r/DIY • u/AppointmentDue235 • 18h ago
Can't drill a hole deep enough
Hi!
I'm trying to drill a hole through a brick wall, but for some reason it won't go deep enough, I've already broken 2 different drill bits trying.
I'm trying to put up a shelf, and on one side I was able to drill the holes just fine, but on the other side they won't go through deep enough, but I also can't see anything metal or anything in the way. I've tried to space the holes out on this side (by at least 15cm), and still the hole doesn't get deep enough. I've even tried to put some water in the hole, as I've seen people suggesting this helps to cool the drill bit. I'm also keeping the drill straight, and using the same technique I did on the other side.
I'm at a loss for what I'm doing wrong, or what could be causing this. There's no pipes running on this wall, so the only thing that it could be would be metal, but I can't see any metal, and I previously had a mirror in this wall (but way higher and more to the left), and I remember hitting a metal but it was visible, and this time there's nothing.
Any tips on what I should do? If I can't drill a hole, would it be stupid to use those glues on one side only?
Edit: Thank you for all the replies! I was finally able to do it, it's not perfect but it's secure. It took a bit of patience but the biggest advice I could give is don't force the drill (and use the correct drill bit), it should work for you, you don't need to force it, just take small breaks and clean off the dust with a brush in between drilling!
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u/13thmurder 18h ago
Either you're not using a Masonry bit, or you're hitting something intended to stop you from drilling into it which is probably protecting live wires or water pipes.
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u/garry4321 16h ago
Nonsense, just get more drill bits and you get yourself a little impromptu water fountain!
/s
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u/EEpromChip 9h ago
instructions unclear; hit power line and now I have a blood fountain coming out my nostrils.
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u/AppointmentDue235 15h ago
ahhh, would have been fun especially considering the heatwave coming to my country but sadly no water pipes running on this wall :( jk jk
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u/Comeback_Kid1 18h ago
If your drill bit doesn't look like a Hammerhead shark you are using the wrong bit.
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u/metompkin 17h ago
And you need a hammering function.
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u/APolyAltAccount 17h ago
And especially for harder jobs like this a drill with a hammer function may not be enough. You may need an actual dedicated SDS hammer drill to get the job done.
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u/created4this 16h ago
I remember struggling for hours with my trusty Makita hammer action drill, giving in and buying the cheapest SDS that money could buy. That bad boy did the job in about 10 seconds leaving me feel cheated that I had spent so much money on a tool I hardly got any use from.
Took me ages to reconcile with the idea that the tool had given me hours of not using the tool
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u/TheRedViperOfPrague 15h ago
Hahahaha, this is so familiar! Spent at least 10-15 minutes & my wife's assistance trying to drill a hole for a TV holder with my normal hand drill that is usually good enough for almost any job.
Convinced myself it must be something steel or other metal like the top comments use. Spent another 30 minutes checking the house plans etc, ensuring there really is nothing, did the live wire check with one of those machines that I borrowed, nothing.
Then I remembered I have an SDS drill
Took exactly 2 seconds to get through.
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u/JerryfromCan 8h ago
Even a basic hammer drill vs a non-hammer drill is seconds vs tens of minutes. It’s insane the difference.
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u/NotSpartacus 12h ago edited 11h ago
Eh, I was able to drill into brick (brick, not mortar) deep enough (3 holes about 1.5") to mount a flag pole with a regular cordless drill. Alternated drill bits every 5-10s of drilling and water cooled the ones not in use. Took a little while but it was quite manageable.
If I had to drill 10s of them I'd look into better hardware, but for one time uses I don't think
an impacta hammer drill is necessary.6
u/RuncibleSpoon18 12h ago
Not to be too pedantic but an impact drill is something entirely different. The dedicated tool for this would be an sds hammerdrill
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u/NotSpartacus 11h ago
Ah I see. Just looked it up, I meant hammer not impact. Good to know the difference. Thanks!
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u/metompkin 11h ago
It's like a difference of $20 to upgrade to the hammer version so I got that version instead for light work. Milwaukee 12V system.
But yes, looking at the options on Milwaukee's website is pretty daunting trying to figure out what you want for the best price.
