Difficulty drilling into wall

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18 Mar 2019
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Im fitting a bookcase which require lots of holes drilling into a wall at various points. The wall is very inconsistent in density varying from easy drilling to almost impossible. I have blunted flat 3No. 7mm SDS drill bits now.

Its a bungalow. Using a corded 110V SDS with good quality Dewalt bits.

What could be behind the plaster that is so difficult to drill?
 
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Have you tried with another drill?

A faulty sds drill can give the appearance of working but not deliver the "blows" required

Blup
 
It seems hard enough to be steel but my stud/metal/wire detector picks nothing up, but it doesn't get hard until about 50mm in where the detector wouldn't reach.

Not tried another drill. I'm pretty confident the drill is fine. Its drilling and hammering perfectly fine. So well in fact that it has flattened 3 bits in this wall!
 
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It seems hard enough to be steel but my stud/metal/wire detector picks nothing up, but it doesn't get hard until about 50mm in where the detector wouldn't reach.

Not tried another drill. I'm pretty confident the drill is fine. Its drilling and hammering perfectly fine. So well in fact that it has flattened 3 bits in this wall!

Fair enough, you're clearly experienced in their use.

You could magnetise a long screw or piece of steel rod and place it in the hole already drilled to check if it's steel, or chop out around the area.

Have you tried to identify which parts of the wall contain the steel (beam/sheet?), how high up are they?

Blup
 
What could be behind the plaster that is so difficult to drill?

stone, granite maybe

I have similar problems with the rubble and mortar walls of my cottage.

Chemical anchors such as THIS and a bit of studding make for very secure fixings. ( use with the correct applicator gun (Code 16539) and nozzles.

( Other sources of resin anchor are available.,)
 
You don't tend to get random chunks of steel in a bungalow wall.

BTW, how many holes does a bookcase require? I'll start the bidding at two.
 

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