Drilling holes in tiles with your own hands. How to drill a tile so that it does not crack: tips from the master

Ceramic granite or tiles are often used to finish bathrooms and toilets, floors in the hallway and kitchen. It is a durable, wear-resistant material with excellent operational characteristics. Often it needs to be drilled to attach an anchor, plug, or other element. Here another property is manifested - brittleness during drilling. She might crack. Therefore, you need to know the rules of how to drill a tile so that it does not crack.

Description of tiles

Finishing material based on a mixture of clay, sand, mineral binders, fired in a kiln at high temperature. It comes in a square or rectangular shape. The top layer is especially durable, made of glaze of various colors and textures.

The tile is used for wall cladding in the bathroom, toilet, kitchen. Floors are finished with ceramic granite. it universal material, which has a number of useful properties:

Wear resistance. The main positive feature. With proper installation on the floor and walls, it will last more than a dozen years.

Moisture resistance. Suitable for protecting walls and floors in rooms with high humidity. The low-porosity structure of the outer protective layer does not absorb water.

Low electrical conductivity. On the surface, lined with tiles, charges of static electricity are not concentrated.

Variety of execution options. The production technology allows you to get a finishing material of any color, texture of the front surface.

Environmental friendliness. Made from organic materials.

There is one negative property - ceramic tiles difficult to drill. If you work with a conventional drill, it will crack. This is due to the high density, and, consequently, brittleness under point impact.

How to drill

If you need to drill a tile for mounting a cabinet or laying pipes, then you can do it yourself. The main thing is to follow the rules of how to drill tiles so that they do not crack.

Training

It consists in the selection of electrical or mechanical tools, as well as drills:

Electric drill or cordless screwdriver. There are two required parameters. The first is acceptable weight. The second is to adjust the rotation speed of the cartridge.

hand drill. It can be used, as a last resort, when there is no electrical analogue at hand. Heavy to handle. Low chuck rotation speed.

Universal nozzle. Suitable to drill the most fragile tile.

Specialized drill (nozzle). Spear tip. Used for small holes.

Nozzle with one-sided acute-angled sharpening. Designed for drilling durable ceramic granite. Long service life.

Drills - crowns. Professional tool. Suitable for large diameter drilling in hard porcelain stoneware. They differ in coating on the working edge: diamond, tungsten carbide, corundum.

Disposable "drill - ballerina". Designed for large holes.

After choosing a tool, you need to figure out how to drill a tile so that it does not crack. There are a few general rules:

First pass. Performed on a prototype. This makes it possible to understand the principle of operation of the nozzle, the features of its behavior.

Markup. Marked with a pencil or marker. For convenience, so that the label does not “fly off”, masking tape is glued to the tile. It is more convenient to mark the drilling point on it, the marker will not be erased, the mark will not move.

Adjusting the speed of a drill or screwdriver. The tile/ceramic edge is drilled at a speed of 100-400 rpm. This is enough to pass a lasting upper layer without damaging the tiles.

Substrate. If you are drilling a tile that has not yet been laid, then the underlying surface must be flat. If you do not follow the rule, then when you press the tile, it may burst.

drilling time. The tool head gets very hot. Therefore, the speed of work is small, without strong pressure on the drill. In extreme cases, the working area is wetted with water.

Video: We drill the tile carefully

small diameter

If you need to drill small hole (up to 20 mm) on the wall, then are used special nozzles with a spear-shaped tip or one-sided sharpening. Suitable for multiple use.

The area where the hole will be is pasted over with tape. Marking is applied to it. Drilling is not recommended. closer than 15 mm from the seam. The edge may chip off. In this case, it is better to select a point directly between neighboring elements.

A special drill is used to drill through the tough top layer of porcelain stoneware. The remaining thickness and body of the wall is drilled with a concrete drill or a universal nozzle.

Drill diameter is 2-3 mm larger than dowels or plugs. When working with an electric tool, you must carefully monitor its position. Strictly perpendicular to the plane of the wall.

Large diameter

Required for laying pipes and communication networks. Diameter from 20 mm. It is performed using a disposable “ballerina drill” or a diamond-coated crown. As a rule, holes are made before laying the tiles.

If a “drill - ballerina” is used, then first a guide hole with a diameter of 3-4 mm is made. The nozzle goes strictly perpendicular to the plane of the tool, the speed of rotation of the cartridge is small. Work with a hammer drill only if the rebound mechanism is turned off.

