Drilling advice

[kprm77]

I need to drill some holes to put up some curtains in one of the bedrooms.

I've drilled in there before - the drill goes in about 2/3 of the required depth, then stops. I don't know if I'm hitting an RSJ or what, no idea.

Any advice on what I need to be doing / looking out for? I'm just using a masonary(sp) drill bit. Should I be drilling into the RSJ in any case? Do I just need to get a drill bit that can go through metal?

[m3jappa]

May well be a steel lintel. Does it feel or sound like metal?

Maybe drill a pilot hole about 1/3 the size of the required screw and then screw straight in. (Self tapper screw).

[kprm77]

m3jappa said:

May well be a steel lintel. Does it feel or sound like metal?

Maybe drill a pilot hole about 1/3 the size of the required screw and then screw straight in. (Self tapper screw).

It does feel like metal as I just can't drill any deeper. I don't get you when you say screw staight in - do you mean screw straight into the lintel / RSJ or whatever it is without a raw plug?

[m3jappa]

Yes screw straight in to the lintel. If its a proper steel rsj your going to struggle though, but tbh i would imagine its just a normal lintel which will be quite hard to screw into but do able.

You want a self tapping screw- make sure they are not the round head ones though, they WILL burr. You will definately need a pilot hole, Try somewhere like travis perkins, i know they do self tappers which arent those rubbish round head things as i bought a box a couple of weeks back which i used to screw brackets into galvanised steel which was about 3mm thick. (wasnt easy mind).

Alternativly you may be able to mount the mounting brackets on the sides of the window as opposed to above iykwim.

Edited by m3jappa on Monday 29th November 22:38

[pacman1]

Plug the hole with a wood dowl and use a smaller screw.
hth

[Simpo Two]

m3jappa said:

May well be a steel lintel. Does it feel or sound like metal?

Maybe drill a pilot hole about 1/3 the size of the required screw and then screw straight in. (Self tapper screw).

That's what I do. But steel lintels are damn hard so use a sharp metal cutting bit. Then the screw will bite into the steel and not the crumbly plaster.

[CO2000]

Drill into the RSJ with the correct type of bit (pilot hole first) & then use the plug you were going to use in the first place.
The tip of the plug will go into the steel & the rest will expand in the wall.

Edited by CO2000 on Monday 29th November 23:22

[Big Al.]

OK you have in the drill a masonry bit yes?

It would be around 7mm diameter yes?

So if the answer is in the affirmative to those two questions and you have hit a steel lintel then you're correct it won't drill any deeper.

Ever tried to drill a 7mm hole in steel using a standard high speed steel (HSS) twist drill, no chance you will have to drill a small (3mm) pilot hole before you can even think about going out to 6-7mm.

So now you have reached the steel lintel change the drill bit for a small HSS 3mm drill and see if you can get any steel swarf coming out of the hole that will indicate it's a steel lintel.

HTH.

[kprm77]

Sorry for being thick, but is the pilot hole in the lintel itself?

For example, I need to drill 30mm - first 20mm no bother through plaster. Do I then drill a pilot hole into the lintel through my original hole through the plaster?

Thanks for all the replies

[Gingerbread Man]

kprm77 said:

Sorry for being thick, but is the pilot hole in the lintel itself?

For example, I need to drill 30mm - first 20mm no bother through plaster. Do I then drill a pilot hole into the lintel through my original hole through the plaster?

Thanks for all the replies

Yep, pilot hole in the lintel, then increase drill size gradually till you reach your 7mm plug size.

[kprm77]

Gingerbread Man said:

kprm77 said:

Sorry for being thick, but is the pilot hole in the lintel itself?

For example, I need to drill 30mm - first 20mm no bother through plaster. Do I then drill a pilot hole into the lintel through my original hole through the plaster?

Thanks for all the replies

Yep, pilot hole in the lintel, then increase drill size gradually till you reach your 7mm plug size.

Excellent - thanks for that. Looks like I need to buy some metal drill bits

[Big Al.]

Gingerbread Man said:

Yep, pilot hole in the lintel, then increase drill size gradually till you reach your 7mm plug size.

Yep what he said.

[cjs]

Are you sure you're hitting an RSJ? It could be a concrete lintel and you're hitting the steel reinforcement bars.

[thinfourth2]

kprm77 said:

Sorry for being thick, but is the pilot hole in the lintel itself?

For example, I need to drill 30mm - first 20mm no bother through plaster. Do I then drill a pilot hole into the lintel through my original hole through the plaster?

Thanks for all the replies

At this point i shall tell a little story

Many years ago on a ship i came off watch and walked past the 2nd officer who was drilling a hole so a safety plague could be mounted.

Thought nothing more of it had breakfast and returned the same way.

At this point i encountered the second officer still trying to drill the hole. Which i found odd as the bulkhead was only very thin steel.

After a short discussion it was discovered that the 2nd officer did not know you have to push the drill into the wall for a hole to appear he thought the drill magically pulled itself through the steel.

You do have the the drill on hammer action and you are pushing aren't you?

[Simpo Two]

thinfourth2 said:

You do have the the drill on hammer action and you are pushing aren't you?

Masonry drill on hammer action is absolutely the wrong way to drill through a lintel!

I don't see the point in drilling a (difficult) 7mm hole in steel to take a rawlplug. It's not needed. Just get a self-tapping screw of the length required, choose a metal-cutting drill about 20% smaller than the diameter of the thread, and off you go (not hammer action).

Drill bites into steel, tighten up, done.

[thinfourth2]

Seeing a traditional RSJ is I shaped it is highly unlikely you will hit one while drilling into the wall unless you get thin bit at the top or bottom.

Especially as he has only got 20mm into the wall which is about the thickness of traditional plaster. If you hit structral steel with a hammer drill not only will you know about it but so will all of your nieghbours