If your house or apartment has concrete walls, then most likely you will need to hang something on them someday. It is clear that in this case there is no need to "reinvent the wheel", because you just need to know exactly how to drill concrete wall.
Concrete wall
In one hundred percent of cases, the wall will be reinforced with metal rods, the thickness of which usually exceeds 12-14 mm. Such a material in its essence is no longer simple concrete, passing into the category of "reinforced concrete", which belongs to more durable materials than its "parent".
In addition, do not forget that the material is more than 90% coarse aggregate. This role is played by crushed stone of rocks, which have an increased density and, accordingly, strength. But since the rubble stones cannot be pressed together too tightly, there is sand and cement in the space between them, which turn the concrete into a single monolith.
Tool
Simply put, deciding to drill concrete, you must understand that you will be working with a rock, which was first disassembled into "spare parts", and then glued back together, reinforced with metal rods.
In such conditions, try to drill conventional drill fraught not only with a spoiled mood (not all attempts will be successful, and drills - durable), but also with a broken tool.
It is much more efficient to use a hammer drill that is designed for just such a job. Combining impact and rotational action, this tool will do the job quickly and easily, unless, of course, you remember to equip it with a special concrete drill.
A suitable drill can be purchased at any hardware store, while there you will be offered a choice of borax from several manufacturers. Which of them will be better than its competitor can only be determined empirically, so in such a situation it is better to use the seller's advice. But you should only follow his advice if he really understands this issue (to be sure of this, ask him to tell how this drill differs from his shelf neighbor).
You will learn about the differences in the work of a drill and a hammer drill in this article.
We drill the wall
- If wallpaper is pasted on the wall that you need to drill, so that they do not get dirty during work, use a vacuum cleaner (you will also need an assistant who will hold this vacuum cleaner). If there is no assistant, under the future hole with the help masking tape stick on newspapers or old wallpaper. The paper covering the wall from dust and dirt must be wide enough (at least 50 centimeters).
- Use a pencil to mark the location of the hole. Make sure that this place does not pass electric wires, otherwise then you will have to deal with the repair of electrical wiring. A "collision" with a live wire will also not go unnoticed for the hammer drill.
- Having picked up the drill of the diameter you need, fix it in the hammer drill.
- Switch the hammer drill to hammer drilling mode - so your work will go faster.
- Have your assistant remove the brush from the vacuum cleaner, turn it on and maintain metal pipe just below the future hole.
- Place the rock drill against the wall and start drilling it, pushing down on the rock drill with your weight. Check the horizontal and depth of the hole at all times.
- After reaching the desired depth, carefully remove the drill so that the concrete dust does not scatter.
- After removing the hammer drill, use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the remaining dust in the hole.
Video
This video will show you how to use a punch.
Are you going to hang something on a concrete wall? Watch this story first.
Comments:
How to drill concrete? This question often arises from the masters during the construction and repair of dwellings with. It is necessary to drill concrete to install electrical outlets and switches, lay pipes, wires and other communications.
When drilling concrete, a beginner faces a lot of problems, such as breakage of a drill, or even a drill.
Concrete is very durable material... Drilling in the usual ways it lends itself very badly. And if it is reinforced (reinforced concrete), this task becomes almost impossible with a conventional drill. How to drill concrete? The problem of punching holes in this material is becoming more and more popular.
How to drill concrete?
The main tools for drilling such structures today are a drill equipped with a percussion mechanism and a hammer drill. Correctly drill the concrete with a hammer drill. It is designed for just such a thing. The holes made by the hammer drill can be quite large in terms of both their depth and diameter. You can drill the wall using special working tools with carbide spraying or victory inserts. The most common use of this tool is several:
The most powerful tool for drilling concrete structures is the hammer drill.
- usage conventional instrument with the additional use of a punch;
- the use of a hammer drill or hammer drill, equipped with special tools;
- drilling with diamond tools.
It is very difficult and time-consuming to make a hole in the wall in the usual way. The tool quickly dulls and fails. How to drill the wall correctly? The drilling point must be constantly subjected to rotational and impact forces. The rotary movement is achieved with a drill, and the impact movement is achieved with a punch and hammer. An old drill can be used as a punch. A hammer is struck at its end. In this case, the destruction of the concrete layer partially occurs. The shattered particles are removed with a drill. The hole is slowly but deepening. The most common method is punching holes with a hammer drill and a special cutting tool. The work is going pretty quickly and efficiently. A small amount of work can be done with a carbide-tipped hammer drill.
Diamond drilling is used for large enough volumes of work. This method allows you to deal with the case very quickly and without a large number dust. How to get holes large diameter? This is done with diamond or carbide core bits. In some cases, special installations with a water vacuum cleaner are used. But usually a hammer drill can handle this task quite well. It is recommended to periodically remove the drill from the hole and moisten it with water.
