Concrete wall in garage

[Hsmith192]

Thank you so much to everyone! There’s a lot of information from everyone so here’s the plan (I think):

1. Going to use the Bosch Cyl-9 with the rotary 18v drill
2. Or Use it with the hammer function on the larger hammer drill and then see if that works.
3. OR Grip fill is coming today so will use that to put a timber piece on and then screw into that for the clamp rack to fit on.
4. OR Plywood is now on order so will use the adhesive to put it on batons (4x2)

last thing I want to do is damage the concrete on the outside or in!

I will consider buying a SDS drill and making the holes that way if it’s possible!
I will also remember to keep the drill bit cool.

if I have to use adhesive to get battons on and screw 18mm plywood onto that....will it be strong enough to hold loads?

thanks so much everyone!

 

[Robbo60]

Hi everyone,

I can’t seem to drill through the concrete walls in my garage. I am really stuck as I have managed to blunt my masonry drill bit and can only get through to about 10mm before the bit just goes round and round. I’ve used an electric hammer drill (700w) and just need some advice on how to do it! I just need to drill 3 holes and then I’m happy. The house is from 1920’s and I’m sure the garage is nearly as old. (Also garage is away from house)

please help!View attachment 98917

I had same problem with prefabricated garage. Bought an SDS drill. no problem. Anyone you can borrow one from for the three holes?

 

[Hsmith192]

I had same problem with prefabricated garage. Bought an SDS drill. no problem. Anyone you can borrow one from for the three holes?

Not too sure, I already borrowed the hammer drill from a friend. If I have to make the investment then that’s ok because I am starting to consider boarding up the entire workshop if this goes well!

 

[Robbo60]

Not too sure, I already borrowed the hammer drill from a friend. If I have to make the investment then that’s ok because I am starting to consider boarding up the entire workshop if this goes well!

I bought a De Walt corded. I was putting up stud wall to make 2/3 of my garage a workshop. Paid £100 a few years ago. Good piece of kit. Bought a set of De Walt SDS plus drills from screwfix. Probably only used it half a dozen times since, but worth the money for the time and effort it saved

 

[boxerbean]

Any old hammer drill with a decent masonry bit will drill even the hardest of concretes unless you encounter rebar (you'll know because the drill will go in a bit then no further). Small diameter drills overheat so plunge the cut and clear the muck periodically. SDS will work faster but the same applies. If you can only drill shallow holes bang dowels in and screw to them or use a two part resin.To affix battens use CT1 adhesive (not cheap but extremely strong. If boarding out use plywood or OSB and use expanding foam adhesive - no need to batten out.
Also if you're hitting the rebar switch to a metal cutting bit then back to masonry, has worked for me in the past.

 

[Lons]

The difference between an ordinary hammer drill even corded and an SDS is chalk and cheese and my experience having a building company for 18 years has proven many times that some masonary materials are just too tough for anything but an SDS. My daughter for example lives in a terrace house with bricks made from slag and an ordinary drill, even my quality DeWalt won't touch it however the cheap SDS with equally cheap bits I gave her goes through as easy as if it was thermalite block.
Had the OP lived anywhere near me he could have borrowed one of the 3 SDS drills I own.,

 

[Hsmith192]

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the help and support.
The adhesive arrived not long ago and the plywood and OSB arrived too. So I’ll crack on tomorrow.
I’m going to try the hammer drill tomorrow with the Bosch cyl-9 bit.
I’ll go with a Bosch/dewalt/Titan SDS if all else fails.

 

[Jelly]

An SDS drill would eat it, can you borrow one or buy, even the cheapos are worthwhile if not used too often.

The effectiveness of SDS drills seems to be measured by weight not price...

What you pay for with the better brands is being able to drill more than one hole without exceeding your daily hand-arm vibration exposure limit.

(Seriously, took my Toolstation special SDS max to work to drill a 12mm hole in a 2ft thick concrete wall for some network cabling, did the risk assessment and tool suitability assesment as required and it turns out drilling the one hole represented a full day of allowable vibration exposure, equivalent to an hour and a half of recip saw use!)

