How to drill a hole in fragile tiles

How to drill a tile? Many men are interested in this question, because installing hinged soap dishes, mirrors, curtains and lighting wiring are all necessary steps to achieve the comfort and beauty of a bathroom. However, it often happens that you have to drill the tiles to install hangers and the like. But how to do this and not damage the tiles?

What do you need to get started?

Tile is a very fragile and non-plastic material, which is caused by a special method of firing at high temperatures. Along with the obvious advantages, it also has some disadvantages, namely, with careless handling or with inept repairs, there is a high risk that the tile may crack, or even split into several parts.

In addition, the material itself has a negative impact on the tools when cutting, and conventional drills can become dull in a matter of seconds. That is why the question of how to drill a tile is so relevant.

Tools and drills

So, what you need for high-quality tile drilling:

• Electric drill. The most important thing is the presence of a regulator for a smooth change in the speed of revolutions (in extremely rare cases, a powerful screwdriver will suffice). Don't forget about the hand drill. Here you can independently adjust the speed of rotation of the drill, the force of pressing. The work will go slowly, but for that the risk of violating the integrity of the tile is very small.
• Drill... Many are interested in the question: "What drill to use when working with tiles?" - to preserve the integrity of the tile, simple drills will not work. The best option would be to buy a diamond drill (1), although the price of such a tool will be considerable. It makes sense to buy only if you need to drill a large number of holes. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to spear drills (2). The price of such products is low, and it is a pleasure to drill tiles with them! Often these drills are enough for a dozen other holes, but the situation is different with porcelain stoneware - you can't make more than 3-4 holes.

There are also single-sided tipped carbide drills (3), which are very easy to penetrate the durable tile layer. Such products from a well-known manufacturer are very durable.

But standard carbide drills (4) c are best suited for deepening into the thickness of the wall.

There is also a rather rare type - these are drills with tungsten carbide coating (5), which outwardly somewhat resemble diamond-coated bits. Sold in sets of different sizes. They can be used, in addition to ordinary tiles, and for natural materials (marble, granite, etc.). But they are bought most often by professionals in the work of high complexity.

• Conductors. Sometimes so-called conductors are used. This is a tool with suction cups, which is attached to the tile and does not allow the drill to go to the side;
• Superchargers. You can often notice that when working with a drill, the tool quickly heats up, in order to cool it, special blowers are used that evenly supply cold water to the drilling site.

Well, we have finally decided on what tools we need in the course of this operation. Let's go directly to the instructions "how to drill a tile with your own hands so as not to split it", but first, a few tips:

• If you have a piece of tile lying around somewhere, then you should practice on it first. When you feel that you figured out how and what to do, proceed to the main task;
• It is not always possible to leave clear and visible markings with a pencil or marker on a smooth surface of a tile. If so, stick a piece of stationery tape over the mark.
• When drilling tiles, start at low speed.
• Do not place the mark close to the edge of the tile, as it may crack or crack when drilling.
• Before starting work, you can make a small hole with a center punch, which will allow the pen drill to cut through the tiles more easily.
• Do not press down hard on the drill when working. The strength should be enough to drill through the top layer of the tile, but not enough to break the tile.
• It is worth drilling the tiles with a larger diameter drill, and concrete with a smaller one. For example, if you are working with a drill with a diameter of 6, then concrete must be drilled with a diameter of 4.

Advice! If the seams between the tiles are wide, and the hole needs a small diameter, then it is worth drilling here. It's much easier that way.

Step-by-step instruction

1. So, first, use a marker and a ruler to mark where you will drill.
2. Install the drill strictly at an angle of 90 degrees relative to the tile surface. Do not tilt the drill to the side, as the hole will no longer be repaired.
3. In the classic drilling mode, start drilling at a low speed - the drill will not slip. Also, do not forget to moisten the drilling site with water - this will allow the tool to heat up more slowly and work longer without interruption.

If the tile has not yet been installed on the wall, it is moistened in a basin of water, and then placed on a wooden surface, face up.

After gluing the tape with a mark, start drilling, but with small turns, and when the drill has already entered the wall, the speed can be increased, but it is better to replace the expensive drill with a regular one. This will not affect the quality in any way, since we have fulfilled our main mission - we carefully drilled an even hole in the tile.

After all the manipulations, it remains to put a dowel into the hole and carefully hammer it in so as not to damage the tile.

How to drill a large hole?

To drill a hole in a tile with a large diameter, for example, for a socket, standard drills will not work here, do not even try - just ruin the drill and the tile itself.

There is an interesting drill called "ballerina". It is very popular in the construction market due to its value for money. It allows you to effortlessly cut a hole in a tile without damaging it, with a diameter of 30 to 90 mm. It has a simple design that is ideal for one-off work. Consists of a center drill and a carbide-tipped stem - allows you to cut large holes without much resistance. The main feature of this drill is the ability to manually adjust the hole diameter.

You can use some models of tile cutting machines with a built-in compass, which allows you to cut a large hole without any problems, without resorting to other tools.

For beginners who decide to drill the tiles themselves, we suggest paying attention to the circular drill. It is a cylindrical metal rod with a cutting edge at one end. The diameter of the hole must be chosen so that it is slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe.

Such drills are:

• Serrated;
• Tungsten carbide-coated.

The newly purchased drill bit must be inserted into the drill chuck. After that, adhering to the rules indicated above, they begin to work with tiles.

Anyone can properly drill a hole in a tile, using tips and adhering to the rules that we told you about in this article.