The tools inserted into the drill chuck are usually available with a diameter of 4 mm or more. The largest diameter is 1.2 cm. Their length can be 40 cm. A plastic dowel is inserted into the finished hole, and a self-tapping screw is screwed into it. The dowel diameter must match the hole diameter. For hanging cabinets and other pieces of furniture, it is recommended to drill holes and use dowels with a diameter of 8 mm.
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Rotary hammer drills
The drills used in the hammer drill are called drills. Borax can be from 4 mm to 28 mm in diameter. Moreover, they have different lengths (diameter and length in millimeters):
- 4 — 50;
- 5 — 100;
- 6 — 150;
- 8 — 250;
- 10 — 540;
- 12 - more than 1000.
The rotary hammer drill has a SDS-plus shank. Other shanks can be used in industrial installations. Making holes with a diameter of 35 mm or more is carried out with tools, which are popularly called crowns. Their maximum diameter is 12 cm. Along the perimeter of the crown, there are soldering from pobedit or diamond spraying. Crowns work without switching on the percussion mechanism. The hole is drilled in several steps to cutting tool and the engine cooled down. Crowns drill well into tiles, so tiled concrete walls can be drilled without changing tools.
You can purchase special drills and crowns at numerous tool and construction equipment stores.
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A few tips:
- Before mounting the tool in the chuck of a hammer drill or drill, it is necessary to clean it of any dirt.
- The drill shank must enter the chuck as far as it will go.
- For household drills and hammer drills, every 15 minutes of work, you need to take a break for 10-15 minutes.
- The drill is recommended to be periodically moistened with water.
- Before making holes in the wall, make sure that there are no pipes and electrical wiring in it.
- You can use a metal detector to find pipes and wires in the wall.
- You should start work when the shock mechanism and at low speeds.
- The depth of the hole should slightly exceed the length of the dowel that will be inserted into it.
- The drilling depth can be noted by screwing a coil of electrical tape onto the drill.
- It is recommended to use personal protective equipment during work.
- Better buy borax renowned manufacturers... Bosch products are an excellent choice.
- The diamond tool will help you quickly and efficiently drill many identical holes.
- Drills and drill bits for concrete should not be used when drilling metal and wood.
Drilling concrete walls is not a very easy task, but it is quite doable even at home.
Drilling with a hammer drill in stone or hard concrete is a rather laborious process. In especially difficult cases, when it is necessary to make a hole in a load-bearing wall or ceiling, it is still better to use a hammer drill (switching it to hammer drill mode). You shouldn't even try to work with a drill when you need to drill holes for fastening to concrete floor profiles (during installation false ceiling). You will only waste time and be exhausted.
What are the drill bits for concrete
For work, use drills for concrete and drill bits (drills). The drill for concrete has a standard shank (like conventional drills for metal or wood) and is designed for an impact drill. For rotary hammers, drill bits are intended, which have shanks for an SDS-design chuck with a diameter of 10 mm or 18 mm.
A concrete drill is made from a special hard alloy, in addition, it has a soldered tip (made of a superhard alloy based on titanium and tungsten). You can drill with such drills in concrete, brick, marble, stone, ceramics and other similar materials.
- It should be borne in mind that concrete drills should be used exclusively for working with concrete, ceramics, and stone. It is highly undesirable to drill metal or wood with them. If while drilling load-bearing wall the drill will rest against the steel reinforcement, it is better to drill it with a drill for metal, and then continue drilling with a drill in concrete.
- When working with an impact drill, sometimes hard stones can be found in concrete, which the drill does not always "take". In this case, use a special hammer or an old concrete drill and sledgehammer to manually crush the stone. Drilling can then be continued.
- When working with hard concrete, be sure to ensure that the drill does not overheat, allowing it to cool down every 10-15 minutes.
- Sometimes, when drilling a wall, pieces of plaster can fall off from its back side. To avoid this problem, it is enough to reduce the speed. Although the work will go a little slower, you will not have to worry about the safety of the wall.
- For drilling ceramic tiles use a drill for concrete, but set the mode of a conventional drill. In this case, you should not press hard so that the tile does not split.
From the author: good day... Now my story will be about how I broke the drill and drill, and also chipped off a piece of the wall, just trying to make a hole in order to insert the cable for a new outlet. Before I tell you how it happened, I will clarify where I got the knowledge and experience in such a business.
The wall I broke the drill against was brick. After this incident, I, not knowing how to properly drill a concrete wall, began to consult with my friends builders, read articles on the Internet and analyze the incorrectness of my actions. Having synthesized all the knowledge and made a couple of conclusions, I am ready to present you a few lines on this topic. Let's start.