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u/simagus 18h ago
Probably a stupid question, but are you definitely using a masonry bit? A longer and thinner masonry bit might get you through easier and then you can drill through the pilot hole with a wider bit.
Worst case scenario, drill an inch or so higher or lower and fill the original holes. If you can hit the mortar between the bricks it will also be far easier to drill through.
Use good quality masonry bits and as Ed-Dos said a hammer drill is more likely to get you through a lot faster if you have a drill with that setting.
Can you actually see the bricks or is the wall plastered?
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
I can't see the brick, but on the side where I was able to drill the holes deep enough some orange dust came out. I'm not really sure but it could possibly be concrete?
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u/simagus 17h ago edited 16h ago
Orange dust does indicate brick usually. There are different densities of brick though and load-bearing engineering bricks are often double the newton value of common bricks. Same with blocks.
The other possibility is you are hitting a wall-tie, which comes in different varieties of metal that go between bricks to hold the inner skin and outer skin of cavity walls together. Move your target for the holes to one side or better, up or down a bit.
Is there any way you can just use rawl plugs and shorter screws to fix whatever it is? The alternative is to either use a hammer drill or keep leaning in to the wall and then blowing out the hole of dust which will only progress a tiny bit at a time and take ages.
Last time I had to I just cut the tips of the screws back some to fit the holes and made do with what I had, but I was sure the rawl plugs would hold it anyway. It's very hard for them not to, and I just cut back the top parts of those flush with the holes.
Nothing too extreme and I knew the holes were deep enough to hold what I needed them to.
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u/Worldly-Device-8414 18h ago
Sometimes, if there's a hard chunk of aggregate in there, you need a rotary hammer drill with more punch to break through that. Not common in bricks though, concrete, yes.
Otherwise, you may be unlucky & have hit some reinforcing steel or a steel lintel beam, etc
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u/SingleCaterpillar169 18h ago
So there are a few things here.
Firstly, it doesn’t look like you’re using a masonry bit from that picture - the drill bit youre using isn’t designed for the task. They’re pretty cheap from your hardware store so I’d recommend buying a set.
They’re second thing is that if you don’t have masonry bits, then youre unlikely to be using an impact or hammer drill. These are drills that don’t just spin: they also move forward and back quickly (ie, like a small hammer) chipping away at the brick. It’s not an essential - you can still drill with a regular drill - but it’s going to be slower, and impact drills are pretty cheap (and even cheaper secondhand on FBM or Google tool libraries in your area). A good addition to the toolkit.
The third thing is not to push hard. The drill is doing the work for you: you don’t need to be pushing it hard into the wall. It takes time, but the more you push, the more strain you’re putting the drill and the bit under.
Lastly, it’s a lot easier to drill a small hole than a big one, so use a small bit to make a pilot hole, then expand it with a bigger one. As a two step process, this is a lot easier to do.
Good luck!
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
thank you for the reply 🥲 i also have this bit https://imgur.com/a/nCfYLaY that is apparently more appropriate
the drill im using is a bosch 3 603 A30 100, and it has these 2 settings but I have no idea what they mean https://imgur.com/a/lzB3Kxp
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u/anti-apostle 17h ago
Use ypur neighbors bit, on your drill (selector to the left, hammer/drill). Push a bit, hammer drills dont cut, they chisel and clear the dust. If your drill doesnt sound broken its not working; these small hammer drills shrill with quite poasibly the most annoying sound on earth.
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u/hestoelena 17h ago
That looks like the right drill bit and the right drill. You also have the drill in the right setting. My guess is that you are pressing too hard. If you push on the drill bit with your hand, you'll feel that it's riding on a spring. You don't want to compress the spring all the way. You only want to put enough pressure on it to slightly compress the spring and let the drill bit float. The drill should vibrate and rattle a whole bunch. Let the drill do the work for you.
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u/AppointmentDue235 15h ago
thank you!! this worked perfectly, i was using too much force and it ended up making the hole larger but not deeper, cleaning up the dust and going bit by bit ended up working!!