Crowns are more comfortable and practical. First, they are reusable. Secondly, the speed and quality of the cut is higher. Thirdly, most of the crowns have a central tip.

Drilling a tile for a toilet or kitchen is not difficult, if you follow the rules, use quality tool. The main thing is to hurry, act consistently.

After tiling a bathroom or kitchen with tiles, minor work remains: hang shelves and rails, fix lamps, install sockets. However, for all this it is necessary to prepare holes in the finish, which in the case of fragile tiles is not so simple task. We will tell you how and with what to drill ceramic tiles so as not to split them.

You have to be very careful when drilling a tile - it does not have such a viscosity as metal, and does not have bonds between the grains, which are easily broken when working on concrete. Ceramic tiles are monolithic in their structure, and any point load can lead to cracking. Therefore, the tool should be selected very carefully.

The puncher in shock mode disappears immediately, but when switching to a “drill”, it is quite suitable for drilling tiles. In addition, for further preparation of the nest for fasteners, already in concrete wall it is he who will be needed, so that all the work can be done with one tool.
Drill - a good option at correct selection drill. However, to work on tiles on the regulator, you need to set low speeds - no higher than 800 rpm. At the same time, the tool itself must be powerful enough so that even such a loss of torque does not interfere with making a hole in a solid tile.
A screwdriver (cordless or mains operated) can be used not only for its intended purpose but also for drilling tiles. Here it is easier to control the speed of revolutions, so the chance to split the tile is minimal.
Hand engraver - not everyone has this tool home master, but if it is, it will be easier with it to make square or figured holes in the tiling.

Suitable nozzles

Drill

When working with tiles, it’s not even the power tool itself that matters, but the drills you use. For ceramics, special drills with diamond or corundum coating are produced. Some masters allow the use of a pobedit drill, but the strength of its tip is not enough to make holes quickly. However, when we are talking just about a couple of nests for dowels, it makes no sense to overpay for professional diamond consumables.

The shape of drills for ceramics is varied enough to make it possible to find a suitable nozzle:

Spear-shaped

They look like a triangular wedge with two or four divergent blades. For the preparation of landing sockets for dowels with a diameter of 4-12 mm, they are quite enough, moreover, this is one of the few types of drills that can cope with ceramics even with victorious tips. The "spears" are relatively inexpensive, they do not slip over the glaze, but they work well only at low speeds and still get dull quickly. However, their low price quite reconciles with this.

Tubular

They are hollow tubes different diameter(from 5 to 75 mm) with continuous coating on the cutting edge. It is easier and more convenient to work with them - due to large area contact, such drills evenly enter the thickness of the tile and do not leave chips. However, for each hole you will have to purchase a separate nozzle. right size, and the coating on them is erased quite quickly. When using tubular drills, the rotational speed should not exceed 500 rpm - they are expensive, and due to the burning of grains with excessive heat, they can soon become unusable.

Circular (ballerinas)

Universal drills that can make holes of different diameters from 30 to 90 mm in diameter. They have a central wedge-shaped spear and a length-adjustable stem, on which an additional blade is located. The disadvantage of the ballerina is that she literally begins to dance on the tile, trying to snatch the drill out of her hands - it will take considerable experience to drill a hole with it without breaking the tile. In addition, the blade knocks out rather large fragments, leaving far from ideal edges.

Crowns

They are used to get a hole in the tile. correct form and large diameter up to 160 mm (for example, for a socket, switch or communications outlet). These are wide cups, similar to tubular drills, all with the same corundum or diamond coating on the edge and a centering tip in the middle.

Working with crowns requires special precision and correct installation cutting edge - strictly in the same plane with the tile. But first, the central bit is drilled into the thickness of the tile. This allows you to create a rigid axis of rotation of the cup and set it parallel to the surface of the cladding.

At the end of the work, the round plate of the tile is removed from the wall along with the crown. If it sits tightly on the solution, you can pry it with a screwdriver or knock it out with a chisel, trying not to damage the rest of the finish.

cutters

To cut a hole in a tile custom size, square or rectangular shape, easier to use hand engraver by installing a disk cutter on it. Cut-off wheels of small diameter from 18 to 50 mm with a diamond non-segmented edge will do.

How to drill tiles

The most difficult and crucial step in drilling ceramics is the first penetration through the glaze layer. The surface of the tile is highly durable, in addition, the drill can slip off at any time. smooth coating. To prevent this from happening, the masters resort to various tricks.

