I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.

desgnr wrote:

I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.



A home depot guy that knows what he is talking about. Maybe
they are trying to reverse their image.

Yes, he is right. Rent one, borrow one, or buy one. It will
go twice as fast and won't overheat the bits (much).

Hint; buy extra bits if you are going to be doing very many
holes.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

I agree - I drilled two holes with a regular drill before the bit that
came with my Tapcons was dull and warped. Switching to my
hammerdrill, and a new bit, I drilled over 50 holes before the bit
needed replacing. However, that was the easy part --- driving the
Tapcons was not simple even with pre-drilled holes. Many got stuck
prior to being fully seated, and once the driving process stops, I
could NOT "finish" driving them - they would snap off. Therefore if
they did stop prior to being fully seated, I actually drove them in
the rest of the way (usually less than .5") with a 3lb sledge, which
worked, but if not careful they will bend or break. An alternative to
consider is to drill a 3/8 inch hole (I used the same bit as for the
tapcons), then put in a piece of copper wire to the top of the hold (I
used 12/2 romex unsheathed), then drive a 16d nail into the hole.
Much easier, less expensive than tapcons, and holds like you wouldnt
believe.

Robert Allison wrote:

desgnr wrote:

I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.



A home depot guy that knows what he is talking about. Maybe
they are trying to reverse their image.

Yes, he is right. Rent one, borrow one, or buy one. It will
go twice as fast and won't overheat the bits (much).

Hint; buy extra bits if you are going to be doing very many
holes.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Further, if you do want to rent one, Depot's rental department rents
Hilti hammer drills which are pretty much the best there are (Bosch and
Milwaukee make good ones as well). Be sure you get bits that are
percussion rated since a hammer drill will destroy cheapo "masonry" bits
in milliseconds.

On Jan 7, 4:15*pm, "desgnr" wrote:
I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution *appreciated.

While a hammer drill is required, it doesn't take much of one to get
the job done. I've drilled dozens of holes with a $45 (in '85) Skil X-
tra Tool, which is a basic corded drill with a hammer setting. Make
sure you drill your holes deep enough because:

BTW mattmeitz... is right. You don't want to stop screwing once you
start since the coating on the screw will harden and you'll never get
the screw started again. If you take one out, the hole is ruined and
you can't use it again. It's a one-shot deal. Drive the screws with a
power drill-driver using steady pressure. If you don't need a flush
surface, use the hex-heads instead of the philips head or counter sink
your furring strips first. The hex heads with a socket in your driver
go in much easier.

What he said, 'zactly.

-Zz

On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:20:35 GMT, Robert Allison
wrote:

desgnr wrote:

I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.



A home depot guy that knows what he is talking about. Maybe
they are trying to reverse their image.

Yes, he is right. Rent one, borrow one, or buy one. It will
go twice as fast and won't overheat the bits (much).

Hint; buy extra bits if you are going to be doing very many
holes.

a cheap harbor freight hammer drill, 70 bucks on sale works well, its
pretty cheap, way better deal than renting. home depot is convenient
but the most expensive place to rent any tool

On Jan 7, 1:15*pm, "desgnr" wrote:
I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution *appreciated.

Agree with others have said, If you are going to drill one or two
holes and you have a lot of patience, a regular drill and a masonry
bit may work OK. If you are drilling more then that use a hammer
drill. I picked up a Ryobi Model D550HK at Home Depot for $59.00. It
works great and it didn't break my budget.

desgnr wrote:
I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer
Drill,because my regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.

I haven't used many Tapcons, maybe 50 or 60. The holes for those were
drilled with a regular drill. I bought a second bit about 10 holes
ago. If the bit stops cutting well, I just use the drill to beat the
hole bottom with the bit tip a few times until it starts cutting
again. A hammer drill would work better.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

desgnr wrote:
I want to install some fir strips with Tapcon's on a poured concrete
foundation wall.
The guy at Home Depot said i would have to use a Hammer Drill,because my
regular drill will burn the bits.
Is this true ?
Any other solution appreciated.

This is correct.

You can buy an inexpensive hammer drill at Harbor Freight which will be
good enough for what you need to do.

"http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45338"

1. Buy a hammer drill as recommended above.
2. Personally, I prefer to buy stainless stell hex head bolts, usually
1/4" diameter, and then anchor them into the wall using anchoring
cement. Then bolt on whatever you wanted to attach to the wall.

On Jan 10, 8:58*pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
The original poster's tapcon owns something. I'm still unsure what.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"dadiOH" wrote in message

news:iiKgj.5958$qV.3635@trnddc03...

I haven't used many Tapcons, maybe 50 or 60. *The holes for those were
drilled with a regular drill. *I bought a second bit about 10 holes
ago. *If the bit stops cutting well, I just use the drill to beat the
hole bottom with the bit tip a few times until it starts cutting
again. *A hammer drill would work better.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Apparently the Tapcons own *you* since you seem to be obsessing over
the incorrect use of the apostrophe.

BTW, I believe "havn't" is supposed to have an e in it somewhere.