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u/SingleCaterpillar169 17h ago edited 17h ago
So the last thing then - do you have a smaller masonry bit than the one you’ve shown here? To my eye that looks like 6-8mm wide. A narrower bit of 2-3mm will be a lot easier to drill a pilot hole with.
And as the other guys said, don’t push hard - let the drill do the work for you.
One final question: once you’ve drilled the holes, how will you attach the shelf? Most shelf kits (like IKEA ones) come with plastic wall plugs that you put into the drilled hole and then you screw the brackets into them. But it’s essential that the hole isn’t a lot bigger than the plug… otherwise it won’t grip the sides of the hole when you screw on the brackets.
You can bodgy it - use a handful of toothpicks or bamboo skewers as a plug in the hole for example - but it’s critical that the plug fits tightly when screwed in, otherwise your shelf will fall down. You can’t just put a screw in there.
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u/FrankNicklin 18h ago
What sort of drill bit are you using, hopefully a tungsten carbide tip drill and not a plain wood or metal twist drill. How deep are you trying to go.
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
I'm totally clueless but I'm using this one https://imgur.com/a/PDIh3Vi
I've tried different sizes, what's boggling me is the fact that it worked on one portion of the wall, but it refuses to work on the other
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u/Notspherry 18h ago
That is (was) a metal drill bit. It won't do much good on masonry.
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
Would this one be better or is it the same thing? My neighbor gave it to me and he said it's the best for our walls, but as you can tell I've already used it and it won't go deep either https://imgur.com/a/nCfYLaY
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u/Bigdoggieee 18h ago
That's 100times better
You need a hammer drill bit. At least here in the netherlands...
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u/PelvisResleyz 17h ago
Brick is relatively soft and won’t stop the bit easily. You’re hitting a piece of steel. Try drilling a different spot
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u/Egomaniac247 15h ago
Disagree. I’ve used a regular bit to drill into brick because it was all I had at the moment.
Worked like a charm for the first inch or so….then I might as well have been using a wooden dial rod bc the thing got so dull so fast that no amount of pushing was gonna drill that hole any deeper
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u/FrankNicklin 17h ago
Some are, some are very hard, such as engineering bricks. An ordinary drill will overheat and blunt very quickly, its the wrong type of drill for the job.
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u/Hispanic_Inquisition 16h ago
That's not a masonry bit. And it's dull. It was probably a good bit when you used it the first time, but it got destroyed. You need a masonry bit. You shouldn't need a hammer drill unless you're kinda weak and the drill is heavy to you.
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u/sidescrollin 11h ago
Probably just using a regular drill bit which is getting eaten up. Any regular non hammer drill and masonry bit will go through brick all day
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u/OOhobbes 7h ago
Masonry bit is the minimum… a hammer drill helped, but it’s still a pain (I know because I’ve done this). You really need an SDS drill for the job to be easy.
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u/franksymptoms 14h ago
Do you allow brick dust to escape? By drilling for a moment, then pulling the drill out, you allow the dust you've created to escape. This can actually keep you from deepening the hole!
You might try a hammer drill. It's like a large screwdriver and a small jackhammer, and I bless the guy who created it!
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 18h ago
How deep did the failed hole go? Use a small drill bit, pushed into the hole, then measure the depth on it.
Is the wall made of two or more layers of brick, with plaster applied to it on the inside? That's how my 1880s house was built, but my bricks are quite soft and easy to drill.
Is this an apartment in a tall building? That could be steel columns with masonry infill, but I really don't know what is typical construction in your area.
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
It's an apartment built in the 2000s and according to google it's likely a mix of both brick and concrete, the failed hole is going about 5cm deep
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u/IDriveLikeYourMom 16h ago
You could be hitting the rebar, you won't see metal when peering into the hole, it's not shiny enough and there's not enough light to make out the rebar. Try drilling 2cm / 1inch above or to the side, rebar isn't that wide. Don't try and drill through rebar!
Also, the aggregate in concrete can contain quartz pebbles, those will require a proper rotary hammer not just a drill with a hammer function. You've already found the masonry drill bit, rotary hammers tend to have an SDS shank to prevent slippage.
