Drill for brick walls

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I've got a job that needs doing and annoyingly I'm not able to drill through hard brick. I went out today to buy some masonry drill bits thinking that I'd be able to do it. I already have a hammer drill and I figured all I need were some decent masonry drill bits because none of the ones in my tool box would work. I thought it was all about the drill bit but I guess not. I have the hammer function set with the new drill bit and still nothing but a lot of noise just about marking the wall. Do I need to spend lots of money on a huge builders drill?

I have have used this cordless drill before to drill holes in brick and other walls so I'm lost why I'm having such difficulty with it, unless they don't make decent drill bits anymore?
 
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Might be stating the obvious here, but start with a much smaller hole, and built up through different drill bits.

As above, length and diameter of hole make a big difference.
 
Its a 10mm drill bit. I need to drill quite a lot of holes as I have to fix a wooden frame onto brick balcony. There just small holes enough for a medium sized wall plug to fit.
 
Sure that would be great. I'm UK based tho.

I bought mine from Wilko and normally there stuff is good but maybe I need to go for a well known branded drill bit to be sure its going to get the job done.
 
I think you need an SDS drill instead of a hammer drill.
You will find it will go into brick like I warm knife through butter.
I had a dewalt and a makita hammer drills and they were great but some brick was just a no no, no matter the drill bit.
Bought a makita SDS and all problems were over.
 
Mine isn’t SDS but don’t use the hammer drill setting on a normal drill . For bigger jobs I use a SDS Makita drill

I’m based in the uK as well

SabreCut SCTBA5 Multi-Material Tile Drill Bits Set for Ceramic Porcelain Granite Marble with Durable Storage Box https://amzn.eu/d/f8kM1qt
 
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Excellent. Thanks much appreciated. I'll order some and give those a try. I'll have a look for an SDS drill as they sound pretty good.
 
SDS drill, end of…..

By far the best option for drilling into concrete or engineering bricks. Get one with roto-stop and also use it for chiselling off floor and wall tiles with a flat bit
 
SDS drill, end of…..

By far the best option for drilling into concrete or engineering bricks. Get one with roto-stop and also use it for chiselling off floor and wall tiles with a flat bit

Absolutely however I managed with my standard drill and good bits for mounting onto tiles and Yorkshire stone . All about budget and how many times you are going to use it
 
My drill is a bit old and past it now although still works I'm probably better off with a nice new SDS drill and also that way I can be a bit more sure that I'm going to get the job done. Those bricks are very hard and if that masonry bit I got today isn't penetrating then I'm going to need more power combined with a top quality drill bit.
 
I've got a job that needs doing and annoyingly I'm not able to drill through hard brick. I went out today to buy some masonry drill bits thinking that I'd be able to do it. I already have a hammer drill and I figured all I need were some decent masonry drill bits because none of the ones in my tool box would work. I thought it was all about the drill bit but I guess not. I have the hammer function set with the new drill bit and still nothing but a lot of noise just about marking the wall. Do I need to spend lots of money on a huge builders drill?

I have have used this cordless drill before to drill holes in brick and other walls so I'm lost why I'm having such difficulty with it, unless they don't make decent drill bits anymore?
A cordless drill is a waste of time with older brick houses. You ok with modern soft brick, but partially Victorian houses have very solid bricks.

A good mains powered drill with hammer function like the Bosch pro can be found for £50. I tend to use fairly cheap masonry drill bit and replace them when blunt/bent

 
Just hire in an SDS with a suitable drill bit for the day. Much quicker and less frustration!!
 
I've switched to 18V for all my power tools with the exception of SDS drill - you can't beat some 240v to really make some progress, to get comparable power you have to spend a lot of money on the high end 36V+ systems. You can pick up a decent Makita or Bosch blue one for £120, a worthwhile investment. This SDS drillbit set is a good starting point too: Makita Drill & Chisel Bit Set (SDS+ Shank) 10pce
With some decent SDS bits it'll drill / chisel through pretty much anything you'll find in the home.
 
Just an update... My old drill was most definitely pants as its just worn out. The batteries stopped holding a charge long ago so I modified one of the battery packs, removed all the old cells and soldered two wires to the terminals and connected it to a variable power supply capable of delivering 40 amps at 18volts. It used to work like a charm but now there is just not enough power. Its only good for drilling wood and soft materials.

I got my new drill today which came with some masonry drill bits, its very powerful and I did a test hole. First I tried it without the hammer function and even with all that power it still didn't penetrate. I ten tried it with the hammer function and SDS and it went it within a minute. The drill has some good reviews some say its like a hot knife through butter, maybe for soft walls but my walls are like reinforced extra hard brick so it takes a little longer to get a hole drilled than I would like. It takes about 60 seconds which isn't too bad.
 
I had a centre speaker to mount on a fireplace top hard stone front that none of my drills could even make a start on. I bought a set of these in May 2019 and they did it. Fantastic bits and still using the same ones.
S&R concrete masonry drill bits
 
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Just an update... My old drill was most definitely pants as its just worn out. The batteries stopped holding a charge long ago so I modified one of the battery packs, removed all the old cells and soldered two wires to the terminals and connected it to a variable power supply capable of delivering 40 amps at 18volts. It used to work like a charm but now there is just not enough power. Its only good for drilling wood and soft materials.

I got my new drill today which came with some masonry drill bits, its very powerful and I did a test hole. First I tried it without the hammer function and even with all that power it still didn't penetrate. I ten tried it with the hammer function and SDS and it went it within a minute. The drill has some good reviews some say its like a hot knife through butter, maybe for soft walls but my walls are like reinforced extra hard brick so it takes a little longer to get a hole drilled than I would like. It takes about 60 seconds which isn't too bad.
Which drill was it ?
 
It did the job but I'd have probably spent just a little more on this Erbauer from Screwfix. My cordless stuff is all 18V DeWalt but I have a few corded Erbauer tools and they've all been really good for the money.

 

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