What mistakes have I made and which ones you shouldn't make
The wall I drilled was quite thick. About thirty centimeters. She stood as a barrier between the kitchen and the loggia. Why drill? I'm not a big fan of boxes and I think that they do not look aesthetically pleasing as much as possible, so it's better to make one small hole in the wall in order to pass the cable, and not spoil appearance a bunch of plastic.
Armed with a hammer drill, I set to work. The first mistake I made was putting too much pressure on the wall at the beginning of the drilling process. You see, if the drill is quite long, then excessive pressure on it creates unnecessary deformation, which leads either to breakage of the drill itself or to loosening of the chuck.
In my case, this was the second option, and the cartridge was practically torn off from the base due to the created vibrations. Fortunately, I had a puncher at home, and I easily did the same procedure with no special problems.
I will explain why I did not immediately use the puncher, because it was intended for this. The answer is simple. I knew the wall was out brickwork, which means that it is an order of magnitude softer than concrete. Therefore, the use of a hammer drill seemed optimal to me. There was no desire to get a huge, in my opinion, puncher out of the pantry, but a mean pays twice.
The second attempt to take the brick wall was crowned with success. The next step was the holes in the concrete ceiling slab, which in the future were supposed to keep the profiles for. For this I used an order of magnitude less drill. It was eight millimeters in diameter and about 9-10 centimeters long.
Already with the hammer drill in hand, I climbed the stairs, lifted my head up, chose a place and began to drill. The stove didn't give in to me. I decided that the effort was not enough, and it would be quite reasonable to push even harder. Having pressed, all I managed to see was the moment of breaking the drill into two halves, lasting one moment, and the way the upper (broken off) part falls right into my eye.
Not having time to react to the drill's attack, I, petrified, just stood there. The shard hit the goggles, fought back and fell to the ground. At that moment, I realized that it was not in vain that I studied safety techniques so diligently and that I am always guided by it. Otherwise I would have been left without an eye out of stupidity. The mistake this time was that next to the winning drill I needed for working with concrete walls and slabs lay another, ordinary one, which in appearance barely differed from the necessary one.
The mistake was made, but not in vain. You see, an ordinary drill, albeit barely, drills concrete. It made a small hole in the ceiling to keep the drill from sliding over the surface. The main thing is not to overdo it when doing it.
So, the mistakes I made:
- pressed too hard on the drill when drilling the hole;
- made a mistake when choosing a drill;
- overestimated the talent of the hammer drill.
Do not make these mistakes and, using the instructions below, you will achieve the desired result without any problems.
I would also like to re-focus on safety. Quite a few people even neglect the use of safety glasses, eventually damaging their eyes and, in best case losing sight. It will not be difficult for anyone to put some plastic on their face to stay intact.
Algorithm for the correct drilling of a concrete wall
The first thing you should know is that the drill should enter perpendicularly, creating a right angle between the drill and the wall plane. Failure to do so could damage your hands, the tool, or the surface itself, causing unwanted scratches on it.
When drilling concrete, this is not the most important thing, but if you do not get used to these rules, then when working on a ceramic surface or tile, you may be left with rubbish in your hands, and making a hole in the wall with or plaster molding, you will not have time to think about how from tears of farewell to your favorite decor will flow from your eyes.
If you are missing physical strength, in order to evenly hold the punch or drill with one hand, we recommend using the additional handle, which always comes with any hand tool... When working, do not hold the drill by the body, as you may get hit by a small discharge of electricity.
Select a drill that is designed to create holes in concrete structures. It has a victorious tip, and in the common people it is called a “victorious drill”. What is going to win? It is an alloy of cobalt and tungsten carbide that is incredibly hard and tough. If you need to create a hole in a concrete wall to install a new socket, there are special drills for this type of work with victorious tips that will make your job easier. So, we have decided on the nozzle. Now it's time to do the same with the tool.
You can use either an impact drill or a hammer drill. Depending on how deep the hole should be and what its width is. If its diameter exceeds the thirteen millimeters mark, then the hammer drill will be a more reliable gadget.
A little life hack: take your time to drill the hole right away by adding high turns and pressing hard on the drill. First, make a small indentation, as I did, which will prevent the drill from moving from side to side and not sliding along the entire surface of the wall. And one more piece of advice. When working, dip the drill bit into a glass of water from time to time to keep it from overheating.
Too lazy to clean up afterwards?
Isn't it possible without dust? A fairly adequate desire in this case is to simplify the process by the absence of dust after its completion, because hardly anyone experiences the pleasure of cleaning. Yes, what can not be found on Aliexpress and Ebey, but nothing better than independent inventions will save your money and amuse others.
