What drill and drill bits are best used to put holes in walls?

[0igo]

So I have to go out up a 3x8 do bond board this week and I know my drill won't be able to cut through the thick wall. I'm wondering what drill do you guys use for making holes in a concrete wall that has steel behind it?

 

[visual800]

I have 3 drills....Milwaukee 18volt hammer, handle small jobs and some medium and if it gets ugly I break out the Bosch SDS hammer drill, this drill is freaking awesome is tons better than the old milwaukee SDS drill I had.....and then I have the BEAST, a HIlit TE-56. This thing double as a jack hammer for tearing walls down.

I have no idea how thick the concrete is you are going thru and how many holes your making. Are you also wanting to go thru the steel? The absolute best bit for masonry I have found is the blue bosch bits. All this milwaukee, dewalt, ryobi crap dont even bother buying that.

 

[Bradley Signs]

Are you drilling concrete, or mortar joints between bricks?

 

[HDvinyl]

Ahhhh, a question finally meant for Home Depot.

 

[Johnny Best]

Are you going to be using tapcons or do you have something else in mind. Is this poured concrete or concrete block with stucco finish.
How thick is the concrete in front of the steel.

 

[Moze]

Bosch Bulldog Xtreme bits are specifically meant for cutting through rebar. They're great bits and are available at Home Depot. This assumes you have an SDS rotary hammer but I'm guessing you don't, or you wouldn't be posting.

Since you're just installing a 3x8 piece of ACM, you could get by fine with a hammer drill and masonry bits.

It would help to know what tools you have, battery platform(s), etc.

 

[Billct2]

How thick is concrete before you hit the steel? It may not even be necessary to deal with the steel.

 

[Moze]

My little arsenal...

Milwaukee M12 SDS Plus rotary hammer - great for smaller 'delicate' jobs (faux stone, etc.):

Bosch Bulldog GBH18V-26K SDS plus rotary hammer:

For the big tasks, core drilling, demo, digging, DeWalt DCH481 Flexvolt SDS Max:

 

[0igo]

thanks everyone and yes finally a home depot question lmao. i was laughing as i was posting this because i knew someone was going to mention it. anyways i have 2 impact drills that dont do a thing but dig a little through the concrete and then stop. I am going to go out and buy myself a corded hammer drill and some blue bosch bits. i will be using tapcons! itll actually be 2 boards side by side. so 3x16. also excuse all those misspelled words, i am typing off my phone and the keyboard is smaller than a mf lol

 

[Johnny Best]

I hope you are not drilling into poured concrete and hit rebar. If you drill into the rebar you could compromise the structural integrity of the concrete. Move your hole over a small ways to avoid the rebar. The tapcon box at Home Depot will have the right sized bit to do your drilling with inside.

 

[Moze]

He's not going to compromise the structural integrity of the concrete lol. That's the whole reason there are rebar cutters and bits on the market that are designed to cut through rebar. Now if it were post-tension cable, that's an entirely different matter...

 

[Johnny Best]

He's not going to compromise the structural integrity of the concrete lol. That's the whole reason there are rebar cutters and bits on the market that are designed to cut through rebar. Now if it were post-tension cable, that's an entirely different matter...

You have no idea what this fool is drilling into. Maybe he is putting hazard signs on a Nuke plant for all you know. I was just at a place where the concrete with the tension cables were drill into by cell phone guys installing equipment. And they are usually brighter than sign installers. What do you think they put rebar in concrete for, to make the structural engineer happy?

 

[oldgoatroper]

If its pre-tensioned concrete, then yes... very bad thing to go through the rebar/steel/cable.
But if it's just rebar inside poured-in-place concrete, then shouldn't be a problem

 

[Moze]

You have no idea what this fool is drilling into. Maybe he is putting hazard signs on a Nuke plant for all you know. I was just at a place where the concrete with the tension cables were drill into by cell phone guys installing equipment. And they are usually brighter than sign installers. What do you think they put rebar in concrete for, to make the structural engineer happy?

Well, I think I have a pretty good idea, because he said he's drilling into a concrete wall, in which case he's not going to hurt anything putting in Tapcons for an ACM panel. Pretty sure his little 5/32" bit isn't going to structurally compromise anything.

You said: "If you drill into the rebar you could compromise the structural integrity of the concrete." So you're saying there's concrete the world over that's compromised because Hilti and Bosch don't know what you know - that cutting rebar will compromise the structural integrity of the concrete? So all of these people that for decades have been using rebar cutters, masonry bits, core bits, etc. to drill and cut completely through rebar have left a trail of structurally compromised concrete?

It's like a house. It has framed walls. The number of studs required is based on over-engineered specs that take into account that people will be drilling through them for plumbing, electrical, etc.

 

[Johnny Best]

He first mentioned concrete wall with steel behind it, then you show your toys and rebar gets in the subject, all I am saying that I do not drill through stuff I have no idea whats inside. You got him Hilti jackhammering the place down. It might even be that steel was behind the concrete to protect something, maybe electrical. I do not know and neither do you. No, I am not as smart as Hilti or Bosch at selling their wares to people. But I was trying to caution him on what he drills into instead of getting out the big guns and going at it.
Installation of signs is your main form of living so hopefully you know more than I do on the subject.

 

[Moze]

He first mentioned concrete wall with steel behind it, then you show your toys and rebar gets in the subject, all I am saying that I do not drill through stuff I have no idea whats inside. You got him Hilti jackhammering the place down. It might even be that steel was behind the concrete to protect something, maybe electrical. I do not know and neither do you. No, I am not as smart as Hilti or Bosch at selling their wares to people. But I was trying to caution him on what he drills into instead of getting out the big guns and going at it.
Installation of signs is your main form of living so hopefully you know more than I do on the subject.

Rebar was in the subject as soon as he mentioned 'concrete wall' - it's nothing I introduced. I posted my toys because visual800 posted what he has and he clearly has purchased some of the best concrete tools there are...figured he'd appreciate the post. Maybe I should have tagged him on it. I don't think 0igo is going to go buy a $500-$800 piece of equipment to install his ACM panel. Walls with post tension cable exist, but I don't think I've ever even seen one. Steel plate, steel rebar, whatever, I don't think he's going to drill deep enough to hit anything if he's putting Tapcons in a wall.

Now if he said he's going in a beam or in a floor, I would have given completely different advice.

 

[0igo]

You have no idea what this fool is drilling into. Maybe he is putting hazard signs on a Nuke plant for all you know. I was just at a place where the concrete with the tension cables were drill into by cell phone guys installing equipment. And they are usually brighter than sign installers. What do you think they put rebar in concrete for, to make the structural engineer happy?

lol no im not its a mexican resaurant made out of a cement structure

 

[oldgoatroper]

Now if he said he's going in a beam or in a floor, I would have given completely different advice.

Zackly!

 

[Johnny Best]

"restaurant made out of a cement structure" Oigo has Moze to thank for hanging this sign.

 

[oldgoatroper]

Cement is to Concrete as Flour is to Bread.