Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?
thanks
Rich
Westerly 2219 DAVICO

Rich wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right. It's very scary for a novice to attack a newly tiled wall with a
drill; however it's actually incredibly hard to break a tile while
drilling it!

One other tip is to stick a piece of insulating tape over the proposed
site of the hole, then mark up the exact position of the centre of the
hole on the tape. You then drill through the tape, which stops the bit
from skating around all over the place.

hth
David

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

Rich wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right. It's very scary for a novice to attack a newly tiled wall with a
drill; however it's actually incredibly hard to break a tile while
drilling it!

One other tip is to stick a piece of insulating tape over the proposed
site of the hole, then mark up the exact position of the centre of the
hole on the tape. You then drill through the tape, which stops the bit
from skating around all over the place.

hth
David

And a good idea to buy extra tiles at the time they are fitted ...
Stuart

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 GMT, Lobster wrote:

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine.

I agree, but leave the hammer off until you have pierced the glaze.

--
Nigel M

Nigel Molesworth wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 GMT, Lobster wrote:
Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine.

I agree, but leave the hammer off until you have pierced the glaze.

No hammer *at all* IMO. N.B. some flooring tiles are bloody
vitreous abstrads. Lots of sharpening needed.

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Rich wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right. It's very scary for a novice to attack a newly tiled wall with a
drill; however it's actually incredibly hard to break a tile while
drilling it!

One other tip is to stick a piece of insulating tape over the proposed
site of the hole, then mark up the exact position of the centre of the
hole on the tape. You then drill through the tape, which stops the bit
from skating around all over the place.

hth
David

Another tip to add to that is to take it verrrrry slowly until you have
broken the glaze on the tile.

Cheers, Mike

In article ,
Lobster wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right. It's very scary for a novice to attack a newly tiled wall with a
drill; however it's actually incredibly hard to break a tile while
drilling it!

It's very easy with most wall tiles. ;-(

Drill at the slowest speed and no hammer action.

--
*We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 +0000, Lobster wrote:

Rich wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right.

The spear-type tile drills are good for starting the hole where you want
to, rather than where the drill skates over to. I find that by pressing on
the drill before starting rotation you get a little crunching noise as it
pierces the glaze and then it'll drill into that spot. After drilling a
little conical hole I usually swap to a cordless bit (called something
like multi-purpose bits in the Screwfix cat.

In message , Rich
writes
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?
thanks
Rich
Westerly 2219 DAVICO
Piece of cake. Never broken a tile yet.
If you've got a good vari-speed trigger on the drill, I find you _can_
leave the hammer action on from the start, just take it slowly as you
break through the glaze, up the speed in the tile body, then full blast
into the wall. (Ordinary cordless hammer, standard masonry bit, not an
SDS !).
If you're near the edge of a tile, its worth opening up the hole in the
tile thickness with the next size up drill (if necessary) so that you
can push the plug all the way through the tile, and thus there's no
radial expansion forces from the screw + plug to crack the tile later.
--
steve

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 20:13:22 GMT, John Stumbles
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 +0000, Lobster wrote:

Rich wrote:
Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine. I
always used to use a Special Tile Drill bit until someone on this ng
advised thay an ordinary masonry bit was just as good, and they were
right.

The spear-type tile drills are good for starting the hole where you want
to, rather than where the drill skates over to. I find that by pressing on
the drill before starting rotation you get a little crunching noise as it
pierces the glaze and then it'll drill into that spot. After drilling a
little conical hole I usually swap to a cordless bit (called something
like multi-purpose bits in the Screwfix cat.

Anytime I used a masonry drill to drill tiles I held the drill at an
angle and used it that way to break the glaze then straightened up the
drill to complete the job



Stuart

In article ,
fredbloggstwo wrote:
Another tip to add to that is to take it verrrrry slowly until you have
broken the glaze on the tile.

Yup. The other way is to use one of those tungsten tipped glass scoring
tools to break through the glaze. This also acts as a guide for the drill.

--
*I'm not as think as you drunk I am.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tue, 7 Feb 2006 18:05:09 +0000 (UTC), Rich
wrote:

I am not sure how to drill through tiles?