The simplest and reliable way- seal the tile area with masking tape. On it, you can also make markings for the future hole, especially if the tile is dark in color. This option is suitable for working with ceramics on vertical surfaces. You can also use a stationery corrector by making a bold mark on the tile with liquid. After drying, it will turn into a rough spot that does not allow the nozzle to slide off.

Drill floor tiles it is brought infrequently, but if this is necessary, it is better to use a factory or home-made conductor. To make it, you can take a simple wooden block or a thick piece of plywood and make a hole in it of the same diameter as the ceramic drill. This socket will serve as a limiter for the drill and help keep it strictly perpendicular to the floor. Of course, loose wood will not stop the drill, but you will feel if you start to deflect the tool to the side, and you can level it in time.

The first drilling through the glaze is done at high speed by lightly touching the tip. After that, you will need to stop and transfer the drill or screwdriver to the minimum speed. When using tubular nozzles, they are first drilled with a slight deviation of the axis from the vertical - only after that cutting edge is set strictly perpendicular to the facing.

The hole in the ceramic tile for the dowel should be slightly larger than it in diameter - so you do not damage the tile when you drive the expansion anchor into the wall.
If the landing nest needs to be prepared in the tile joint, choose a drill with a smaller diameter. The ends of the tile are less protected from mechanical impact than the front surface, and if you accidentally hit the edge, you risk leaving a gap on the cladding, from which a crack will go.
In no case do not make nests close to the edge of the laid tile - the risk of spoiling it here is almost one hundred percent. Move the hole either to the center of the seam or away from the edge (at least 2 cm).
When drilling, do not press too hard on cutting tool- the working head should “wipe” a hole in the tile, and not push through it.
Ceramic tiles can react with cracking to a sharp temperature drop. In order not to create excessive heat at the drilling point, pour water over this place. The tool itself also needs to be cooled periodically, especially if you use diamond crowns or tubes.
As soon as the drill passes through the tile, replace it with an ordinary victorious nozzle of a slightly smaller diameter, and switch the drill or puncher to impact mode. So you can quickly cope with the wall and extend the life of consumables.

Of course, the easiest way is to drill holes in tiles that have not yet been glued, laying them on a perfectly flat surface, for example, on a sheet of chipboard or drywall. So the risk of damage to the tile is reduced significantly. But even on the finished cladding, you can make neat holes for fasteners if you use a low-speed power tool and the right drills.

Unfortunately, ceramic tiles most often have to be laid where there are many obstacles, and the tiles have to be drilled and cut. We will tell you how to drill through a tile without damaging it. Ceramic tiles - the material is quite fragile, so when working with it, you need to consider several important points.

How to drill tile correctly: preparation for work

If you think that you can drill a hole in absolutely any tile, you are mistaken. The drilling method is used only when holes of small diameter are needed. To test the tile for drilling, lightly tap it. If the sound is deaf, then there are no voids in the tile, and you can safely drill it. If your tile “rings”, there are voids in it, and you have every chance of losing this element during drilling, the tile will simply break into several parts.

Prepare necessary tools before drilling tiles. You will need special drills - spear-shaped with tungsten carbide. If you need to drill a tile already attached to the wall, you can use glass drills. The drill can be taken both electric and manual. If you have a hammer drill, you can use it, but be sure to turn off the hammer mode feature first. And high-speed tools are not recommended.

How to drill a hole in a tile: how to work

Drill bit with pobedite tip

First, mark the center of the hole to be drilled. The main problem when drilling ceramic tiles is the bit slipping. Keeping it in the right place is quite difficult. This problem can be solved in several ways.

Beating the enamel in the right place with a drill set to minimum speed. You can slightly tilt the tile or install a small conical recess in the place of the proposed drilling. This is done with a hardened self-tapping screw or the sharp edge of a file. Scratch a small dot into the glaze of the tile.
The use of a jig (a thick plate of steel with different holes). It is applied with a hole of the required diameter in the right place and pressed as tightly as possible to drill the tile through the hole in the plate. If you do not have such a device, you can make it yourself from a wooden plate.
Stick strips of adhesive plaster or mounting tape on the drilling site. These strips will help keep the drill in the right position during the first moments of drilling.
Mark the point to be drilled on the surface of the tile with a stationery corrector (a pencil or bottle of white liquid and a brush resembling nail polish). Apply a dot, let the product dry. The surface will become rough, so the drill will not slip from the intended point during operation, but will remain in place.

