Recommend drill for potatoey plaster?

[puppetopera]

I feel a bit stupid, but I have just spent four hours trying to drill holes into my Edwardian wall to hang a coatrack, and have been left with 1-inch gaping wounds in my hallway.

My standard drill cuts through the half-inch of plaster okay, but then I hit something VERY hard, and the plaster covering it crumbles away like old talcum powder. I'm getting red dust spilling out of the hole.

What's the story of my wall? Can anyone recommend a decent drill for this type of standard-issue DIY job? Don't have millions to spend.

I recently moved to England from America, where I never had this problem (in even older houses) before.

 

[stephenf8542]

You need a drill with a hammer action and masonary bit.The red stuff is brick

 

[Burnerman]

The red dust is from the bricks, directly behind the plaster. Make sure you are using a hammer drill with a good sharp masonry bit before you go any further or you'll just shake more of the old plaster out! Once you've managed to drill the hole into the brick, insert a plastic wall plug and put a longish screw in it (for location) as you make good the damage with patching plaster, available ready mixed!
Cheers John

 

[dave-lew99]

Yup there be brick in them there walls hehe

Some brick in the UK is notoriously hard - years ago when bricks were made locally, you'd get huge variations from location to location.

Whitehaven brick springs to mind, if you're drilling one of those expect to replace the drill bit at a rate of one bit per hole.

 

[JohnD]

if you have trouble getting the plasplug to fit the hole, hoover and wash the dust out of the hole, then squirt no-more-nails or similar into the hole (starting at the end) and push in your plasplugs. the next day it will have set and you can screw into the plugs.

this is the best DIY tip I have learned in 20 years.

 

[puppetopera]

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful. We did borrow a pro-grade hammer drill from our builder neighbor, and managed to get the hooks up, but even that was challenging and I'm not entirely sure how secure they are...

Anyway, thanks for the tip. Looking forward to more help in the future.

 

[foxhole]

Unless it was an SDS drill it was not a pro drill, the sds drill will drill into any brickwork and even concrete with relative ease.
This type of drill http://www.screwfix.com/prods/30228...25003K-GB-650W-2kg-SDS-Plus-Hammer-Drill-240V