Small holes for fixtures and fittings

[Deleted member 1779]

This is a tile we drilled using a small 8mm diamond drill. ​

We slightly overbored it to slip in a 6 or 7mm rawl plug. In this photo you can see a traditional drill bit in the orange drill pack. These are spade drills and they work from the centre out. ​

The spade rips the tile to form an ever wider circle until it pushes through the glaze. We however use a diamond cone. The cone only remove the outer edge of the 8mm hole making it a less agressive process. Diamond drills for use with fixtures and fitting are a gentle solution.​

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This is the hollow core going into the tile. Its about the size of a bic biro.​

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The advantage of this is less chipping of the tile in such a small area. ​

You can see below the hole is perfect and the rawl plug just slides in. ​

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OK so perhaps on first impressions the rawl plug is looking a bit lost in the tile but the idea is not to put pressure on the tile with the fitting. You can crack it. What we want is the substrate behind to take the weight of the fitting which could be a bathroom cabinet for example.​

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Here you can see the screw pushes in. Already the jaws of the plug are opening to fit the space.​

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The rawl plug would by now be slotted into the substrate at the back of the tile. Either ply, wood, breeze block or brick. Its the back of the tile that should bear the weight. ​

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Also look closely at all the holes in this picture to see totally perfect holes. Even at the back.​

We supply packs of four drills just to take care of small holes for just £29.99​

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For more information about the small hole pack or all our drill solutions click Here​

Richard​

 

[Dan]

Richard,

Doesn't the plug expand and give the tile a bit of grief when the plug is using the tile to grip? I've had tiles split when I've not pushed the plug past the biscuit.

Not to offend your very informative write-up though *blushes* - just trying to spark conversation in one of your threads

 

[Deleted member 1779]

I probably havent explained it properly because I missed out a couple of steps above.

Yes you are right - you want zero pressure or weight on the tile hole edge.

I forgot to explain that we drill holes in two parts. The first is this 8mm core for the tile

Then we switch to either a 6mm masonary or twist drill to bore the substrate at the back of the tile.

We always use these 6mm red plugs too. We never use the yellow - even on lighter items.

By having an 8mm tile hole leading itno a 6mm bore gives almost 2mm for the plug to expand onto the tile.

You can push the plug right back through the tile but dont go too deep into the bore or the screw will bend at the front under the weight of the fixture pressing on the tile.

You want to be seeing this sort of gap between the tile and rawl plug.

When you push the screw into the plug all the "give" will be taken up and a nice snug fit is achievable.

Also it goes without saying that on any tile but especially thin or ceramics not to over tighten screws. And also try not to use fat or stumpy screws. Short fat screws can break tiles even in the 8mm/6mm combo. We actually throw away the screws and plugs supplied with many fixures and use our own instead. Its suprising how many fixures come supplied with very poor screws and plugs.

I may have mentioned before I am not a tiler (so who am I to be giving tips... ! ) But we go out to lots of jobs - especially in London - JUST TO DRILL HOLES!

We provide a hole drilling service mainly for top end installations with porcelain tiles in situations where tilers have installed expensive tiles but refuse to drill them in situ.

To give you a figure on it last year we attended 24 jobs in the London area just to drill holes into tiles already fitted to the wall. And we charge £200 a day to do it.

What the clients gets for £200 is peace of mind especially when they just spent about £10,000 on a luxury bathroom. They dont want to see their newly installed granite or porcelain split or crack open due to overloaded screwholes.

These customers also pay for a contractor who turns up just to do the Silicon work. Silicon is a specialist job !

This topic might sound overkill just to put a few tiny holes into bathrooms but the old days of cheating by using the grout lines to fit fixtures is over. Many tilers would look for the grout line as the best place to put fittings. But tiles are getting a lot lot bigger. And also the look a lot more "minimal".

The downside to minimal is the eye is drawn to imperfection. So its very important to make sure every fitting is fitted to its very best.

I am a bit of a saddo because when I am out in public I actively look for bad examples of small hole drilling. It suprising how many blown, cracked or damaged tiles there are out there all due to poor fixure installation.

Most of my observations are gents loos in bars, pubs, clubs and resteraunts. I have shared them with peers and my wife telling them about such discoveries.

You can almost hear them groaning and telling me to shut up!




R



==

 

[Dan]

Wow - now that's what I call a reply!

Cheers mate.

 

[lm tiles]

i use 365 bits and find them great for all jobs

 

[Deleted member 1779]

This is our best seller by far

You are going to be seeing a lot more of this in the next few weeks.....

Cant say too much at the mo. Just watch this space!

 

[cornish_crofter]

Just found this thread.

I know what richard says about pushing the plug through the tile and into the substrait. I do this.

With light fittings, or those where the weight is supported elsewhere (shower screens for example) this won't make a difference but with heavier fittings, such as a shower panel, I guess you have to weigh up the risk of movement with that of cracking a tile.

I tend to favour having the plug clear of the tile altogether. With a tight fit into the substrait you should get minimal movement. Even better if you can plan ahead and insert noggins into a stud wall where the screws will need to be.