Starting directly to drilling, try to act very carefully. It is recommended to periodically cool the drill with water. When the lance drill goes through the tile, replace it with another one that is suitable for drilling plaster.

If you want to make a large diameter hole, make a smaller hole first, and then gradually expand to required dimensions, because how to make in tiles big hole you won't be able to do it right away.

If you follow all of the above conditions, you can avoid breakage fragile tiles. But there are other recommendations as well. This is a selection of drills and drills, as well as tile drilling tricks shared by experienced tilers.

Choosing the right drill

If you have never held a drill in your hands and do not know what kind of device it is, and you have already laid the tile, and it is also expensive, you should not think about how to drill the tile yourself, but it is better to contact the master, who there is the right drill and drills. He will do everything quickly, efficiently and with a guarantee. If you have some experience drilling holes in walls or ceilings, you might want to try ceramic tiles as well.

Tile drill

To drill a hole in a tile, it is better to take a hand drill, because then both the pressing force on the tool and the speed of rotation of the drill are in your hands. The work will be smooth and slow, which will prevent the tile from cracking and breaking. A hand drill does not vibrate at all during operation, which is very important for high-quality drilling. But now electric drills are more common on sale. Choose one where the speed is controlled very smoothly.

After choosing a drill, find a suitable drill. Now you can buy special drills for ceramics and glass. If you do not have a special drill, you can try to get by with a simple concrete drill with a pobedit tip, but since drilling tiles without some skill is difficult, practice first on unnecessary scraps of material.

Drilling a hole in a tile

The biggest difficulty in drilling tiles is getting through the top layer (glaze). This is usually a very smooth layer that is susceptible to scratches. If you decide that you can handle the work yourself, take into account the advice of experienced tile masters.

If using an electric drill, do not set it above 1000 rpm. It is better to focus on personal feelings.
Do not overheat the drilling site and the drill itself. Wet rubbing surfaces cold water so that there are no cracks in the outer layer.
Don't push the drill too hard. The pressure should be enough to drill, but not enough to break the tile.
If you are drilling a tile that is already attached to the wall with a ceramic or glass drill, then once the element is drilled, you need to change the working drill for a concrete drill and make a hole of the required depth in the wall with it.
Drilling tiles is recommended with a larger diameter drill, and for concrete under the tiles, use a smaller diameter drill. If the drill for ceramics is 8 mm in diameter, then for drilling concrete you need to take a drill of 6 mm.
Drilling holes in the seams of ceramic tiles is possible only if you are sure that the diameter of the hole does not exceed the width of the seam, otherwise the tile may crack.

Video instruction

Tiles are one of the most common finishing materials. She is often covered with walls and floors in bathrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and hallways. Many have heard about the fragility of this material and faced the problem of splitting when hanging a mirror or shelf on a tile. Therefore, in order to make a neat hole and not damage the coating, you should know how to drill tiles correctly.

What are the best tools to use?

To properly and safely drill tiles, you must use the following tools:

drill (manual or electric);
base drill;
a special drill for working with tiles - victorious with an annular tip;
paper tape or mounting tape;
marker;
carbide cutter and circular drill for large holes;
building level;
broom or vacuum cleaner.

Drill selection

In order to make a small hole, you can use a drill with a victorious soldering. Some craftsmen recommend purchasing glass drills. Most often they are found in two types - with diamond coating and hard-alloy metal soldering.

Well drills tiles and a tubular drill with diamond grit, sprayed on the end.

Holes for sockets and pipes must be made using a crown with a diamond or corundum coating.

Such a tool is quite expensive, so among the inhabitants it is not very common. Most often, circular ballerina drills are used to drill large holes.

Since it is quite difficult to drill a tile correctly, you should seriously prepare for this work. There are some nuances that will help you quickly and without any hassle to cope with the task:

To avoid chips and cracks, do not drill tiles at the edge and in gaps.
To prevent the drill from overheating, it is necessary to periodically moisten it with water.

Important! This can only be done when the drill is unplugged from the mains.

If a suitable drill is not at hand, you can use the one designed for metal. They can drill tiles at low speeds. The only negative is that such a drill is only enough for a single use.
When you need to drill not only the tile, but also the wall behind it, use a puncher or drill. It is recommended to work at low speeds and very carefully. When a hole is made in the tile, the drill is switched to the "no impact" mode.

