crowns can serve as an alternative: a drill equipped with such nozzles will not get stuck in concrete.

Work with an impact drill with a diamond crown

1. Before drilling a hole in the wall, you need to install the right nozzle, after making sure that the tool is working and the drill is intact.
2. Concrete needs to be drilled carefully, when using low-power equipment, the duration of continuous operation of the drill should not be more than 10-12 minutes. If the drilling is delayed in time, it is necessary to take breaks so that the motor of the device cools down.
3. After drilling a concrete wall, it became clear in the supplement that it is necessary to process the nozzle for each new hole. You can wet the surface with water to facilitate the procedure and save metal from deformation.

The whole process of work can be seen on the video:

If you encounter a stuck drill, you can not remove it by force: this leads to breaking off the device, as a result of which the tip will remain in concrete. The nozzle must be disconnected, select a crown of reduced diameter and use it to pull out the stuck element.

Expert Advice

Before deciding how to drill concrete walls and start work, it is worth paying attention to the following recommendations:

• if the hole diameter exceeds 12 mm, and the depth is 10-11 cm, it is better to use a hammer drill or a hybrid device (drill-hammer);
• if the holes are made for plastic dowels, the depth should be 7-10 mm more than the size of the fastener, since concrete dust and small particles of stone remain inside;
• the beginning of work is recommended to be performed at low speeds, so that the nozzle does not move due to increased torque, and the shock mode is turned on when the drill passes 2-4 mm in depth;
• dust that appears during the drilling process can be removed with a vacuum cleaner, it is advisable to do this in the process, periodically stopping the drill and cleaning the hole from concrete particles;
• it is imperative to observe safety precautions during work: gloves must be worn to eliminate the risk of slipping the handles and safety glasses so that the crumbs do not get into the eyes and damage the mucous membrane.

Dowel drill size chart

In most cases, a concrete wall is drilled with a punch, without a drill. If, as part of the repair, you need to make no more than 15-20 holes or the wall is made of foam concrete, the use of a drill is the best choice, which will save time and money.

Before punching a hole, you need to make sure that the wiring does not pass in this place, and check whether the nozzle is suitable for such work (the duration and efficiency of work depend on which drill the drill will be equipped with). When deciding what to drill a wall with, one should pay attention to the winning crowns: such a drill using a drill can easily make a hole with a depth of up to 10-12 cm.