Drilling holes in tiles.

ailuro2

As above, masking tape, drill a pilot hole with a smaller drill first, then drill it the size you need.

Keep the drill perpendicular too, so the hole ends up the right size ( someone can spot this for you, to make sure the drill is level):D

Vibrant

I have used a 10mm diamond tipped holesaw (£4 from B&Q) on several occasions, with no problems. You have to tilt the the drill at an angle to start it without slipping, then straighten up, once you have a small groove (wear safety glasses!).

I would say that drilling through the concrete lintel, will be the tricky bit. But you may not hit it, I often don't, or it isn't very hard.

Note that your fixings (rawplugs, uno plugs are very good) should go into the wall, not sit partly in the tile, as they will crack the tile when you screw into them.

As you already have a batten, is it not possible to adapt that to your needs. Particulary if you are fitting curtain poles, as the brackets often have a long drop.

muckybutt

Each to their own - me I use good quality masonry drill bits in a battery drill - not on hammer, start off slow you can hear the glaze chipping, once that has started drill through without too much pressure at a reasonable speed. Never in 20+ years have I had a tile break doing it that way.

blackshirtuk

All useful advice, but what about drilling a concrete lintel through a tile as originally asked by OP?

Oldsoak

As Muckybutt, but I tend to turn the chuck by hand until I hear it grating so I know it has pierced the glaze, then drill slowly.

muckybutt

blackshirtuk wrote: »

All useful advice, but what about drilling a concrete lintel through a tile as originally asked by OP?

Either carry on with the same bit on hammer, or use an sds drill - done both of those and still aint cracked one, just takes time and patience...job done

fitshase

Also depends on the tile in question! I recently tried to replace a tile in my bathroom to fit a new shower screen (the previous owners attached a cheapy shower screen fixed to the corner of a tile - of course with moving the screen this cracked the tile!).

First job was to remove the old tile. Easy I thought, drill some holes in it to crack it to bits then remove it. Nope! I ended up using the drill on hammer function and still managed to drill 8 perfect holes in the tile!

If it's a small thin glazed tile then be very careful and take it slow. If it is a large thick ceramic tile the you may have to give it some extra when you get through the glaze.

ormus

sounds like someone has put floor tiles on the walls!

Moocow5

fitshase wrote: »

First job was to remove the old tile. Easy I thought, drill some holes in it to crack it to bits then remove it. Nope! I ended up using the drill on hammer function and still managed to drill 8 perfect holes in the tile!

:rotfl:That's DIY for you!



To the OP:

I use an arrow head tile bit and put a piece of masking tape on the tile first (to stop the bit slipping). If I was going to go into concrete or brick after that I'd probably start with a small masonary bit then keep increasing the size of the bit to just a little less than the hole in the tile.

We all have different proven methods which we tend to stick to.

Maybe you could build your confidence up by just drilling into any old loose tile so that you can get the feel of things?

Good luck!:)

bennybroadbean

ormus wrote: »

battery drill (no hammer) going slowly.
ordinary masonry bit. works for me every time.

Agreed - just take it easy!