 

[Lons]

The effectiveness of SDS drills seems to be measured by weight not price...

What you pay for with the better brands is being able to drill more than one hole without exceeding your daily hand-arm vibration exposure limit.

(Seriously, took my Toolstation special SDS max to work to drill a 12mm hole in a 2ft thick concrete wall for some network cabling, did the risk assessment and tool suitability assesment as required and it turns out drilling the one hole represented a full day of allowable vibration exposure, equivalent to an hour and a half of recip saw use!)

I agree 100% with that but it needs to be put into perspective. I have an old Titan, I had two but gave one to my daughter however I also own a seriously capable Makita and a decent DerWalt bearing in mind I had a building business. The £350 - £450 I paid for each of the latter was repaid many times over by the amount of work they got through and time saved but for someone who will use an SDS only a few times a year for a few holes or a bit of masonary chipping the £50 cheap versions make a lot more sense and are perfectly adequate. The Titans have caused me no issues whatsoever BTW and they were bought when I needed extra equipment on a large job and they were cheaper than hiring, that was 10 years ago and both still work! Maybe I was lucky.
I have loads of SDS bits as I bought a very cheap case of mixed sizes expecting them to be disposable, 2 broke when I was levering them so my fault, I still have the rest!

The OP doesn't need a drill that can handle a 2ft thick concrete wall and I'd suggest very few people other than professionals would either.

Horses for courses.

 

[Jelly]

I agree 100% with that but it needs to be put into perspective. I have an old Titan, I had two but gave one to my daughter however I also own a seriously capable Makita and a decent DerWalt bearing in mind I had a building business. The £350 - £450 I paid for each of the latter was repaid many times over by the amount of work they got through and time saved but for someone who will use an SDS only a few times a year for a few holes or a bit of masonary chipping the £50 cheap versions make a lot more sense and are perfectly adequate. The Titans have caused me no issues whatsoever BTW and they were bought when I needed extra equipment on a large job and they were cheaper than hiring, that was 10 years ago and both still work! Maybe I was lucky.
I have loads of SDS bits as I bought a very cheap case of mixed sizes expecting them to be disposable, 2 broke when I was levering them so my fault, I still have the rest!

The OP doesn't need a drill that can handle a 2ft thick concrete wall and I'd suggest very few people other than professionals would either.

Horses for courses.

Oh no, I'm not knocking the cheap drills on performance, mine is a 1500w Bauker (Toolstation equivalent of Titan) that I paid about £80 for, and it's as capable as any brand name drill (hence drilling through two feet of concrete with it).

What I was trying to get at is the extra cost of the "fancy" drills is all paying for performance improvements which matter for a day in day out professional user, but are largely irrelevant to a occasional/DIY user.

I'd definitely advise any DIY'er to buy the heaviest, highest power mains SDS+/SDS max drill that's in budget, rather than stretch that budget to buy a lower-end model from one of the major power tool brands (or god forbid a cordless one).

 

[Mick p]

Hi everyone,

I can’t seem to drill through the concrete walls in my garage. I am really stuck as I have managed to blunt my masonry drill bit and can only get through to about 10mm before the bit just goes round and round. I’ve used an electric hammer drill (700w) and just need some advice on how to do it! I just need to drill 3 holes and then I’m happy. The house is from 1920’s and I’m sure the garage is nearly as old. (Also garage is away from house)

please help!View attachment 98917

Hi many years ago I had to install some cigarette vending machines at r a f farnborough some of the walls were bomb resistant we had to use a combination of drill and rawplug tool to hammer in to fracture the concrete then drill again and repeat it took a long time but they stayed in place for many years

 

[Yorkieguy]

I'd second HamsterJam's recommendation for a Titan SDS drill from Screwfix.