If the plug is flush with the tile but you have a radial gap of 1mm between the tile and the plug, do you not have the same issue anyway?

 

[Olz]

This is our best seller by far

You are going to be seeing a lot more of this in the next few weeks.....

Cant say too much at the mo. Just watch this space!

Mine came yesterday morning mate, used it loads already today, My customer (and I) was very impressed with the perfect holes mid tile for his shower bar.

 

[doug boardley]

hiya 365 drilling,
typically, how many holes can you drill in porcelain,with your 8mm bits? (obviously keeping them wet) I find after maybe half a dozen although bit is still sharp it gets misshapen or am I putting too much pressure on them?
cheers,
doug

 

[grumpygrouter]

hiya 365 drilling,
typically, how many holes can you drill in porcelain,with your 8mm bits? (obviously keeping them wet) I find after maybe half a dozen although bit is still sharp it gets misshapen or am I putting too much pressure on them?
cheers,
doug

Sounds like too much pressure to me Doug. I have not had one go out of shape yet. I generally get about 10 to 12 holes through porcelain before the drill becomes hard work. Still good for ceramics after that though..........

 

[Deleted member 1779]

In this little update I thought I'd post some shots of use in porcelain tiles. Porcelain tiles are actually the real reason for the 6mm and 8mm tile drills. Of course they are excellent in soft ceramics but this work is the main business!

Above is a mixed shot showing the 8mm hole masked off with tape. And the hole started through it. After drilling the tape can be pulled back to reveal the result.

The usual suspect! Very hard porcelain tiles at 300x600
Bulletproof....

Dont be afraid of the tiles! - Yes they are expensive and one slip can cause hundreds of pounds with cost to remove and replace. Take it easy. As a pro tiler yourself you know how confined working spaces can be - so your equipment should be easy to manage. This cramped space isnt the exception. Its the norm....

Above: Perfect holes every time. With mm precision !

With small holes for fixtures and fittings we are finding its CRITICAL for absolutley perfect results. Manufacturers seem to make flange ends smaller and smaller so barely concealing screw holes. One chip.... Game over! But it need not be a worry because we can provide you with the proper commercial equipment to get those results every time.

I want them! - 6mm and 8mm core drills...

 

[Deleted member 1779]

hiya 365 drilling,
typically, how many holes can you drill in porcelain,with your 8mm bits? (obviously keeping them wet) I find after maybe half a dozen although bit is still sharp it gets misshapen or am I putting too much pressure on them?
cheers,

Lifespan is "about" ten good holes per drill bit. After the 10th hole the drill then starts to degrade to a point where drilling holes simply takes longer (but drilling holes is not impossible).

A good rule of thumb is to state to your customer is that in the very hardest porcelain tiles (example villeroy and boch C5 grade) that the top part (the 6mm and 8mm) of our best selling pack will last about 40 holes and then will degrade. That means an achievable realistic target is 50 holes if you have patience.

£49.99

No drill lasts forever. All drilling is a wear and tear exercise. The way we have designed the pack above is that you should get one good bathroom project out of the kit. With seven cores capable of about ten holes each then that's up to seventy holes. Plus you have the extra capability to drill holes that just take longer due to the degradation of the cores which would tot up to about another 30 extra holes. Total pack lifespan is about 100 holes if you were to squeeze every ounce of life out of the kit.

But what we ask you to consider is dumping the kit when you have finished the job and then just charging it to your customer as a consumable.

On a standard 37 square meter bathroom (example below) you would be spending £3000 on tiles alone. With 10% wastage thats £300 in waste tiles. So £49.99 is nothing compared to a bathroom tiled in porcelain and the customer wont mind paying. Just get a fresh kit for the next job and the bonus of leaving them behind is that if you forget to install something then the customer can put up their own bits and pieces with the 6mm and 8mm cores and saves dragging you back to fit a loo roll holder !

Damn..... I forgot to put in their loo roll holder! (above) Thats another 20 mile round trip in the van plus a half day on site. Oh no wait a minute.... I left that kit behind. Perhaps they could do it?

If you are interested in looking at our solutions for drilling holes into difficult or hard tiles with diamond tile drills cores and holesaws then please pop over to 365Drills anytime!

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Just to bring this post up to date as of 2012 we launched the J-Hook tile clearing gadget.

Serious tilers will tell you that the small cores have a tendency to clog or jam with tile debris.

So for £4.99 we have introduce the toolkit above which contains a J-Hook and Water cooling sponge.

To clean out a jammed core simply place it into the drill (or dont remove it!)
Then you can insert the J-Hook neatly into the slot we have provided machined into the side of the diamond core drill.



Now even the toughest to remove stubborn granite and tile can be prised easily out of the core.

As mentioned above it £4.99 but is a one time only purchase as once bought it will sit nicely into your toolbox.

 

[swanman]

Good INFORMATION

I shall be buying soon

 

[swanman]

No thank you

Great products

You dont need any reps do you