Work order

Not everyone knows how to properly drill a tile so that it does not crack, and the hole is neat and even. To do this, it is better to follow the instructions:

Before you make a hole in the tile, you need to knock on it. If you hear a dull and dense sound, this is appropriate place for drilling.
It is marked with a marker or felt-tip pen directly on the tile.
To prevent the drill from sliding on the smooth surface of the tile, masking tape is glued to the drilling site. If it is not at hand, you can use adhesive tape.

Advice! Experienced craftsmen it is recommended to drill tiles through a wooden or steel plate with holes. They call her a conductor. In the selected place, it is pressed against the tile and drilling begins. By doing so, you can prevent the drill from slipping.

On the drill, turn off the "shock mode" function.
A puncher or drill is placed at a right angle and at low speeds they begin to make a hole. You can gradually increase the speed.
The resulting dust must be removed immediately.
After the drill has reached the base ( concrete slab, tree), it is changed to the corresponding, identical size.

Advice! If it is necessary to drill a tile that is not glued, then it must be placed on a concrete or wooden even base. In no case should you drill tiles on a metal surface.

Drill the wall in impact mode to the required depth.

If you need to make a hole for the dowel, then the hole in the tile should be a couple of millimeters larger than the diameter of the dowel. When the work is done, the dowel is inserted as carefully as possible. An inaccurate or too strong blow with a hammer can damage the ceramic material.

To properly drill a tile without risking a crack or chip, you should follow the tips and recommendations described above.

When laying tiles in the bathroom, toilet or in any other premises, the question arises - how to drill through tile so that it does not crack, does not break and does not lose its appearance. After all, tile is a rather fragile material and it can be difficult for a simple layman to make a hole in a tile. But the matter is certainly important, because sometimes it is simply necessary to install a shelf for soap accessories, a mirror or the same bathroom curtain in the bathroom, but how ?. In this article, we will look at step by step instructions and watch a video tutorial that will help us learn how to drill tiles in just a few minutes.

Tools needed for the job

Electric drill or a good screwdriver;
Feather drills (spear drill on tiles);
Ring crowns (required for a large diameter hole).

Instructions on how and how to drill tiles

Using a pencil and a ruler, mark the point where we will drill the hole, after we mark the point on top, we paste transparent adhesive tape, if there is no transparent adhesive tape, then we paste ordinary adhesive tape and mark marks on it for the future hole.
We install the drill in a horizontal position, in no case do not need to tilt the drill in any direction, this will only aggravate the situation!
We select a special feather drill on the tile, insert it into the drill, after turning off the position of the drill from the impact mode to the classic drilling position and start drilling, it is worth noting that it is necessary to start at low speed - this will protect us from slipping the drill along the perimeter of the tile.

Useful advice!. Before you start drilling a hole for the place of the adhesive tape, you can punch a small hole with a kernet, this will make it possible to insert a pen drill and it will not “play” in the groove. By the way, while drilling the tile, it is advisable to moisten it with water so that it does not crack under the influence of drilling.

After you drill the slab, you need to insert a drill of the same diameter or even a little smaller and continue to drill concrete. When doing this, make sure that the drill is inserted correctly and that it does not play in the "groove" as this may cause some chips at the edges of the hole.

How to drill a larger hole

You can drill a larger hole different ways the first of which is the use of a ballerina. ballerina- This is a circular drill designed for drilling round holes in tiles of different diameters. With the help of a ballerina, you can easily adjust the size of the hole by adjusting the sliding ruler along the entire length. But it is worth noting that it is quite difficult to work as a ballerina, but if you destroy several tiles, then for 2-3 times you should definitely succeed according to the most pessimistic forecasts. Just don't forget to wet it with water.

Ballerina tool - for cutting larger diameter holes

The next tool that I suggest you consider is a circular saw for holes in tiles. This is a fairly popular tool with which even a beginner can make a hole in a tile, the hole is made for about 5-7 minutes with an average level of pressure on the drill. Again, we do not recommend putting too much pressure on the drill, because this can ruin the tile and it will crack, in addition, we advise you to drill the tile before we installed it on the wall, having previously immersed it in water, this will prevent it from overheating.

Let's summarize how to drill so as not to damage the tile

Moisten the tiles with water to prevent overheating;
Do not drill along the edges of the tiles, as this will create additional stress on the surface;
After we have drilled a hole and started to drill concrete, we need to choose a drill with a smaller diameter so as not to damage the edges of the tile;
Start drilling at a low speed and gradually increase the speed.