Drilling through slate

naturals

I'm trying to work out the best way of drilling two small (c. 10mm) holes through slate tiles so that I can fix a toilet bowl down. I bought a drill-bit from B&Q that can apparently go through concrete and granite, will this do the trick?

I'm going to keep the bit cool with lots of water but are there any other tricks that'll save the tiles from cracking?

As ever, thanks in advance.

bruce2110

best thing is to take your time, as once your through the the top surface, it should go through ok. you could also put some masking tape round the hole your drilling just in case you slip whilst drilling as this wont mark/damage the surrounding tiles.

hth,

bruce2110

marksward

go slow with the drill and don't apply more than the minimum of pressure. doing this + tape as above (or creating a 'volcano' with plasticine) touch wood I haven't broke a tile yet!

weekendwarrior

For drilling tough natural stone and porcelain it is often easier to use a diamond coated hole saw-

Drill porcelain


You can get these from B&Q and are great for drilling really hard materials, the only problem is that they wear out fast and so you can only drill a few holes before you need to replace the bit.

I have drilled 7 holes in tough porcelain with one drill bit. These are essential for porcelain as it is so tough, the only other option for porcelain is a special drilling kit costing a few hundred quid!

These should drill slate with ease.

navig8r

I think you are seeing this job more complicated than it really is! If the tiles have been properly bedded and grouted you can just drill through using a new masonary bit and as been mentioned before ,some water.

Dave

plumb1_2

navig8r wrote:

I think you are seeing this job more complicated than it really is! If the tiles have been properly bedded and grouted you can just drill through using a new masonary bit and as been mentioned before ,some water.

Dave

Totaly agree, just use a new drill bit, slate is not a hard material and will drill quite easy.

naturals

Just did this. Absolute piece of p!ss. Really don't know what I was so worried about. Thanks for all the advice.