Concrete drilling easier than you think

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2003 (8083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BELIEVE it or not, it’s sometimes easier to drill a hole in concrete than in wood. A misconception is that concrete is difficult, if not impossible, to work with. This is unfortunate because otherwise-easy tasks are shunned by many because they think working with concrete will be too hard.

True, concrete is heavy, so if you have to remove some, prepare for heavy lifting. True, concrete is hard to finish, so if you want to pour a slab, hire a finisher. However, adding features to a concrete patio can be easy if you know what you are doing.

Let’s suppose you want to add a handrail or trellis and want to attach one or both to your existing concrete patio. If you know your choices, and how to accomplish them, you’ll discover it’s not difficult to do.

Most attachments to concrete are made with lag bolts that fit into an expanding sleeve known as a wedge anchor or anchor. A hole is drilled into the concrete, the wedge anchor is placed in the hole and a screw or bolt is screwed into the anchor causing it to spread out and firmly hold everything that gets between the bolt head and the concrete in place.

Anchoring systems include:

* lead shield anchors

* steel sleeve anchors

* plastic anchors

* plain hardened screws

* concrete nails

* powder-actuated pins (concrete nails shot from a gun)

Although concrete nails and powder-actuated pins are commonly used in construction, lagged anchors are safer to use and hold better. So, anchors it should be. Plastic anchors are all right for light tasks like hanging pictures, but big jobs like patio covers, trellises, awnings and handrails need a bit more power to ensure a permanent connection.

Lead-shielded and steel-sleeved anchors are the strong ones. They can be purchased with specifications that relate their structural integrity (how much they can hold). In any event, if you want to mount a column to support a patio cover, you will want to use a fastener that won’t be pulled out when a heavy wind swoops under the cover. Don’t be daunted when the store’s representative tells you that you will have to drill the hole four inches or more. It really is easy to do. Just make sure to clean all the concrete powder out of the hole before attempting to insert the sleeve.

Working with concrete requires special tools and fasteners, but they aren’t that difficult to learn to use. In fact, except for the type of drill bit used, drilling a hole in concrete is exactly the same as drilling a hole in wood. Sometimes wood is harder, sometimes concrete is. The harder the material, the longer it takes to get through it. However, hardness only slows the process — it doesn’t prevent it. To drill or cut wood, use a wood bit or a wood blade. For steel, use a metal bit or a metal blade, and for concrete use a masonry bit or a masonry blade. It’s that simple. When cutting large areas of concrete, it is wise to rent heavy equipment, but the same holds true with any task and any heavy construction medium (wood, metal, stone or concrete).

You can use a cheap drill bit to drill through most types of wood, but trying to save money on a masonry bit usually backfires. It is easy to drill into concrete if your masonry bit is sharp, but a cheap bit becomes dull quickly; that’s where much of the bad rap about working with concrete and stone comes from. Even if cheaper bits and blades work well for your woodworking projects, be sure to step up the quality when working with stone or concrete.

If you don’t like the idea of drilling, you have the option of using a two-pound hammer and casehardened concrete nails. However, we recommend drilling. Once you try it, you’ll never go back to nails.

We don’t mean to undervalue plastic anchors. They do have worth beyond hanging pictures. They are good for mounting power — or irrigation panels, conduits and other pipes to all types of concrete or stone walls — inside or outside.

For more home improvement tips and information, visit our Web site at www.onthehouse.com.

–Associated Press