A fairly common way to collect dust is to create a small envelope. Place it under the place where you will be drilling, and take out the camcorder to amuse your friends later.
One of the examples of how the thinker works in the video below:
I will share personal experience... More precisely, the experience of my father, who finds a sensible solution in any situation. Before starting to drill something, he takes a vacuum cleaner and calls out to someone who is closest. Further according to the algorithm.
- Turn on the vacuum before moving the tube to the hole where you are going to make the hole.
- Catch dust that falls on the floor during the drilling process with a vacuum cleaner.
- Do not force anyone to clean up after you and do not suffer from this process yourself.
Be accurate at work and happy in life. Best wishes!
Many people live in houses with, and when it becomes necessary to make a hole in them, they face serious difficulties.
Do not despair and get upset if you did not immediately manage to hang a shelf, lamp or cabinet, read our recommendations and everything will work out.
There are several options with which you can independently drill a concrete wall.
Concrete structures They are highly durable, so it is quite difficult to drill them yourself.
This is due to the fact that crushed stone is used to create concrete products, and when you get on it while drilling, the process becomes very difficult.
The need to drill a concrete wall occurs quite often, it is necessary for the installation of shelves, cabinets, an air conditioner, fixing a lamp, at or during the fixing of beacons.
There are several ways to solve this problem:
- using a hammer drill or a powerful impact drill;
- an ordinary electric drill or screwdriver;
- diamond drilling.
Not suitable for the specified work conventional drill, it is necessary to purchase tools soldered with a victory alloy.
It should be remembered that for walls made of relatively soft materials, use Victorian drills it is impossible, since the holes will turn out to be uneven, and the wall will collapse. It is also impossible to work with metal with such a tool.
To create holes of large diameter or, diamond-coated core drills are used. To use such a tool, it is necessary to use special installations, they allow you to make holes with a diameter of up to 250 mm. 
Since the cost of such equipment is high, it is easier to hire specialists or you can rent it.
The better to drill
As already mentioned, there are several ways to drill a concrete wall, we will consider each of them in more detail.
Perforator
When using a punch or impact drill, they must be switched to impact mode, a working tool with a victorious tip is inserted and it must be directed perpendicular to the wall surface.
If it takes a long time to drill holes, periodically it is necessary to wet the drill so that it does not overheat too much.
After you have drilled to the required depth, pull the working tool back without turning off the punch... To clean the finished hole from dust, it is necessary to deepen and pull out the drill several times.
With an ordinary drill or screwdriver
If you do not have the tools described above, then this work can be done using a conventional electric drill or a powerful screwdriver.
To complete the drilling, you will need more time than using a hammer drill, but you can do everything yourself.
In this case, in addition to the drill and drill, you will also need a punch... First, a small indentation is made in the place of drilling using a punch and a hammer.
After that, insert a working tool into it and start drilling. If the drill stops, break hard areas again with a punch and continue working. 
Although a conventional electric drill or screwdriver is not suitable for working with concrete, if you do not have a hammer drill, you can make several small holes with these tools, but you need to use a spear drill with a carbide tip, usually used for tiles.
Diamond drilling
This is the most effective method, with which you can simply and quickly make a hole in the concrete wall of the required diameter.
To perform these works, you will need special equipment, consisting of the following elements:
- electric motor;
- a stand that is securely fixed to the base;
- drill bit.
It is not necessary to cool the drill during operation, as water is supplied to it, which not only cools the tool, but also prevents dust from forming.
If specialists work, then together with the specified equipment they use a vacuum cleaner with which they remove dust and water.
As the price of such equipment is very high then buy it for household use impractical. If it is necessary to make a hole with a large diameter, you can always invite specialists for this.
In order for you to be able to properly drill a concrete wall, you must have necessary equipment, perform all work carefully and adhere to the following recommendations:
- without a punch, work can be done with a hammer drill or drilled with a screwdriver;
- do not buy cheap drills, as the victorious tip falls off very quickly and they fail;
- instead of a punch, you can use a victorious tool, with one you will break crushed stone, and with the second, inserted into an ordinary electric drill, drill;
- to work with concrete, the rotary hammer must have an SDS-plus cartridge;
- consider the placement of the reinforcement, to determine where it is located, you can use a metal detector, if the reinforcement is bare, it is necessary to prevent rusting;
- for working with concrete, you can use universal diamond-coated drills, but you need to insert them only into a regular drill, or you need to turn off the impact mode.
Conclusion
During the performance of these works, it is necessary to adhere to the developed technologies and safety rules, then you can not only make a hole yourself without the involvement of expensive specialists, but also avoid injuries.
Useful video:
How to drill concrete and brick with a screwdriver, video:
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