On the hole.

[foxhole]

Need to tile over a couple of buried shower pipes where they exit the wall, so they need holes in the tiles, is there a safe way to drill 18mm hole in loose tile [that is before fixing]. Very small tiles [about 60mm X 120mm].

 

[Richard C]

Don’t try & drill an 18mm hole, you will fail. Mark the hole position, drill a series of 3mm holes around perimeter, use a round tile saw blade to cut between the holes & then use a 12-15mm round file to clean it all up, job done.

 

[foxhole]

Ok, thanks,how do I drill the 3mm holes without shattering tile?

 

[Richard C]

Place tile on a lump of solid timber glazed side up, stick masking tape on the tile where you’re going to be drilling, mark exact position of hole on masking tape, take new/sharp masonry or diamond tipped drill bit, drill holes around the perimeter of the hole as close together as possible.

Have the hammer attachment switched off, don’t force it by pushing too hard let the drill bit do the work but if the hole is close to the edge of the tile, it could be tricky!

 

[foxhole]

Would it help to glue tile to timber with hot melt glue gun, easy to remove from timber and will peel off reverse of tile.Might make tile more stable during drilling.?

 

[Richard C]

Completely unnecessary & I see it offering little advantage. I form holes in & curves on tiles as I described all the time & although I’ve had the odd breakage, that’s probably more down to weakness in a particular tile than the technique.

I think you’re worrying unnecessarily; like most things it’s about confidence, have you actually tried to do it yet?

 

[foxhole]

Not tried it with current tiles but previously had a few tiles shatter when trying to drill loose, [always seem fine when drilling fixed tiles.]