After my recent purchase of a new doorbell for my front door, I realized that this area of my home is constructed with brick and that I would not be able to follow the recommended method of installation. In a panic, I did some research to find out how to drill into brick without using a hammer drill and put together all of my results here.
How do you drill into brick without a hammer drill? In order to drill into brick without the use of a hammer drill, you can choose to go about the task using masonry drill bits in any type of drill, although it is ideal to use an impact driver if possible.
In addition to combining these drill bits with different types of drills, you should proceed to penetrate the brick material slowly and with frequent breaks to clear out the openings, since these kinds of tools are not necessarily meant for such heavy-duty tasks.
When the topic of drilling into brick comes up in conversation, most people would immediately jump to the use of a hammer drill. While it is true that these special and extra durable types of drills are most ideal for these situations, there are other ways to dig into brick without having one on hand.
If you have found yourself in a dilemma where you need to make some type of hole into a brick surface but you do not have the necessary tools, you have come to the right place. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about how you can drill into brick without a hammer drill.
Drilling Into Brick Without a Hammer Drill
Hammer drills are increasingly durable tools that basically carry out the functions of a hammer and a drill at the same time. Equipped with masonry bits at the end of the drill, these tools are able to spin these sharp pieces of metal into hard materials while pounding them forward simultaneously using a hammering action.
These types of tools are the most ideal for the specific purpose of drilling into solid surfaces such as brick. However, it is quite understandable that not everyone will have access to a hammer drill, especially those who do not frequently carry out these types of building tasks.
When it comes to drilling into brick without the use of a hammer drill, there are a few different ways that you can go about it. In the list below, you will find an outline of some of the materials and methods that you can use in order to complete this task.
Method Of Drilling Into Brick Without a Hammer Drill:
- Masonry Drill Bits (sharp points, assorted)
- Power Drill (use with tungsten carbine masonry bits)
- Impact Drill (best option)
- While trying to cut into brick materials without a hammer drill, the entire task will require another power drill of any kind that can fit particular the drill bits that you are going to need.
The best method for drilling into brick without the use of a hammer drill is to use masonry drill bits in an alternative power tool. While this power tool can be any kind of regular power drill, the best option will be an impact drill, if you have access to one.
This is due to the fact that impact drills are much stronger than the regular kind, and will be able to cut through tough surfaces like brick without much of a problem.
However, if you are only able to use a regular power drill, the best types of masonry drill bits to use for this method will be the ones that are made out of tungsten carbide materials.
The masonry drill bits that you choose should be the most strong and durable that you can find, with the sharpest possible points at the ends. This will help you to cut through the brick faster than you would with any other kind of drill bit.
Whether you decide to attach your masonry drill bits onto the average power drill that you have at home or an even stronger impact drill, both methods will follow a very similar process, which will be outlined in the next section.
Keep reading to get an easy step-by-step guide on how you can use these tools and pieces of equipment to actually drill into the brick material without a hammer drill.
How To Drill Into Brick Without a Hammer Drill
Now that we have established that brick can be drilled into without a hammer drill, using extra sharp masonry drill bits and a power drill that has enough speed and drive to get the job done, you might be wondering how you can do this.
What You Will Need:
- Power drill
- Masonry drill bits (lots of additional)
- Drill bit sharpener
- Safety equipment
- Glass of water
- Hand star drill bit
- Hammer/mallet
The first, and most obvious, materials that you will need in order to complete this task are the power drill of your choice and your masonry drill bits. It is important to have an assortment of these bits, just in case you need to replace one of them when another gets dull or broken inside of the brick.
You will also need some kind of drill bit sharpener, the necessary safety equipment to protect your eyes, head, and hands, and a glass of water for the drilling part of things.
When it comes to applying force to the area in order to open it up more, you can use a hand star drill bit and a hammer or mallet, which we will get into later in this section.
Once you have assembled all of the materials that you will need for this task, you can proceed to follow the steps that are listed down below for the fastest, easiest, and safest results.
How To Drill Into Brick Without a Hammer Drill:
- Gather all materials (drill, drill bits, safety equipment)
- Fit the drill bits onto your power tool
- Put on safety equipment (safety goggles, gloves, hard hat, etc.)
- Position the bit of the drill onto the area of brick that you will be cutting
- Apply steady pressure while pulling the trigger on the drill, moving it forward into the brick
- Take frequent breaks in between drilling
- Flush out the holes that you have created in between passes
- Continue to drill until you have made the desired hole
- If necessary, continue to apply more force with a hand star drill bit and hammer
- Position the drill bit with one hand into the hole you previously created
- Hit the other end of the drill bit with a hammer or mallet (preferably metal)
- Repeat all of these steps in a cycle until you achieve the desired results
To begin, you will need to fit the correct drill bit onto the power tool of your choice that you will be using. In doing this, it is important to make sure that the drill bit in question is not too big or too small for the shaft fo the drill.
In the case that the drill bit that you choose is not properly fitting to the power drill or impact drill, you can have a lot of safety issues during this process when it comes to the bit actually staying in place while you are using it.