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u/AppointmentDue235 16h ago
I've already drilled a few cm to the sides, both up and down, and it still won't go 🥲 I'm still so confused on why the right side of the wall went through easily but the left side won't
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u/mosaic_hops 17h ago
The material needs a place to go or it’ll just end up compacted in the hole keeping you from going further. Start with a smaller bit, then follow with the larger one, it’ll cut through like butter. As long as it’s a masonry bit and a proper SDS or at least a hammer drill.
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u/DownHomeMonkey 17h ago
Get a small magnet that fits in the hole. Glue it to a stick. Test for a horizontal piece of rebar or pipes.
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u/Nothing-to_see_hr 16h ago
can it be that you hit a stone in the concrete? you need a concrete bit and a hammer drill.
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u/testing_testing_321 12h ago
I assume you're in Europe. It's likely insulating brick (Porotherm-style) and might have concrete inside or not, depending on position or execution. There might also be preformed steel-reinforced concrete beams e.g. if around a window or door. There might be steel reinforcement between/inside the bricks.
If it's just the hollow brick, a standard masonry bit will work, even with a weak drill. It's even better with a weaker drill as the stronger ones tend to chip the brick and putty.
If you intend to have some load on those shelves and you felt the bit going easier sometimes (i.e. through air) you NEED a chemical anchor around the fixing. If you can just pull the screw fixing out by hand then the shelf WILL eventually fall down.
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u/Badabing1967 11h ago
How old the house is? Try again in one of the holes and take a sniff. I once had to drill a hole, after 5mm my masonry drill bit couldn't go 1mm further in. After a sniff i knew why, it was an old woodpost inside the wall.
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u/evan2686 6h ago
Could always stick a blasting cap in the partial hole? Not enough? Add some comp B
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u/Brewingbiker 1h ago
Hammer drill with masonry bit, pull back and remove dust, repeat. You will get through. Can do with a regular drill, but use a masonry bit, still keep removing the dust repeatedly. I've gone through crete-filled blocks this way.
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u/Ed-Dos 18h ago
A hammer drill
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
I forgot to mention but I'm using a Bosch 3 603 A30 100. Something could be getting lost in translation (sorry, English isn't my native language!), but is that not a hammer drill?
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u/Minkipunk 18h ago
That's a hammer drill but often not strong enough to drill into solid stone or concrete. You might need a rotary hammer with SDS drills.
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u/pharmaboy2 7h ago
The DIY sub is notably short on good advice - this is the first mention of a rotary hammer drill.
Those hammer functions on std drills are the most pointless feature - everyone needs to have a Chinese rotary on hand for such problems, no need for a Hilti
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u/AppointmentDue235 18h ago
This drill has two settings but I have no idea what they mean, do you have any idea what it could be? If one or the other would be more helpful? https://imgur.com/a/lzB3Kxp
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u/Minkipunk 18h ago
The hammer setting is for drilling into stone, but it's not enough for some materials. Try to borrow a rotary hammer if you don't want to buy one.
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u/Substantial_Steak723 18h ago
Waste of time sorting this shit out.If
OK if you are that rubbish at fussing out a capable drill and bits plus the very basics of getting weight behind it, then you need to stop and learn!
Buy a Collins DIY book and read it, before you mess up even worse than you have already.
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u/tweedleduh 17h ago
Stupid question… were using the right tools, correct? Hammer drill, and masonry bit?
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u/LorenzoDarcy 18h ago
Most likely the hammer function or the overall drill power is not enough. You then start putting more pressure wirh your weight until the bit breaks
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u/ClassicRockCanadian 18h ago
Masonry bits are almost unbreakable, your using a wood/metal bit.
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u/chopkins47947 17h ago
Unbreakable in what way? Not at all, in my experience, is this true.
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u/crazyaustrian 17h ago
Like harder than diamonds
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u/chopkins47947 17h ago
I've never sheared one, but I have rendered them useless pretty quick in just concrete.
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u/Likeitblackandthick 17h ago
Tried impact driver? There could be something there. If you have the house's wires blueprint and pipes probably you can check. You can use glue gun to support your nail length with what you were able to drilled
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u/RLewis8888 18h ago
Are you hitting a steel brace?