I've had one eight years and it takes no prisoners. I bought it for concrete breaking, which it does like a dream and drilling in a breeze. The TTB631SDS 1,500 Watt model is ridiculously cheap at £79.99 with a 2-yr warranty. (Hardly any dearer than puny DIY hobby drills). It includes 22 SDS drill bits including 14 masonry bits from 6mm - 20mm, plus five titanium bits for drilling metal, and 2 chisels for concrete breaking. It has 6 speeds, safety clutch, 2,800 beats per minute, and is anti-vibration.

Don't take my word for it - read the (380) reviews:

Titan TTB631SDS 6.3kg Electric SDS Plus Drill & 22 Piece Accessory Kit 230-240V | SDS Drills | Screwfix.com

 

[Misterdog]

we had to use a combination of drill and rawplug tool to hammer in to fracture the concrete then drill again

That's what an SDS drill is. A combination of the two.

I've not used a rawlplug tool for over 40 years.

I bought an AEG SDS drill over 20 years ago and have never looked back.

 

[Sandyn]

Are there any diamond drills which might be suitable? SDS is brilliant, but they can be very destructive on some walls .

I've never tried any of the small diamond drills, but am constantly amazed at diamond cutting disks and how durable they are.

 

[Bod]

Hi everyone,

I can’t seem to drill through the concrete walls in my garage. I am really stuck as I have managed to blunt my masonry drill bit and can only get through to about 10mm before the bit just goes round and round. I’ve used an electric hammer drill (700w) and just need some advice on how to do it! I just need to drill 3 holes and then I’m happy. The house is from 1920’s and I’m sure the garage is nearly as old. (Also garage is away from house)

please help!View attachment 98917

How are these slabs held together?
Are there any bolts?
If so, then replace with longer bolts to hold battens, then fix the boards from the battens.

Bod

 

[Hsmith192]

How are these slabs held together?
Are there any bolts?
If so, then replace with longer bolts to hold battens, then fix the boards from the battens.

Bod

Hi,
There are no bolts on the parts I’m trying to drill. Here’s the view outside the garage.

The bits I’m trying to drill are in inbetween the concrete “posts” so to speak.
hope that makes sense?

 

[Hsmith192]

Hi,

New drill bit wore out really quick! Managed to essentially double the hole to 1.7mm depth before the blue from the Bosch drill bit tip wore off.

Going to try the other drill bit with the hammer setting this time. If not then it’s time to go for SDS.

 

[AJB Temple]

By the look of your photo, that is a prefabricated garage and will have a lot of steel in it. How thick are the walls?

You MUST use the hammer action and plenty of pressure behind the drill to get into concrete, otherwise you are just grinding a hole. The blue is just paint. The actually bit looks OK to me - you just need to gave the hammer action on and get your weight behind it.

Where in Kent are you? This is a 10 second job for an SDS drill as long as it does not hit steel.

 

[Hsmith192]

Thanks, I’ll put the hammer mode on this time.
I might need to get something that can detect if there’s steel in the slabs.

Ive messaged you separately about my location but thank you. I appreciate your support.

 

[matkinitice]

I'd second HamsterJam's recommendation for a Titan SDS drill from Screwfix.

I've had one eight years and it takes no prisoners. I bought it for concrete breaking, which it does like a dream and drilling in a breeze. The TTB631SDS 1,500 Watt model is ridiculously cheap at £79.99 with a 2-yr warranty. (Hardly any dearer than puny DIY hobby drills). It includes 22 SDS drill bits including 14 masonry bits from 6mm - 20mm, plus five titanium bits for drilling metal, and 2 chisels for concrete breaking. It has 6 speeds, safety clutch, 2,800 beats per minute, and is anti-vibration.

Don't take my word for it - read the (380) reviews:

Titan TTB631SDS 6.3kg Electric SDS Plus Drill & 22 Piece Accessory Kit 230-240V | SDS Drills | Screwfix.com

This is spot on. It's cheaper than renting a SDS tool and the exact one I have. I've barely used it but each time you do it's amazingly effective. Had to put up a curtain rail the other day and my Dewalt corded drill would only get halfway through before getting stuck. This Titan was like a hot knife in butter, really impressive.

It's worth a punt just to get a good stash of SDS bits too.