In addition, you will also need to assemble and put on all of the needed safety equipment. This includes safety goggles to protect your eyes from flying pieces of brick ,dust, and debris, and anything else that you find necessary, from gloves to a construction hard hat.
Once you have everything that you need in front of you with all safety equipment securely fastened, you will be ready to begin the actual process of drilling into the brick.
First, you will position the bit of the drill onto the area of brick that you will be cutting. The very tip of the bit should be resting on the exact point that you would like to drive it into.
When this has been established, you will need to hold the handle of the drill firmly with both hands, while standing in a solid upward position. This position will include having both feet planted onto the ground with your legs slightly spread apart to keep everything steady in case there is any kickback from the tool.
With the index finger of your dominant hand, you will then pull the trigger on the innermost part of the power drill, while simultaneously applying a steady amount of pressure into the actual brick with the entire drill.
During this process, you will be using your entire body strength to push the drill bit into the brick as far as you possibly can, while keeping in mind that you should not be forcing it too hard to avoid breaking the drill bit.
Since power and impact drills are not specifically constructed for drilling through solid brick materials, even with the use of special pointed masonry drill bits, you will have to remember that you can cause a lot of damage to your tools and equipment in doing this.
In order to avoid any breaking or damages, you will need to take frequent breaks in between drilling holes into the brick with your masonry drill bits. The hardened brick can quickly wear down the sharpness and overall quality of the drill bits, meaning that you might need to replace the entire thing throughout certain points of this process.
These types of drill bits are not necessarily supposed to be drilled into bricks either, so they can get very hot and potentially overheat themselves, causing the outside metal to melt and become misshapen.
A quick and convenient solution to this problem is having the glass of water handy that was mentioned in the supplies list at the beginning of this section. In the event that your drill bits begin to overheat, you can simply take them out of the brick and dip them into the glass of clean, room temperature water for a few seconds to minutes.
This will help the metal coating of the drill bit to cool down and become solid again before you force it back into the brick surface and risk bending or breaking it all together.
If you have tried to cool down your drill bit multiple times between breaks of drilling and you are still finding that the level of sharpness has declined, you can choose to take another break to sharpen your desired bit, or just replace it with another one all together.
No matter how you decide to go about this, it is always helpful to keep a sharpener and a set of extra masonry drill bits handy in this situation. Whether you are trying to stick to a certain drill bit size or you just need to make a general hole in a piece of brick material, you will be able to keep the process going in one of these to ways.
While you are taking breaks to make sure that your drill bits are being properly cooled down and maintained, you will also need to begin to flush out the holes that were left behind by your drill before starting again.
Since brick is a solid and brittle material that will crumble when it is cracked or cut into, the holes that you create with the end of your masonry drill bit will undoubtedly become filled with this obstructive debris.
As a result, this will make it increasingly difficult to go right back in with your drill again and try to get through the dust that you have left behind. In doing this, you will basically be drilling through twice the material with no good reason for it.
To solve this problem, you will simply need to flush out the holes in between breaks of drilling, whether you use another glass of water, some kind of coolant or cleaning solution, or even some air to blow out all of the dust.
Regardless of how you get the dust and broken pieces out of the holes in the brick, it will need to be done for the best results. Unless, of course, you would like to turn a few hours of work into an entire day while drilling through unnecessary material for hours.
After flushing out the holes in between passes and taking this process as slow as you need to, you will simply continue this entire cycle until you have found that you have successfully created the opening that you intended to.
However, if you find that this process is taking much longer than you would have liked with just the use of masonry bits on a power drill, there is another way that you can speed it up slightly.
This additional step will involve the use of an additional tool called a hand star drill bit, and the help of a trusty hammer or mallet. Ideally, the hammer or mallet will be made out of a hard metal material to assist in easily driving the drill bit into the brick.
To make this go by even faster, you can hold the hand star drill bit into the small hole that you have created, and proceed to hit the back of it with your hammer or mallet in order to force it into the opening.
This action will open up the area just a little bit more, and when used in combination with your drill and masonry bits, can make it even easier for your power tools to penetrate through the areas that have been crumbled by the blunt force you previously applied.
After that, you will continue to use your drill and hammer to break open and drill into the area as much as you possibly can until you have achieved the desired results. This process will involve a lot of flushing, pounding, and drilling with some potential cooling, but it is the most ideal way to drill into brick without a hammer drill.
As you can see, it is absolutely possible to drill into hardened brick materials without even picking up a hammer drill.
Even though most people believe in the common misconception that you must own one of these advanced and expensive tools in order to get the job done, you can complete this task with very similar results using tools and equipment that you might already have lying around in your garage or shop.
With the use of all of the helpful methods and outlined steps that were described in this article, you should be able to safely and successfully drill any kind of hole into a brick surface with the use of a power drill and a few masonry drill bits.
As long as you follow the correct procedures and exhibit the proper form and application of force, you won’t even think twice about using a hammer drill the next time you feel the need to create a hole in a brick surface.