Two things:

- It depends on your tiles.

- Tiles have two layers, and you really notice this.

Tiles have a layer of hard surface glaze. For some tiles this is _very_
hard. Some are easy to drill with a blunt drill, like a masonry drill.
Others need a sharp edge, like a glass drilling bit or a real
(expensive) tile drill. You can also get them started by scratching at
the glaze with a hard scriber. Centre punching can work well to break
the glaze, except when it cracks the tile!

Sticking a piece of masking tape down gives you something to mark onto
and can avoid some skidding before the drill bites.

You don't need hammer action. It's bad for going through the glaze and
you just don't need it through the softer body.

Tiles are hard to drill when they're on walls. If the tile adhesive
beneath is uneven and unsupported near the hole, then they'll crack.
Certainly don't drill freshly set tiles until the adhesive is hard,
otherwise they'll move.

My recomendation would be to buy a carbide leaf glass bit (cheap from
Axminster) and use that to drill the tile glaze and maybe the back, then
switch to a normal masonry drill for the rest of the hole.

Be careful with hammer! Tape the selector down, or use two drills.
Unexpected hammer when starting will cost you tiles.

Rich wrote:

Weve just had new bathroom and it tiled to ceiling now SWMBO wants a
cabinet fixed on the wall. I am not sure how to drill through tiles?
What does one need - slow drill? regulated cool ?

Read the tiles and glass drilling sections he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drillfaq.htm


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

I've found if at all possible to drill where the grouting is failing
that make sure your drill is extremely sharp. Once you're through the
glaze it's not too bad

I've found if at all possible to drill where the grouting is failing
that make sure your drill is extremely sharp. Once you're through the
glaze it's not too bad

Andy Dingley wrote:
Rich wrote:

I am not sure how to drill through tiles?

Two things:

- It depends on your tiles.

- Tiles have two layers, and you really notice this.

Tiles have a layer of hard surface glaze. For some tiles this is _very_
hard. Some are easy to drill with a blunt drill, like a masonry drill.
Others need a sharp edge, like a glass drilling bit or a real
(expensive) tile drill. You can also get them started by scratching at
the glaze with a hard scriber. Centre punching can work well to break
the glaze, except when it cracks the tile!

Or a sharp nail and very gentle tap, rather than a centre punch.

You don't need hammer action. It's bad for going through the glaze and
you just don't need it through the softer body.

Agreed, i've never hammer drilled (sds or normal) on a floor or wall
tile, or a porcelain sink.

My recomendation would be to buy a carbide leaf glass bit (cheap from
Axminster) and use that to drill the tile glaze and maybe the back, then
switch to a normal masonry drill for the rest of the hole.

I just went through the entire tile with the carbide leaf, then
switched to masonry when I exited the back of the tile.

Be careful with hammer! Tape the selector down, or use two drills.
Unexpected hammer when starting will cost you tiles.

Yep.

Cheers

Paul.

wrote in message
ups.com...

Andy Dingley wrote:
Rich wrote:

I am not sure how to drill through tiles?


Make sure the bit is sharp. New ones are not expensive. Good tip on the
crunching sound. (whilst even rotating by hand).

I like to have a larger hole through the tile and then the plug is unlikely
to burst the tile.



John

John wrote:

I like to have a larger hole through the tile and then the plug is unlikely
to burst the tile.

Yup... variation on the same idea: I normally stick the screw in the
plug and tap it with a hammer so the plug goes past the tile and into
the wall. Then unscrew the screw and fix as usual.

(having said that - on light loads with small plugs and screws, you can
often get a better fixing into the tile and its adhesive than you can
into the plasterboard if that is what it is stuck to).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Nigel Molesworth wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:06 GMT, Lobster wrote:

Just an ordinary hammer drill with a standard masonry bit is fine.

I agree, but leave the hammer off until you have pierced the glaze.

--
Nigel M

Pierce the glaze with a spring loaded centre punch and use hammer
action. It doesn't work if the tiles are not stuck firmly.

MBQ